Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe
whose word created the heavens, whose breath created all that they
contain. Statutes and seasons He set for them, that they should not
deviate from their assigned task. Happily, gladly they do the will
of their Creator, whose work is dependable. To the moon He spoke:
renew yourself, crown of glory for those who were borne in the womb,
who also are destined to be renewed and to extol their Creator for
His glorious sovereignty. Blessed are You, Lord who renews the
months.
David, King of Israel, lives and
endures.
The worshippers will then exchange these
greetings:
Shalom Alechem(peace be with you!)
Alekhem shalom(peace be unto you!)
The Torah portion, with it's haftorah
from the prophets, that is read on this days
is:
September 12, 1999 corresponds to: Sunday, Tishri 2,
5760
Torah:Bereshit (Genesis) 22:1-24
and Bamidbar (Numbers) 29:1-6
Bereshit
(Genesis) 22:1-24Some time later God tested
Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then
God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and
go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains I will tell you about." Early the next
morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two
of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for
the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the
distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while
I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come
back to you." Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and
placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the
knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said
to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for
the burnt offering?"Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the
burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. When
they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an
altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and
laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his
hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD
called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he
replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do
anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not
withheld from me your son, your only son." Abraham looked up and
there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over
and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of
his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to
this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be
provided." The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a
second time And said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that
because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only
son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous
as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your
descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, And
through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because
you have obeyed me." Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they
set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Some time later Abraham was told, "Milcah is also a mother; she has
borne sons to your brother Nahor: Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother,
Kemuel (the father of Aram), Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and
Bethuel." Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these
eight sons to Abraham's brother Nahor. His concubine, whose name was
Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and
Maacah.
Bamidbar
(Numbers) 29:1-6"'On the first day of
the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It
is a day for you to sound the trumpets. As an aroma pleasing to the
LORD, prepare a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven
male lambs a year old, all without defect. With the bull prepare a
grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with
oil; with the ram, two-tenths; And with each of the seven lambs,
one-tenth. Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement
for you. These are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt
offerings with their grain offerings and drink offerings as
specified. They are offerings made to the LORD by fire--a pleasing
aroma.
Haftorah:Yirimiyah (Jeremiah)
31:1-19
Yirimiyah
(Jeremiah) 31:1-19"At that time," declares the
LORD, "I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will
be my people." This is what the LORD says: "The people who survive
the sword will find favor in the desert; I will come to give rest to
Israel." The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved
you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Young woman
Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance
with the joyful. Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of
Samaria; the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit. There
will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim, 'Come,
let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'" This is what the LORD
says: "Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the
nations. Make your praises heard, and say, 'O LORD, save your
people, the remnant of Israel.' See, I will bring them from the land
of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them
will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in
labor; a great throng will return. They will come with weeping; they
will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of
water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am
Israel's father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son. "Hear the word of
the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: 'He who
scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like
a shepherd.' For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the
hand of those stronger than they. They will come and shout for joy
on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the
LORD--the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks
and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will
sorrow no more. Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and
old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give
them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. I will satisfy the priests
with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty,"
declares the LORD. This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in
Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no
more."This is what the
LORD says: "Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from
tears, for your work will be rewarded," declares the LORD. "They
will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your
future," declares the LORD. "Your children will return to their own
land. "I have surely heard Ephraim's moaning: 'You disciplined me
like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I
will return, because you are the LORD my God. After I strayed, I
repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was
ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my
youth.'
Conclusions
I think it will be impossible for God's people to miss
the obvious sign which will be right in front of their eyes! It
won't be a matter of not noticing it, or forgetting to look up at
the proper time. No, His people will be obeying His command! This
will put His people, His Torah and Haftorah, and His sign all
together at just the right time, in just the right way, with all the
right words to make this sign communicate His plan. All of God's
plans are communicated this way. Those who are obedient will know
and understand.
So, I think this portion from Yeshayah (Isaiah) is
indicating that the woman represents the people who come forth from
Zion, her true citizens. The child is probably the Messiah because
He will be ruling with a rod of iron (when we talk about “under her
feet, we may see the anti-messiah being initially dominated by the
woman). The child, though, is in heaven while the woman flees into
the wilderness to be protected for 1260 days.
This sign, in Revelation 12, seems to be the signal
that the children of God, living in Judea, are to flee into the
wilderness to begin a period of 1260 days of nourishment and
protection by God. Be aware that there is no immediate time when
things must start, though things should start soon after this
sign.
It is extremely important for us to be in right
standing before Ha-Shem. I can not emphasize this enough. We must do
teshuvah (repentance, returning to the state we had in the Garden of
Eden). We must beg forgiveness from our brothers and from Ha-Shem.
If we are not in the right state, we will be ashamed when we stand
before Ha-Shem for judgment. It is the mark of G-d’s people that
they do teshuvah before Yom Teruah so that they can stand tall when
we crown the King of Melakim (Kings)!
NOTE:
For more information on the liturgy of Rosh Chodesh,
look at the Artscroll Siddur. This publication is available from
your local library, or from Mesorah Publications at
1-800-MESORAH.
For more information on the liturgy of Yom Teruah
(Rosh Hashana), look at the Artscroll Machzor for Rosh Hashana. This
publication is available from your local library, or from Mesorah
Publications at 1-800-MESORAH.
The Former and Latter
Rains
I.Introduction
II.The Spring
Festivals are like the Fall Festivals
JJ.Nisan is Like
Tishri
Passover
Yom HaKippurim
Simcha Torah
Purim
Shushan Purim
IV.Talmudic Allusions
V.Midrashic
Allusions
VI.Bi-modal Connections]
VII.Tu
B’Av
VIII.Selected Essays
I.Introduction
In this paper I would like to explore the calendrical
and theological relationships between the spring months and the fall
months, between the spring festivals and the fall festivals. Lets
start by looking at Yoel (Joel) 2:23 as translated by several
different versions
NAS:
Yoel (Joel) 2:23So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be
glad in the \Lord\ your God; For He has given you the early rain for {your} vindication.
And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as
before.
NIV:
Yoel (Joel) 2:23 Be glad, O people of Zion,
rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends
you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as
before.
KJV:
Yoel (Joel) 2:23Be
glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he
hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to
come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter
rain in the first [month].
Strong’s defines FORMER RAIN
as:
4175 mowreh, mo-reh'; from 3384; an archer; also
teacher or teaching; also the early rain (see 3138):-(early, former)
rain.
Strong’s defines MODERATELY
as:
6666 tsedaqah, tsed-aw-kaw'; from 6663; rightness (abstr.),
subj. (rectitude), obj. (justice), mor. (virtue) or fig. (prosperity):- justice,
moderately, right (-eous) (act, -ly, -ness).
---------------- Dictionary Trace ---------------6663 tsadaq,
tsaw-dak'; a prim. root;
to be (causat. make) right (in a moral or forensic sense):-cleanse,
clear self, (be, do) just (-ice, -ify, -ify self), (be, turn to)
righteous (-ness).
Strong’s defines LATTER RAINS
as:
4456 malqowsh, mal-koshe'; from 3953; the spring rain (comp.
3954); fig. eloquence:-latter rain.-------------- Dictionary Trace
------------------
3953 laqash, law-kash'; a prim. root; to gather the after
crop:-gather.
3954 leqesh, leh'-kesh; from 3953; the after crop:-latter
growth.
So, the remez of this verse indicates that the teacher
of righteousness will come in the autumn! Now lets note when these
rains occur during the year, according to the
Talmud:
Ta'anith 5a GEMARA. R. Nahman said to R. Isaac: Does
then the former rain [fall] in Nisan? The former rain surely [falls] in
Marcheshvan. It has been taught: Former rain, [falls] in Marcheshvan and latter rain in
Nisan.
Ta'anith
6a Our Rabbis have taught: Former rain [falls] in
Marcheshvan and latter rain in Nisan. You say, Former rain in Marcheshvan and
latter rain in Nisan; perhaps it is otherwise, former rain in Tishri and
latter rain in Iyar? The text [therefore] adds, in its due
season.[1]
The Torah records that the flood in the days of Noah
began in Cheshvan (Marcheshvan):
Bereshit (Genesis) 7:10-12 And after the seven days
the floodwaters came on the earth. In the six hundredth year of
Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month--on that day
all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of
the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and
forty nights.
It rained for forty days and forty nights, stopping on
Kislev 28, the fourth day of Chanukah.
II.The
Spring Festivals are like the Fall
Festivals
Passover is introduced by Purim and concluded by
Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. So, too, Succoth, the Feast of
Tabernacles, is introduces by the awesome days, which include Rosh
HaShana, the Feast of Trumpets, (Yom Teruah) and Yom HaKippurim, the
Day of Atonement, and is concluded by Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth
Assembly.
The Triads
Purim PassoverShavout
The bride-to-be is tested. In
the spring.The
Torah is given on Mt. Sinai.
Begin cleaning leaven out of The bride is chosenThe bride is
made ready,
our house. by betrothal.
Eating is a requirement.Requirements for No
food requirement.
eating.Dairy custom.
Physical
renewal
The awesome days, which SuccothShemini Atzeret
include Yom Teruah and +
Yom HaKippurim (a day In
the fall.Simcha Torah
like Purim).
The bride is married. The marriage feastWe
rejoice in the Torah and finish Devarim
(Deuteronomy) and
starting Bereshit Genesis).
