October 2nd is the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. Starting at sunset the evening before, the whole country grinds to a complete stop for 25 hours until sunset on Saturday. Most roads are empty as Israelis spend the day in fasting and contemplation. It’s a “Do-Nothing Day”—when it comes to atonement, Jesus, our high priest, did it all.
October 7th is the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles this year, or “Sukkot” in Hebrew, again starting the evening before. God commanded His people to build temporary shelters and celebrate in for them in a week, to remember the time of wandering through the desert with Him. It is traditional to invite guests to feast with you in your “sukkah” and it’s a time of great rejoicing!
October 13th Sukkot is a week-long feast with the seventh day known as “Hoshana Rabba”, or a request for a “Great Salvation”. Jesus stood up and made an important announcement at this time, on The Last and Greatest Day of the Feast
October 14th has a bonus eighth day at the end known as “Shemini Atzeret” which means the “Eighth Day of the Assembly”.
October 15th The last day is also known as Simchat Torah, when the Torah reading cycle restarts again. In Israel it’s the same day as Shemini Atzeret, but overseas it’s celebrated the day after. There is great rejoicing with Torah scrolls in the streets. Jewish people all over the world read a portion of the Torah together each week, starting now in Genesis and slowly working through all five books to end with Deuteronomy next September. The “Hafterah” is a portion from the prophets which accompanies the Torah portion, and so throughout the year a lot of ground is covered. Do you have a good system for reading through your Bible?
October 31st is significant for a couple of reasons, both of which being somewhat controversial. The first is the anniversary of Reformation, kicked off by Martin Luther. His “95 Theses” are famous for bringing much needed change to the body of Messiah, but his later writings became increasingly hateful towards the Jewish people. The second is Halloween, which is hard to avoid in many countries, but choosing how to respond is an important thing for believers to consider: Fear No Evil.
A Messianic Perspective – Watch Torah Portions Explained
Yom Kippur is a solemn day, no matter if you are secular or religious, all Jewish people observe this day, where the Rabbis say the
Shemini Atzeret is translated as the Eighth Day of the Assembly. It’s sort of strange that there’s an eighth day of the assembly, given that
The Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot as it’s known in Hebrew, is a God-ordained feast with a fantastic point behind it. Or perhaps a range
What is Rosh Hashana? Much of the world celebrates a new start as December 31st turns into January 1st, whereas Jewish people now celebrate their
The streets are weirdly quiet on Yom Kippur in Israel. Driving is not exactly banned, but it is definitely frowned upon. As a result, children
Have you ever heard the stirring sound of a shofar? That ancient cry to the deep… It is a sound that the people of Israel
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a calamity on our hands. We have become Biblically illiterate. Far too many Christians haven’t got a clue what is
A few years ago we had a sandstorm during the ‘Ten Days of Awe’ between the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah) and the Day of
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