HOLIDAYS

Here's a basic summary of some of the various holidays & holiday customs B'rit Hadasha celebrates:

TU B'SHEVAT
Tu B'Shevat (the 15th of the month Shevat) is "the New Year for Trees", Tu B'Shevat historically was used as a means of calculating the age of trees for the purpose of tithing. Today it has become a time to plant trees, especially in Israel.

PURIM
Purim (Lots) is the annual celebration and remembrance of God's deliverance of the Jewish people through the Jewish Queen of Persia, Esther. The story can be found in the book of Esther. Purim is typically celebrated with a costume party, special foods, the reading of the book of Esther, etc., and is preceeded by a memorial fast.

PASSOVER
At Passover we remember the deliverance of the ancient Israelites from the bondage of slavery in Egypt under Moses and Aaron by the blood of a lamb. We also remember how God later made possible all mankind's deliverance from the bondage of sin by the blood of another Lamb, the Messiah Yeshua. During the week of Passover we only eat bread that is without yeast (unleavened bread/matzah). We also begin counting the Omer, a custom lasting 50 days taking us up to the Feast of Shavuot (Weeks), also called Pentecost.

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Counting the Omer

SHAVUOT
At Shavuot we remember the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai as well as the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) at Mt. Zion. Each occured 50 days after Passover. For the Messianic Jewish community, Shavuot is a time to pay serious attention to Bible study and prayer, even to the point of staying up all night for it! Shavuot is the completion of Passover, for at Passover we were set free from slavery, but at Shavuot we were made a nation. We likewise were set free from the bondage to sin on account of the Lamb of God, Yeshua the Messiah. But at Shavuot we have been empowered by His Spirit so that we can have power over sin, even power to keep His commandments!

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ROSH HASHANAH
Known in the Bible as the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh HaShanah is today celebrated as the Jewish New Year. It is a time of starting over, of repenting from sin, and breaking bad habits. It begins a 10 day period of introspection known as the Days of Awe, culminating in the next holy day, Yom Kippur. For the Messianic community, we receive it as the New Year, but our emphasis is on its Biblical identity as a time for the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn). At this time, we seek to repent and repair any broken relationships, and we look forward to Messiah's return, which is associated with the blowing of trumpets.

YOM KIPPUR
The most solemn day of the year, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), was that day in ancient Israel when the High Priest went into the Most Holy Place of the Temple and performed a sacrifice for the atonement (covering) of sin by the Jewish people. Our observance of Yom Kippur commemorates the sacrificial death of Messiah as an atonement for our sins, focuses on Messiah's role as our Great High Priest, and is a day of mourning over our own sins and the great price that it cost our Lord.

SUKKOT
Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, is a time that God proscribed for us to live in sukkot (booths or temporary shelters). During this festival we remember the ancient Israelites who wandered for 40 years with no home while they dwelt in tents. We also are reminded of the temporary nature of this world, that it is not our home, and that we are only here for a short time. We typically build a congregational sukkah (booth) to fellowship and eat under, and we typically camp out for that week. As a Messianic community we also use Sukkot to remind us of the Incarnation, when Yeshua the Son of God "tabernacled among us" by becoming the Son of Man. Sukkot is concluded with the celebration of Hoshanna Rabba and Sh'mini Atzeret.

SIMCHAT TORAH
Though not a Biblical holiday, Simchat Torah (Joy of the Torah) is a joyous occassion. It's the day when we finish the annual reading cycle of the Torah scroll and roll it back to Genesis and begin a new year of Torah reading. As Messianics it also becomes a day to celebrate the entirety of God's Word and recognize that the Torah, rightly understood, points the way to Messiah.

HANNUKAH
Hannukah, the Feast of Dedication, is an eight-day celebration remembering the time when in 165 BCE Judah the Maccabee cleansed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem from Syrian defilement and dedicated it afresh to the Lord. Traditionally, a great miracle happened there, in that the menorah, which only had enough oil to burn one day, burned for eight. Yeshua, who celebrated Hannukah in his day, used the Hannukah story to challenge the Jewish leaders in regard to His own miracles. The New Testament tells us that if we have a relationship with God through Messiah, then our own bodies become the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Hannukah is an ideal occassion to rededicate ourselves anew to His calling.