The Secrets of the Dreidel by Elder Jason Jordan

The Secrets of the Dreidel

Video Teaching Part 1

Video Teaching Part 2

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Study notes and Slides

(Slide 1) One of the customs done on the holiday of Chanukah, in addition to lighting the menorah and eating ladakahs, is spinning the dreidel. A dreidel is a top, made of clay or wood. 
The Hebrew word for dreidel is sevivon, which means “to turn around.” Dreidel is a Yiddish word that comes from the German word drehen. Drehen means “to spin.” On the dreidel are four Hebrew letters, which are nun (נ), gimel (ג), hey (ה) and shin (ש).

(Slide 2) The dreidel is a Jewish variant on the teetotum, a gambling toy found in many European cultures. A teetotum (or T-totum) was known across Europe from Roman times. The name originates from Latin Totum meaning 'all' which was marked by a T on one of the four sides, indicated that the winning player could take all the played tokens.

Until recently the best explanation you’d get from me about the custom of playing dreidel on Chanukah was an answer about it being played as a ruse to trick the oppressors of the Jews into thinking they were playing games instead of studying Torah. The problem is that this is only the surface meaning behind the custom.

The Pashot

(Slide) What is the reason that we should play dreidel on Chanukah? On the p’shot level, the plain meaning, we play dreidel games to remember a time when the Jews were forbidden to study Torah in the Holy Land. The Syrian-Greeks had outlawed any form of studying Torah and anyone found doing so was killed mercilessly. In those days, Torah teachers would go into the mountains with students and study the Torah in caves. When the Syrian-Greek soldiers found them, they would hide their Torah scrolls and produce the dreidels in order to trick their occupiers into thinking they were just playing harmless games.

(Slide) The Al Hanisim prayer, a special benediction we recite on Chanukah, says, “L’hashkicham toretecha ul’haviram me’chukei retzonecha,” which roughly translates as “They tried to make us forget Your Torah and transgress Your will.” The Greeks wanted the Jews to forget the Torah and transgress the will of Yahweh. 
After the miracle of Chanukah, the one day’s supply of oil lasting eight days, the Hebrew letters were added to the Dreidel. The letters stand for the expression, “Nes gadol hayah sham,” which means “A great miracle happened there.” (In Israel, the letters that appear on dreidels are nun, gimmel, hey, and pey, for “Nes gadol hayah poh,” which means “A great miracle happened here.”)

The Rules

(Slide) The game play consists of turns between players at spins of the dreidel. Each play begins with an equal number of Chanukah gelt, playing chips or pennies. At the beginning of each round, every participant puts one game piece into the center. In addition, every time the centre is empty or has only one game piece left, every player should put one in the centre.
If a player gets a Nun, this means “nisht” or “nothing” in Yiddish. The player does nothing.

Gimmel means “gantz” or “everything” in Yiddish. The player gets everything in the centre. 
Hay means “halb” or “half” in Yiddish. The player gets half of the centre pieces (If there is an odd number of pieces in the pot, the player takes half of the total plus one.)
If a player gets a Shin, which means “shtel” or “put in” in Yiddish, he adds a game piece to the centre.
If you find that you have no game pieces left, you are out. When one person has won everything, that round of the game is over!
So this is the p’shot of the dreidel, to remember that there was a time when studying Torah was a capital offense.

The Remez

(Slide) On the level of remez, the hint is this. When Moshiach comes, all of the holidays will be absorbed. What does that mean? They will become minor holidays and Chanukah and Purim will become the major High Holidays. Chanukah and Puram are victory celebrations, while the other High Holidays are not so much about victory but removal from sin and receiving nearness, maintenance and atonement. (Click) Purim and Chanukah are about self-sacrifice and it is for this reason that their significance takes on an even more special quality in the Messianic age. They grab the Almighty’s supreme attention. These Holidays were created by man and sanctified by Yahweh and represent celebratory bond that all the other High Holidays do not possess. The whole idea that these holidays are separate from the Moadim of the Torah, an observation that causes their rejection by some, are their actual strengths and is the reason why they are so important to celebrate.

(Slide) The letters nun (נ), gimel (ג), hey (ה) and shin (ש) can also be read as Goshna, “to Goshen.” Goshen was a type of Promised Land and represents the Messianic era, after a state of exile. So as the dreidel spins and lands on each letter, it represents that spinning sensation of exile that eventually comes to a halt and makes us arrive in stages into the Promised Land, the age of redemption, the Messianic era. The numerical value, the gematria of Goshna is 358. This is the same numerical value as the Hebrew word “Moshiach” (Messiah). We play this game to remind us that there will be a future that will be better than today.

With the addition of the letter pey, instead of a shin that equals 138 is the gematria of Menachem, one of the names of Moshiach, which means “comforter.” This is the greatest name of Moshiach, even over rescuer, because it’s the revelation of being saved that comforts us greatly.

The Drush (Homiletics)

(Slide) The rabbis tell us that the four sides of the dreidel and the four letters are symbolic of the four exiles the Children of Israel. Through the years, the enemy has tried to destroy the righteous seed through assimilation and separation from the Land of Israel and the ways of Yahweh. The first captivity was from Babylon. The end of that 70 year exile brought about the time when the Persians ruled. Haman and his wicked henchmen sought to exterminate the Hebrews. Later the Greeks developed their competitive culture with sporting events and philosophy to sway the Israelites from spirituality. Then finally the Romans adopted all three approaches. But after each exile, comes a point where we are brought closer to Elohim.

(Slide) The four exiles are alluded to in the very beginning of the Torah in the second passage of the Book of Genesis. In English it is usually rendered, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of Elohim was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:2)”

The Babylonians - Formless

The expression “formless and empty (void)” is rendered in Hebrew as “אֶרֶץ erets הָיָה hayah וּהתֹּ tohuw וּהבֹּ bahuw.” The word tohuw means “formless” and bahuw means “empty.”
This is linked to Jeremiah 4:23 where it says “I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.” This passage speaks of the Babylonian exile, using the rhetoric of Genesis 1. So the Hebrew word for “formless” tohuw represents the Babylon exile.

The Persians – Empty (Void)

(Slide) The word “void” (empty) also used in Jeremiah 4 is alluded to in the book of Esther where it says in Esther 6:14 that “they rushed Haman to come” in that the word for rushed is להַבְּ bahal which represents alarm and has the same root as the Hebrew word for void or empty. So bahuw represents the Persian exile.

The Greeks - Darkness

(Slide) Then, where it says “the world was dark,” represents the Greeks, who wanted the Jews to deny their Creator. The Hebrew word for darkness is ךְשֶׁחֹ choshek. As it says in Midrash Rabbah – Bereishit 2:4, “And darkness symbolizes Greece, which darkened the eyes of Israel with its decrees, ordering Israel to, 'write on the horn of an ox that they have no portion in the portion of Israel.’”

(Slide) According to Sfat Emet Chanukah 5636, “The Greeks rejected the idea of Creation, thus the idea of Shabbat was an absurdity to their way of thinking. Similarly, the idea of a "new month" was absurd: For Jews, the new month indicates renewal and a testimony to Creation. The Greeks clearly rejected this notion. Moreover, the Torah teaches us this process of renewal and the testimony it bears are within the domain of the Jew: The new moon occurs only when declared by the Rabbinic court, indicating that the so-called forces of nature are placed under our control. This tenet of Jewish philosophy is encapsulated in the midrash in which the angels ask Elohim when the new moon is and Elohim responds, "Ask the Jews." Elohim, as it were, is seen to have abdicated the right to declare the new moon, which is a physical reality, and given it over to the courts, making it a religious act. This idea must have been particularly offensive to the Greeks, for whom natural phenomena were sacrosanct, not influenced or dictated by man, and certainly not by the Jews.”

By outlawing the sanctification of the New Moon it caused Israel to descend into darkness, hence ךְשֶׁחֹ choshek.

The Romans – An Abyss

(Slide) Then there is the expression “over the face of the abyss.” This represents the Roman exile, which was the worst, because it appeared to have no end like an abyss. The Hebrew word for abyss is םוֹהתְּ tĕhowm, which comes from a Hebrew root that means “to distract” and “discomfit.”

(Slide) But the verse concludes with the Ruach of Elohim hovering over each of these exiles.
So the verse reads, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of Elohim was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:2)” But it can be rendered “Now the earth was subject to a formless exile, an empty exile, a dark exile and a deep exile, but Elohim hovered over them all.” Now as one continues to read on, he sees that Yahweh creates a good land, inhabiting it with all good things and populates it with His people. This light is the light of Moshiach, which vanquishes the exiles. This is the blueprint of all creation, right there in the second verse of the Torah. So this is the drush of the dreidel.

The Sod

(Slide) What is the Sod? The esoteric level. Again we look at the four letters. These letters represent the four forms of exile. 
The nun represents the nefesh, the soul. The Babylonians destroyed the Holy Temple, which represented the connection point to the soul of Yahweh’s people.

The gimel represents guf, the body. Then Persia tried to destroy the body, whether they kept Torah or not, they wanted to kill the bodies of the Jews.

The shin is שָׂכַל sakhel (consideration) which is the intellect. The sakhel represents the Greeks, who tried to kill the Jews through intellect, through vain philosophy.

The hey stands for הקהל hakhel, everything (the entire assembly). The hakhel, the entire ensemble of exiles are encapsulated in the Roman exile. They tried all the former forms of exile on the Jews.

Conclusion

Each face of the dreidel symbolises the four basic modes of being. We all have our Gimmel days, when we feel that everything is going great, and we all have our Hei days, when things are going quite well. Then we have our Nun days when we feel like we’re not getting anywhere, and our Shin days when we feel we lose a little bit of who we are. Each of these letters represents only one face of the Dreidel -- only a single angle or perspective of the whole.

 
(Slide) The Maccabees did not dwell on the absolute dire consequences of their situation. They focused on the Gimmel that was on the other face of the Shin. We must remember that whenever we seem to be getting a lemon in life, it's all part of one Dreidel. And that Dreidel is telling us that miracles happen. We can transform the dark situations of life into the bright light of the Chanukah Menorah. This depends upon our faith in Elohim’s plan, and our commitment to create a vehicle for such a miracle to happen.

Though the beautiful land of Goshen was set within what would eventually be a hellhole for Israel, Ya’akov looked at all of the letters of the Dreidel, and realised that hidden in the exile are the seeds of redemption. Israel prospered, built on houses of Torah study, which taught them that no exile can hold sway over them while they help fast to Yahweh’s decrees.

This is the secret meaning of the dreidel. The letters represent the four major exiles, which after their endurance, bring us closer to the Messianic age and at the end of the Messianic age, the Olam Haba (The World-to-Come). The objective of exile is that the more we go down, the more we will eventually go up.

Through my own actions, I’ve put myself in one of the lowest places that I can ever remember being, but in that very low place, the lowest part of the womb, the birth canal, the most constrictive place, where the potential death of the mother and baby reaches its highest probability, there comes the birth, the elevation, the release. There comes true life.

(Slide) The miracle of Chanukah is the irony of a children’s game used to mask the true purpose of life, but in actually containing the true purpose of life concealed within its very make-up. At the time, the students may have thought that the game was a distraction from their true purpose in life, but Elohim conceals His countenance within the mundane and only through commitment to understand Yahweh within the ordinary facets of life do we make the deepest connection. 
A dreidel can’t spin forever ladies and gentleman. Eventually it stops. Just keep playing and your reward will come.
Will this be the last Chanukah we have in the exile? Only Yahweh knows. 
This is my message. Happy Chanukah everyone.

Rosh Chodesh Series - Time your walk - Part 2

New Moon, New Month, New Opinion

Rosh Chodesh Teaching

Part 2 of Time Your Walk

 

 

(Intro Slide)

The Serious Nature of Time

(Slide) In our previous teaching on Rosh Chodesh, we found out that the Almighty takes time very seriously. One only has to look at Scripture itself to see this as the Torah opens with the words “In the beginning,” and then segments the process of creation within a deliberate timeframe. Even the Talmud, man’s most authoritative Divine response to the Torah itself, starts with the question, “From what time may one recite the evening Shema?” The idea of sanctified time is one of the foundations of our faith. It sets the timing and pace of our walk, enabling the finite to stay anchored to the infinite in season and out of season. 

The Forgotten Command

(Slide) So it’s somewhat ironic that the first nationally disseminated command, a time dependant command, heard in the ears of the whole nation of Israel has become the most neglected and yet one of the most debated over commands in all of Scripture. It is the Celebration of the New Hebrew Month, the moed (the appointed time) of Rosh Chodesh (the head of the month), which is reckoned by the cycle of the moon. “And Yahweh spoke to Moshe and A’aron in the land of Egypt, saying: ‘This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you. (Exodus 12:1-2)’” 

The Command to Disagree

(Slide) The topical nature of this Festival is not new. Indeed Rav Sha’ul addresses it as a point of debate in his day. “Let no man therefore condemn you…in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath:  Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Moshiach. (Colossians 2:16-17)” So disagreements, often leading to condemnation and sectarianism, over the observance of holy days and other forms of observance within the faith is an ancient phenomenon. But there is a healthy and unhealthy way to sift for the truth. The two chief schools of Torah learning, Hillel and Shammai, are presented in constant opposition to one another. (Slide) Many times Yahshua’s audience asked him questions to see which school he agreed with. Disagreement, debate and resolution is a Torah practice. This is why the Talmud (Eruvin 13b) says: “A heavenly voice declared: "The words of both schools are the words of the living Elohim, but the law follows the rulings of the school of Hillel.” (Slide) This is why Yahweh allowed the continued existence of both the Pharisees and the Sadducees, two major sects of second century Judaism that were locked in constant disagreement. Disagreement generates discussion, discussion generates learning and learning generates growth. “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. "Come now, let us reason together," says Yahweh. (Isaiah 1:17-18a)” 

The War on Time

(Slide) The Sitra Ahurah, the Dark Forces, seek to attack time, by misdirecting, manipulating and confusing it. An army that does not know when to march, camp, or ready itself for battle is ineffective. Sure, most of us are familiar with Mystery Babylon’s move to supplant holidays “He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. (Daniel 7:25)” While a successfully outward false portrayal of the original faith has its sweeping benefits, the enemy constantly sets out to sow discord within the body over the various observances we are commanded take on.  

(Slide) Two high ranking demons are found in deep discussion. One says, “We’ve deceived the majority of the world with our religion and our calendar, but what about that small persistent body of people who refuse to be deceived?” The other replies, “We’ll set discord amongst them with their own doctrine and confuse their own calendar. They’ll be too busy in-fighting to sift lost Israel from the nations.” “How do we do that?” says the first demon, “By removing their legal body through the dismantling of their leaders, teachers and judges,” replies the second. 

And that’s exactly what they did. 

(Slide) There had existed for centuries, even as far back as the time of the Prophet Moshe, the Sanhedrin, an appointed body of Torah compliant individuals whose job it was to judge and direct various matters on an individual and communal nature within the body of Messiah.  One of its roles was to reckon the New Month. The Sanhedrin calculated the new moons so accurately that they were able to sanctify every new moon for nearly two thousand years!

The Jewish Revolt and the Introduction of the Hillel Calendar

(Slide) In 351-352CE Roman persecution began and the Jews revolted. They were soon crushed. Many Jewish towns were destroyed and decrees issued against the local authorities and against Judaism. The privileges of the head of the Sanhedrin and the freedoms of the Sanhedrin itself were curtailed. A serious condition existed by the deterioration of the Sanhedrin center in Galilee. Hillel II agreed to limit the functions of the head of the Sanhedrin, as well as the Sanhedrin itself, with respect to proclaiming the new moon, setting festival dates, and employing intercalation. He then published details which informed all Jews of the methods of the calendar. From that time on the Sanhedrin in Judea ceased to function or to maintain calendar experts. Hillel II is given the credit for the present fixed calendar, but in reality it is the result of centuries of development. The aim had been to perfect the system of a fixed calendar (Ency. Judaica, s.v. “Hillel”).

So when is Rosh Chodesh? 

Now bearing in mind that the moon wasn’t just put in the sky to enhance a romantic evening for two, let’s find out what all the fuss is about. 

So, is Rosh Chodesh the precise conjunction of the sun and the moon, that is when the moon is invisible against the backdrop of the sun, or is it at the first visible sliver of light, called a “waxing crescent”? This teaching will endeavour to get to the bottom of the issue. 

Unlike the weekly Shabbat that appears at the conclusion of a seven-day count, the monthly Shabbat has proven to be little more complex to discern. 

(Slide) Which one is it, the Molad or the Crescent?

(Slide) The first thing to point out is that the current reckoning of the new moon according to NASA is different from its ancient reckoning. 

Maritime records from the nineteenth century distinguish the dark moon from the new moon even though modern meteorological sources refer to the new moon as the dark moon. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the new moon as “the first visible crescent of the Moon, after conjunction with the Sun.” We have a clash of definitions here. The term new moon meant one thing to the ancient Israelites as attested to by their writings (as we’ll see), and it means something quite different to modern scientists.

First I want to air the argument for the Molad, the dark moon. 

What Does Molad Mean?

(Slide) The word Molad (מולד) is a Hebrew word meaning “birth.”

In 358CE the Roman Emperor Constantius II outlawed New Moon announcements, Hillel ben Yehudah, the second-last President of the ancient Sanhedrin, promulgated a fixed and simple arithmetic to approximate the moment of the mean lunar conjunction (the "molad", or in plural "moladot"). Since then, the molad of the Hebrew calendar has been nothing more than a fixed arithmetic cycle that determines the provisional date of Yom Teruah (Day of Blasting / Rosh HaShanah (the Hebrew New Year Day).

Psalm 81:3[4]

(Slide) The covered moon is believed to be what Psalm 81:3 refers to. Most people wouldn’t notice because no Bible translates the verse in English correctly. The verse, in context and in its most accurate form, reads thus: “Sing for joy to Elohim our strength; shout aloud to the Elohim of Ya’akov! Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre. Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon, when the moon is veiled, on the day of our Feast; this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the Elohim of Ya’akov. (Psalm 81:1-4)”

Most Bibles handle the verse in question like this: “Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival (Psalm 81:3)” But when we dare to look at the Hebrew something else is present.

 Psalm 81:3(4)  תִּקְעוּ בַחֹדֶשׁ שׁוֹפָר בַּכֶּסֶה לְיוֹם חַגֵּנוּ

                chagaynu L’yom    bakese         shofar  Va-chodesh  Tik-u

               festival           day     appointed timeram’s horn       month             Blow

Note בַּכֶּסֶה v’kese translated as “appointed time” in the verse, from the root כֶּסֶא kece, means to ‘cover, conceal or hide.’ So the verse should read, “Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon, when the moon is veiled.”

(Slide) Tehillim Volume II from the Artscroll TaNaK Series adds something very interesting regarding the appearance of this word. 

“Blow the shofar at the moon’s renewal….It is the only one of the Jewish festivals which occurs at this time of the month…Others relate כֶּסֶא covered. All other Jewish holidays occur later in the month, when the major part of the moon is visible. Only Rosh Hashanah occurs at the very beginning of the month, when the moon is still covered (Rosh Hashanah 8a). Furthermore, Elohim judges Israel on this day and mercifully covers and forgives sins (Midrash Shocher Tov).” – Tehillim Volume II from the Artscroll TaNaK Series, Page 1027. 

(Slide) This is a very telling declaration, because there are those within the crescent keeping Jewish majority who admit that on Rosh Hashanah, the veiled, dark or covered moon is to be observed (at least on this day) to symbolize the covering over of sin. 

So normally, even if one is a crescent moon keeper throughout the rest of the year, the day of Rosh Hashanah, the 29th of Elul according to their normal reckoning is correctly observed on the dark moon and the rest of the year on the crescent. The New Month on Elul goes for two days, keeping the other months in alignment with the crescent. 

The Book of Enoch

(Slide) The Book of Enoch backs up this theory by speaking of celebrating the New Month on the Molad. The Book of Enoch is mentioned in Jude 1:14 and states regarding the new moon,  “...and when it is wholly extinguished, its light is consumed in heaven; and on the first day it is called the new moon, for on that day light is received into it. (1 Enoch 77:14)” 

Psalm 81:3[4]

(Slide) So the pro-Molad argument is the belief that the covered moon is to be observed throughout the year as Rosh Chodesh, based on Psalm 81:3 and 1 Enoch 77:14. This is despite commentary to Psalm 81:3 mentioning an exception to the rule in reckoning Rosh Chodesh on Yom Teruah (Rosh Hashanah) as the dark or covered moon only.

Counter View of the Covered Moon in Psalm 81:3[4]

(Slide) Some people have been confused by the use of the term “New Moon” in modern astronomy and have sought Biblical support for this incorrect meaning of the term. They usually cite Psalm 81:3, which says:

"Blow on a horn for the Hodesh (New Moon) On the Keseh (Full Moon) for the Day of our Hag (Feast)."

According to the “Concealed Moon Theory,” the term “Keseh” is derived from the root K.S.Y. meaning “to cover” and therefore means “covered moon” or “concealed moon.” According to this interpretation, when the verse says to blow on a horn on the day of Keseh it actually means “[blow on a horn] on the day of the Concealed Moon.” However, the language here DOES NOT support this argument because the second half of the verse also refers to the day of Keseh as “the day of our Feast (Hag).” In the Bible, Feast (Hag) is a technical term which always refers to the three annual pilgrimage-feasts (Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Tabernacles; see Exodus 23 and 34). The New Moon Day (Hodesh) is never classified as a “Pilgrimage-Feast” so Keseh/Hag cannot possibly be the same as the New Moon Day (Hodesh). It has even been suggested that Keseh refers to the Biblical holiday of Yom Teruah (Day of Shouting), which always falls out on the New Moon Day. Unfortunately for this theory, the Bible describes Yom Teruah as a Moed (appointed time) and never as a Hag (Pilgrimage-Feast) -- so Keseh/Hag cannot refer to Yom Teruah either!

It is more than likely that Keseh is related to the Aramaic word “Kista” and the Assyrian word “Kuseu” which mean “full moon” -- see Brown-Driver-Briggs p. 490b. This fits perfectly with the description of Keseh as the day of the Hag since two of the three Pilgrimage-Feasts (Hag HaMatzot and Hag HaSukkot) are on the 15th of the month, which is the time of the full moon! 

The Debate

(Slide) Currently, Netzarim Antoecie follow the Molad, the covered moon as Rosh Chodesh, the Head of the Month. But recently I have been challenged on this observance, hence the reason for this teaching. Now we’ll hear the full argument for the Molad and then the full argument for the Crescent. At the conclusion of this series we will commit the subject to prayer and look to make a decision. Do we stay with the Molad or the Crescent? Let’s investigate both arguments. 

The Molad - Song of Solomon

(Slide) One of the most poetic and beautiful allusions to the covered moon is found in none other than The Song of Solomon.  The New Month is referred to in the following passage in context of the relationship between Rosh Chodesh and Messiah: “Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.  (Song of Solomon 2:8-9)” 

The Molad – Allegory of Peretz

(Slide) Another interesting allusion to the covered moon is found in the birth of Judah and Tamar’s twins Zerach and Peretz. “Zerach (shining) was so called on account of the sun which always shines, and Peretz (breach) on account of the moon which is sometimes breached [i.e. its light is sometimes hidden (at the end of the month) and sometimes completely intact.] But Peretz [symbolizing the moon] was the first born, although the sun is greater than the moon? [i.e. why should the firstborn be symbolized by the smaller orb?] - In a sense Zerach, who stuck out his hand first, was to be the firstborn; but Peretz, the ancestor of the House of David, was given the Divine privilege of actually being the first born. The Davidic dynasty is likened to the moon because it underwent various stages of ascendancy and descendancy. Since the Davidic dynasty evolved from Peretz who was likened to the moon, the Talmudic Sages [see Rosh HaShanah 25a], - when wishing to inform the Jews in other countries that the New Moon had appeared and been sanctified, would use the message 'David King of Israel lives and exists' (Ramban citing Sefer HaBahir)”

The Molad - Mini Yom Kippur

(Slide) Rosh Chodesh is also known as: Yom HaKippurim Katan. This means that Rosh Chodesh is a minor Yom HaKippurim. The devout will fast on the last day of the month and reflect upon his actions on the first day of the month. This really pushes the point of an all year round Rosh Chodesh Molad observance, rather than just on Yom Teruah, if we take into account the covered moon symbolising a covering for sin and the fact that Rosh Chodesh contained a sin offering like on Yom Kippur. 

The Molad - Something from Nothing

(Slide) The Father, the great Creator, had to emerge from His “Afisgah,” nothingness and reveal Himself. He is neither “something” nor is He “nothing,” for He is the "Absolute Something" as well as the “Absolute Nothing.” “No man hath seen Yahweh at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. [John 1:1-18)” Yahshua, the original man, called the Adam Kadmon in Hebrew, emanated from the Father, though the Father was already begun.

Since the celebration of the New Moon is a celebration of the Adam Kadmon, the pre-incarnate Messiah, and because he emanated from the nothingness of the Father so should the blessing of the New Moon emanate from the “Molad” the nothingness of the moon before the crescent is revealed. Even the make-up of the human body supports the Molad, in that though the outer body is all we see, it is the unseen part, the soul, which is what came first and has supreme value over all that can be seen, touched, smelt and heard from the body. 

The Molad - They Used to Do it?

(Slide) It is believed that Judah as well as Israel had begun to render the New Moon on the crescent moon not on the Molad. This was true except during the Month the Atonement when the High Priest had to go into the Holy of Holies to seek atonement for the people. Jewish law says the New Moon of the 7th month must be at the Molad not on the crescent. “The Maggid of Mezritch said in the name of his Rebbe, the Ba'al Shem Tov, that [Yahweh] Himself blesses the month of Tishrei and this gives us strength to bless the other eleven months of the year....Rosh Chodesh Tishrei falls on Rosh Hashanah, which is the day when [Yahweh] judges Klal Yisrael. It is against our interest that HaSatan know when Rosh Hashanah falls, and by not publicly blessing Rosh Chodesh Tishrei, we hope to keep it secret so that HaSatan will not know when to come before the heavenly tribunal and speak evil against the [Commonwealth of Israel]. For this reason, Rosh Hashanah is referred to as the "hidden" festival, as the pasuk states: "Tiku bachodesh shofar -- Blow the shofar on the New Moon -- bakeseh leyom chageinu -- on the covered up ['bakeseh' -- related to 'kisui,' 'covering'] i.e. hidden day -- which was appointed for our festival." (Psalms 81:[3]4)" So the argument goes that if it was important for us to observe the New Moon on the Molad on the Month of Atonement it is just as important to observe correctly the Torah every month.

The Round Challah

(Slide) The use a round Challah on Rosh Chodesh also attests to an entirely dark moon being the new moon because it’s full shape typifies the moon being full in the heavenlies-receiving the light that we will see as the month progresses hence the expression, “its light is consumed in heaven.” One could argue that if we used a bread to symbolise the crescent it would be a banana-shaped loaf.

The Golden Calf

(Slide) The story of the Golden Calf Chapter 32 of Exodus is well known. Moshe was gone a long time and the people became very anxious. Without Moshe, they were left to their own devices. This, coupled with their inability to understand their relationship with Yahweh through the Torah was a bad combination. With the equivalent of Messiah being away, the people’s High Priest had to think quickly. A’aron sat on the threshold of a possible mutiny in the wilderness. So he went back to a system of worship that they understood, that had penetrated their society from earlier days.

A’aron made a (single) golden calf, and presented it to the people saying, “here are your Elohim, who brought you up from Egypt (Exodus 32:4)” referring to the Calf as embodying the whole pantheon of Middle Eastern religious false g-ds. 

Is the Crescent Moon Pagan?

(Slide) But why did they make a calf of all things? The answers are to be found in the religious symbolism of the deities worshipped. We are dealing with the symbolism of the moon-god, who was symbolised by the upturned horns of the calf. These upturned horns of the calf are not found, as a rule, in the well-bred mature animals because they are culled. They are found in the calf and represented the crescent moon on the horizon, as it appears some period after the true phases of the conjunction. 

This concept was as a visible symbol of the divine presence, as in all pagan idolatry. Thus, we see the difference between the worship of the one true Yahweh who is invisible and whom no man has ever seen or ever can see (John 1:18; 1 Timothy 6:16) and no man has heard His voice either (John 5:37), symbolised by the conjunction at the new moon and the visible presence of the moon-g-d observed as the crescent on the horizon. This concept (Acts 7:43) has been the most persistent factor in Israelite idolatry over the centuries and especially since the Babylonian captivity, up until and after the formation of the Messianic Movement. A’aron said Tomorrow shall be a feast to Elohim. He tried to use pagan practices to worship Yahweh. 

(Slide) The same symbols and the same idolatry were woven into the tapestry of Israelite religious life. The observation of the crescent is merely another representation of the moon-god.
The Canaanites were under Assyro-Babylonian dominance from 3000 to 1700 BCE. Even by 1400 BCE, their influence was still so great that all correspondence with Egypt and the Pharaoh was conducted in Babylonian, and the name of the moon-god Sin formed the basis for the Canaanite names Sinai and the wilderness of Sin (ERE, Vol. 3, p. 183). The hand of Sin was seen in the madness in children – hence, lunacy is associated with this deity (ibid., p. 527). Sin moon-god of Harran was also worshipped at Sam’al at the foot of Mount Amanus (ibid., Vol. 2, p. 295). Sin was the Ba’al of Harran mentioned in the correspondence at the time of Sennacharib, Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal. Sargon (722-706 BCE) confirmed the exemption Harran enjoyed from taxes as the city of Sin (ibid.). Nabonidas last king of Babylon (555-539 BCE) rebuilt the temple of Sin at Harran. Sin became identified with Be’el-shamin the owner of the sky from the Syrian dominance at Harran combining the Syrian god with the ancient moon-god. This deity was identified with Zeus by the Greeks from Phoenicia and Palmyra and elsewhere enjoying their patronage and spread from Mesopotamia into Armenia. Ultimately, he became identified with Anu, Lord of Heaven of Babylon (ibid., Vol. 2, p. 295).

This name Sin came into the Old English as a concept of transgression against the Torah. It was rendered from the original sunjo as sende in the old-Frisian and became sonde in the middle-Dutch (cf. The Oxford Universal Dictionary, p 1897).

The Crescent

(Slide) Reaching back to Middle Eastern mythology, Mohammed, in the Koran (at Surah 20 Ta Ha), deals with the episode of the calf. He produces the being As-Samiri who influences the making of the Golden Calf. Here we see the etymology for the moon/sun system as it is attributed to this being by name. The explanation is that Gabriel had hallowed the ground and this being threw some of it into the casting of the calf. The Koran holds the calf had the capacity to make a sound as though lowing (cf. Pickthall’s translation, pp. 231-232). This may have been from heating. The bull systems of Moloch or Malcom and the Minotaur were heated for human sacrifice, which may have been within them in some cases. The crescent moon image on the flags of Islam also, symbolizing the morning star of the planet, which is the tzar of this world (2Cor. 4:4).

In the Babylonian system, the identification with the fertility system was as Shamash the sun-god, which was a fallen angel according to the Book of Enoch, brother of the fertility goddess Ishtar. Shamash was the personification of light and righteousness and had the power to deliver oracles of prophecy (cf. Drury Dictionary of Mysticism and the Occult, p. 237). The Babylonians worshipped Istar or Ishtar as Venus, the morning star. The two horns of the moon at sunset, and also sunrise on the horizon with the morning star, symbolized the system both in peace and war.

To continue with the observation of the crescent moon, given the known information about the significance of the crescent moon and its place in the worship of the Calf system, is effectively to continue in this system of worship.

End of Part 2

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Rosh Chodesh Series - Time your walk - Part 1

New Moon, New Month, New Opinion
Getting to the truth about Rosh Chodesh

Every living being is an engine geared to the wheelwork of the universe. Though seemingly affected only by its immediate surrounding, the sphere of external influence extends to infinite distance. – Nikola Tesla

One thing you may have never pondered about the Book of Genesis, is the Almighty’s desire to inform the reader of the timing and sequential nature of all the phases of creation. While the nature of each feature is explained with beautiful simplicity, why does the reader have to know what was created on which day? Why is it so important to relay everything in such careful sequence? 

Life revolves around cycles of seven. 4 symbolises the world and 3 the Divine, when merged we get the number 7, a number that symbolises a complete union of man with heaven. The number 7 is used over 700 times in the Bible and 54 times in the Book of Revelation. There are 7 types of congregations, 7 Spirits, 7 stars, 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 vials, 7 personages, SEVEN dooms, and 7 new things. The whole world is founded on 7. It is the number of completeness and perfection. There are 7 notes in the musical scale. Yahweh used these notes in combination to literally sing creation into being and the song continues to this day and it’s up to us if we want to attune to it. 

“And Elohim said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years (Genesis 1:14)” Very early on, the Almighty established a sequence of time, a rule of measure, to guide man in his journey through life. Everything in life was established as a vehicle of metaphor to enable man, if he so chose, to attune his life to the orchestral song of Creator of All Things. The unfolding of the passage of time is as crucial to attaining harmony as the timing of musicians is critical in creating a beautiful song. 

To get the most out of life, one must have a good sense of time, in which resides the possibility of living out the deepest of values. Living in Yahshua’s footsteps is a life punctuated by ritual. Not hollow religious observance, but living out deep connection points that should heighten an observer’s awareness of Messiah’s essence. Daily prayer is meant to teach us gratitude for the opportunities of each day, and reinforces one’s sense of responsibility for how that day should be spent. The unique holidays that mark the Creator’s prescribed calendar reinforce numerous core values, such as human equality, the supreme value of life and communal ethics. The High Holidays take a collection of interrelated issues and present them on a grand scale. Chanukah teaches about the importance of religious freedom; Pesach reminds us that though we were held captive by sin, there is freedom and protection in Messiah’s shed blood and Yom Kippur teaches us humility, which cleanses us from sin and brings atonement with the Father. Our walk is very much interwoven with a sense of timing. Take for example this passage: “This is the burnt offering of Shabbat on its Shabbat. (Numbers 28:10)” Notice the stating of the obvious in this passage. This is to re-enforce the timing of the burnt offering. If one forgot to bring it, perhaps it could be brought on the following day or on the next Shabbat. To make sure that this will not happen the Torah instructs us to bring this sacrifice only on its own Shabbat and not on the next one. Once the day has passed by, the offering is no longer valid. Of course there are laws where one can make up for missed opportunities, but this ruling is rather for one who thinks that the timing is optional. Though there is an expression called “Jewish time” implying a kind of ease with time in which coming late is acceptable, it cannot be denied that the true faith of Yahweh takes time most seriously.

In Hebrew there are two chief words used for time. They are moed, which means “appointed time” and zeman, which means “time” as in a season. 

Through the rhythms of holidays and life-cycle events, values are reinforced and the individual and the community have an intense sense of the passage of time and the particular possibilities of each day, of each season, of each phase of life. Yahweh has designed man’s inner being to leap with a unique sense of satisfaction that comes from doing His will that accrues to the final day of his whole life. The amount of Elohim’s will that has been left undone over a lifetime is directly proportionate to the feeling of wasted years a man feels on his deathbed. At the close of Avraham’s life, the Torah does something interesting by noting the number of his years, the goodness of these years and their fullness. “Avraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Avraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. (Genesis 25:7-8)” True fulfilment in life is learning to apply the most appropriate action in every sequence of time. The Book of Ecclesiastes is probably the best-known ancient text that expresses how we should understand the potential significance of each period of time: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens (Ecclesiastes 3:1)” 
Time is divided into years, month, days, hours, minutes and seconds. Each segment feeds into the next, producing a sequential frame of references along an unfolding linear chain.
Many of us have lost time. We’ve wasted it, squandered it and failed to use it wisely. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of Yahweh is. (Ephesians 5:15-17)”

Did Messiah Yahshua manage his time well? You bet he did. In fact as he moved from point A to point B he is never in anyway ruled by time. He’s never in excess of it or deficient of it. He even directs it, sending Judas on his way during the Passover preparation meal, symbolically removing the leaven from his company. His seemingly late arrival after the death of Lazarus, served to all the more show the glory of Yahweh. He never rushed, played catch up or missed the hour of prayer. Time becomes evil when we use it for evil, but it becomes good when we use it for good. Yahweh calculates all the hours each of us has spent involved in goodness against the amount of hours we have been involved in evil - down to the very second. 

Helping a neighbour or preserving another’s well-being has always taken precedence over ritual observance. Indeed, the nature of our broken world has always meant that our observance of Holy times is interrupted and broken, but never is it an excuse to not be preoccupied with one’s holy duty like the Levite and the Kohen in the parable of the Good Samaritan. They were going to perform their duties in the Holy Temple, as they should have been and it was only when they passed a body lying on the road that they transgressed. The appearance of a Samaritan, a man from a nation that denied the observances of the Jewish rituals shifted his identity by rendering help to the helpless, transforming wickedness into righteous. The righteous identity of the Levite and the Kohen in turn shift to wickedness, because they could not discern the time. The time was to help a neighbour, even if it meant defiling themselves on account of the dead. Few of us pass by dying or even stranded individuals on our way to service and yet so many of us are not found on the road to serving Yahweh at all. Helping a neighbour transcends any failure to observe ritual, but ritual never transcends and failure to show kindness. There is no true Israelite who does not observe kindness when it is needed and there is no true Israelite who chooses to ignore ritual observance. The House of Yahweh will still be there when you’re finished, a dying man wont. 

The Biblical calendar is quite possibly one of the most challenging and debated over aspects of our faith. Like the Shabbat, its observance is a commandment dependant on time that enables an Israelite to attune his existence to the orchestral workings of life. “He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from Elohim. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Then people go out to their work, to their labour until evening. (Psalm 104:19-23)” 

The Hebrew calendar is a wonder to behold. Its format is known as “luni-solar,” which means that its months are lunar and its years are solar. In other words the years stay in synch with the seasons, starting at the southward equinox, which is around September of the pagan calendar and the months are synchronised with the phases of the moon. It’s a beautiful partnership. The time span between one new moon to the next is a bit over 29½ days, however each month has to be composed of full days so the months of the Hebrew Calendar alternate between 29 and 30 days. Furthermore, the lunar year only consists of 354 days while the solar year consists of 365¼ days. This would cause the months to occur 11 days earlier each year, which presents a problem with a number of seasonally dependant Pilgrimage Feasts (Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot). For example Pesach is commanded to be observed annually in the springtime according to Deuteronomy 16:1. The solution has a phenomenal answer, because it’s a Torah observance containing component parts that are impossible to observe without adding a man-made adjustment! It’s like the Almighty commanding you two do three things, but to do just two of them negates the third and the only solution is to add a mechanism that the Creator says nothing about. 
The solution took the form of a thirteenth month (Adar Sheni [Second Adar]) to be added seven times in every nineteen years. In other words, to prevent the Commonwealth of Israel from violating Torah, the Hebrew lunar calendar is regularly adjusted to keep it in conformity with the solar year.
The names of the Hebrew months are derived from the Babylonian exile and some are names of false deity. Prior to this, most of the months were numerically named. This foreign naming convention has intentionally remained, initially to appease occupying nations and later to remind Israel of its former exile and captivity. 
The Months of the Hebrew are:

Tishri (September - October) – Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah, Shimini Atzeret
Cheshvan (October - November)
Kislev (November - December) - Chanukah
Tevet (December- January) - Chanukah
Shvat (January – February) – Tu Bishvat (New Year of the Tree)
Adar (February – March) - Purim
Nisan (March –April) - Passover
Iyar (April – May) – Counting the Omer
Sivan (May - June) - Shavuot
Tammuz (June - July)
Av (July – August) - Tisha B'Av
Elul (August – September) 

The twelve new moons for each month represents the twelve tribes of Israel, reflecting the light of Torah, shone on them by the light of the Father through King Messiah Yahshua. Each tribe has an accorded month that corresponds to its unique personality and mission. 

One of the ways we acknowledge the existence of Yahweh Elohim is through the orderly function of the complex heavenly bodies. The cycle of the moon, with its waxing and waning represents Israel’s decline and rebirth and reminds us that though Yahweh’s nation may seem to disappear, but its light will eventually blaze again. 

Each month begins at the New Moon and the Full Moon hits in about the middle of the month. So the month follows what’s called a “synodic lunation” (a full cycle of lunar phases). The New Moon heralds the “beginning” or “head of the month,” which is Rosh Chodesh in Hebrew. It’s as binding as the Weekly Shabbat. 

Rosh Chodesh is a day that Yahweh has set for man to sanctify, much like we sanctify the weekly Shabbat. We are commanded to make a notable observation of its arrival. “And Yahweh spoke unto Moshe and A’aron in the land of Egypt, saying: ‘This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you. (Exodus 12:1-2)’” It’s interesting to note that this command is the first communally disseminated ordinance. That is to say it was the first command given to Israel as a nation. To set up a calendar marking the progress of time throughout a given year based on cycles of the moon. 

Rosh Chodesh is to be marked by joy as we acknowledge Yahweh bringing us from one appointed time to the next. It is a time to gather together and make a teruah (loud noise) into the heavens. “And on your joyous occasions - your fixed festivals and new moon days - you shall sound the tzotzerot (trumpets) over your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well-being. (Numbers 10:10)” This is to be observed as a gathering accompanied by a fine meal. “So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast, and I am supposed to dine with the king (1 Samuel 20:5a)” 

How does one observe Rosh Chodesh? Remember, we don’t worship the moon; it is merely a marker signifying an opportune time for a specific sanctification. Most siddurim contain Rosh Chodesh prayers. The Torah does not set forth the exact character of Rosh Chodesh, nor does it specifically prohibit work on the day, but work was refrained from as we see in Amos 8:5; “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”

There are plenty of hints in the writings of the prophets as to some of the observances of this day. For example, there was worship. “The people of the land are also to prostrate themselves in worship before Yahweh at the entrance to that gate on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. (Ezekiel 46:3)” Rosh Chodesh was a time when incense was burned. “Behold, I will build a house to the name of the Yahweh my Elohim, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Yahweh Adonai. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel. (Chronicles 2:4)” It was a time when a free will offering was brought. “And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of Yahweh that were consecrated, and of everyone that willingly offered a free will offering unto Yahweh.(Ezra 3:5)"

Anyone who is not paying attention to the Creator’s calendar is quite literally killing their own time. Never before in history has so much knowledge become so easily accessible. Yahweh is working to a time-frame, it's up to you if you want to be on His schedule.

Now we've looked at the importance of appointed times, particularly Rosh Chodesh, the most neglected of all the appointed times, we can keep going.

Next week, we’ll look at when to sanctify the month, even though it might sound straight forward enough there is some difficulty in pin-pointed the exact time. So join us next Shabbat.

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