God’s seven Moedim (Appointed Times) are celebrations rich in meaning, designed to bring us back into a relationship with our Creator and give us hints about the future. Each Holy Day is a Shabbat, on which, “Kol malechet avda lo taasu כָּל-מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ” you shall do no servile work. I wondered about the word “servile”, so I looked up synonyms and was so surprised by some of the substitutes: fawning, submissive, subservient, grovelling, toadying! They all point to appeasing the powers that be. I think that God was warning us that if we bow down to anything other than the Creator, we return to being like slaves in Egypt. Everything that the Israelites were instructed to do all points back to this recurrent theme – Remember that the God who took us out of Egypt, out of slavery, gives us freedom. The Moedim were gifts from the Creator to the people of Israel, who were mandated to proclaim them (Vayikra 23:2), to celebrate them, and to share them with all the nations, not symbolically or merely for demonstration.
The first Moed was Shabbat, which encompasses all the others and is observed every 7th day in the lunar calendar, from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. It is not simply a day of rest; more importantly, it is a sign of the Creator’s existence. Other days may have been appointed by other religions as their Sabbath, but they are not the same as the Sabbath that the God of Israel ordained.
Next, there are three festivals in the spring and three in the fall. Not every Moed is a Chag; Chag comes from the root ח-ג-ג, which relates to circling, dancing, and celebrating. It refers mainly to the Shalosh Regalim, the Three Pilgrimage Festivals (Ex. 23:14 – Three times a year you shall keep a chag to Me).
The second Moed is Chag Pesach, combined with Chag Matzot (the Feast of Unleavened Bread), and is observed for 7 days in Nisan, the first month of the year. (Vayikra 23:5)
The third feast, called Rishonim Bikkurim (First Fruits), is also known as Sfirat haOmer (Counting of the Omer), and begins the day after Pesach (Vayikra 23:10).
The fourth Chag Shavuot, also called Chag HaKatzir, the harvest feast (Ex. 23:16, 34:22), is observed 50 days after Chag Pesach (Vayikra 23:16).
The next set of Festivals begins with Yom Teruah (the Day of Sounding the Shofar), the fifth festival on the first day of the Hebrew month Tishrei (Vayikra 23:24). Our sages called it Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, linking it to the creation of the world, but note, it is not God’s new year in Nisan, the first month.
Yom Teruah, a “Shabbaton”, a day of complete rest in which no work is to be done, is not a chag according to the Torah. The blast of the shofar calls our attention to begin the cycle of Teshuva (Repentance and Return), during which we take a moral inventory of our lives.
The sixth feast, occurring ten days later, is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), Vayikra 23:27-28, and is never called a chag. Kippur, from the Hebrew “kapparah”, depicts God’s “covering” over His people as we “afflict our souls,” seek God’s forgiveness, make restitution for transgressions, and are restored.
Chag HaSukkot, or Festival of Booths, is the seventh and final of the Moedim; it is also known as Chag Asif—חַג אָסִיף—the Festival of the Ingathering, and the culmination of all the Moedim. The Israelites were to dwell in a sukkah, a fragile, temporary dwelling, signifying that although our bodies are fragile and temporary, God, our protective covering, is the Giver of eternal life.
These three last festivals have two aspects: one in which we are judged, and the other in which we are forgiven and set free, culminating on the 7th day, Hoshanah Rabah, the great day of salvation.
From the beginning, God’s plan of redemption included the Gentile nations. Bamidbar 29 shows us that on the first day of Sukkot, 13 bulls, 2 rams and 14 lambs were offered. Every day for 7 days, 1 bull fewer was offered, while the numbers of rams and lambs remained the same. If we compare the rams and lambs with the regular offerings during the year, we see that they consisted of a “double” portion, suggesting that Sukkot was significant. According to our sages, when we add the number of bulls offered over the full 7 days, the total is 70. In Gematria, 70 corresponds to all the Gentile nations of the world who certainly shouldn’t be jealous of Israel. The reason is that all the offerings of the first 7 days of Sukkot were specifically for them, while on Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day, only 1 bull, 1 ram, and 7 lambs were offered for Israel.
Shemini Atzeret is called an Atzeret, not a chag according to the Torah. The verb atzar, ע-צ-ר (ayin-tzadi-resh), means to hold back or restrain. Our sages say that the 8th day is “held back” as a festival reserved solely for Israel; it is like when the king hosted a wedding and invited guests from all over the world, they celebrated for days. Then, on the last day, the king invited only his close family and inner circle to a small, intimate banquet to express his gratitude.
To sum up, God’s Moedim call out to everyone; at Yom Teruah, the sounding of the shofar reminds us of the shofar blast from the heavens when Moses, the man God called, received God’s constitution for Israel. The Ten Commandments contain guidelines for the entire world to live in peace and harmony. They reveal to us that there is only one God for all nations. There is no other Creator, no matter how much each religion tries to promote its gods. God’s Moedim are His Appointed Times; His dates with us to solidify our relationship with Him, while man’s self-appointed dates divide mankind, destroying God’s covenantal relationship.
It is crucial for us to understand that when we add to or take away anything from God’s words, as He warns us not to do, we reap trouble on every front.
The final Moed, Chag Sukkot, depicts God’s specific calling to all the nations. Shemini Atzeret depicts that He has reserved a distinct role for Israel, the apple of God’s eye. The microcosmic picture of this is seen in the story of Joseph, the 11th of Jacob’s 12 sons, the apple of Jacob’s eye. Of the twelve sons, Joseph was chosen for a purpose. The brothers couldn’t see the bigger picture and hated him. They couldn’t see that Joseph’s value was not greater than theirs; his calling was different. In the end, they were all united, and forgiveness brought prosperity and life to all. This is depicted in Zechariah 14, where we read in verse 16: “And it shall come to pass, that everyone that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot…”
Once again, our sages have added one extra day, Simchat Torah — “Rejoicing with the Torah”. It is a beautiful rabbinic tradition signifying the joy of living the precepts of the Torah, but it is a day added to His Words. And this brings me to my next topic: the identity of a rabbi who changed history and constantly challenged the religious authorities of his day.
Almost 2000 years after Joseph, son of Jacob, another Joseph would appear in the history of Israel. He and his wife, Miriam, would bring an extraordinary prophet into the world whose teachings continue to stir the hearts of so many. His special birth is believed to have been on the first day of Sukkot. The first clue is found in Luke 1:4 with Zechariah, a priest in the Abiyah division of Temple service. According to 1 Chronicles 24:10, his division was the eighth among the 24 divisions that served twice a year for one week and for the full week during Shalosh Regalim: Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot.
Zechariah’s term of duty would have been during the lunar month Iyar, May or June. At this time, according to Luke 1:8-17, the Angel Gabriel announced to Zechariah that his wife, Elisheva (Elizabeth), a descendant of Aaron, would conceive and bear a son who would turn the hearts of many back to God. Since they were very old, God would have performed the miracle, as with Sarah and the many barren mothers of Israel… He opened their wombs. But Zechariah played his part in Yochanan’s conception, like all the fathers of the many male babies who had important roles in our history. In Luke 1:24, we read that Elizabeth remained in seclusion for five months.
Luke 1:26-38 records that in the sixth month, Gabriel announced to Miriam, a virgin, engaged to Joseph, living in Nazareth, that she, too, would conceive; most likely on Kislev 25 (in December) or the first day of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. Miriam was frightened, but Gabriel told her about Elisheva, so she left immediately to visit her cousin (v. 39) and remained there for three months. Assuming that Yochanan was conceived at the beginning of Sivan, he could easily have been born on the first day of Pesach (14th of Nisan), bringing his Brit Milah (circumcision) to the eighth day. He would announce the coming of another chosen son of Israel, Yeshua, the last and greatest of Israel’s prophets. Add about 15 months from Zechariah’s service, 6 months to the conception of Miriam’s baby, and about 9 months of pregnancy, and Yeshua’s birth would have been around Tishrei, at Sukkot. If Yeshua was born on the first day of Sukkot, his Brit Mila would have been on Shemini Atzeret, explaining the singular nature of this day.
Why is it important to speak about Yeshua and his Brit Mila?
Our first great teacher, Moses, brought us the Torah, and Yeshua, our last great teacher, brought us back to it. If Yeshua had not been circumcized, he would not have been a Jew, a son of Israel. His teachings were directed first to the Jews. Why? So that we could return to our God and fulfill our role as Ohr l’Goyim, Light to all the Nations. That is how important Israel is to the world to this very day. Why do you think we have so many enemies? Our numbers are few, but our God chose to give us an extraordinary role among the nations…as it says in Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:2: “For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
We continue to put bandaids on the world’s problems, but the answer lies in the teachings brought to us from God by Moses and exemplified by Yeshua. Yeshua did not invent Christianity or any religion that teaches that the Torah is no longer valid and that their new writings have replaced it. He said, “Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets; no, I have come to fulfill them”, and fulfill means to live them. He celebrated Shabbat and all the Moedim with his talmidim, and he argued with his Orthodox brothers, who put their religious traditions above the Torah, just as they continue to do today.
Yeshua changed the world! Even the modern Gregorian calendar is based on when he was born. Was it a coincidence that it was at this time of year and that it is through him that much of the Gentile world has been brought back to God through the Scriptures? Now we are waiting for our people to recognize who Yeshua is… not the false god-man creation invented by the Roman Empire, but a true son of Israel who loved his people and wanted us to return to the Torah.
Chag Sameach
Peggy Pardo