Tag: New Moon

Pharisaic Calendar and Court – Pt. 2

YRR has released an audio Mini-Pod titled “Pharisaic Calendar and Court – Pt. 2”

The court system developed by the Hillelic Pharisees was clearly a device they invented to address how a New Moon Day was to be declared. The rabbis did involve the populace by having them act as official witnesses, making them feel as if they were an essential part of the process.

At the same time, the Jewish people allowed the Nasi (head of the Sanhedrin) to become all-powerful, giving him the same status as Moses and by hanging on his very utterance of approval before they could begin a month and count the days to their festivals.

Ultimately, the regulations of the Hillelic system caused it to collapse under its own weight, leaving those who adhered to its principles in a constant state of confusion.

Listen in to get the facts regarding the alteration of Yahweh’s sacred calendar by the Hillelic Pharisees and its effect on those today who are unknowingly following their precepts, which include the requirement of a visible crescent of the moon to begin a month.

This audio presentation can be accessed and listened to at the following link:

M019. Pharisaic Calendar and Court -Pt. 2 – (15:58)

It can also be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podbean, among others.

Pharisaic Calendar and Court – Pt. 1

YRR has released an audio Mini-Pod titled “Pharisaic Calendar and Court – Pt. 1”

The Hillelic Pharisees, starting with Gamaliel I, using the “traditions of their fathers” and heavily influenced by Babylonian customs, instituted a series of modifications that forever changed the requirements for determining the beginning of a month and a year in what became known as Orthodox Judaism.

One must realize the fact that there is no record before the Mishnah (200 C.E.)—and then only when it deals with the period of Pharisaic control over intercalation beginning in 41 C.E.—of any official sanctification of the new moons and the requirement for witnesses before a court to confirm a visual sighting of a new moon crescent.

Listen in to get the facts regarding Yahweh’s sacred calendar.

This audio presentation can be accessed and listened to at the following link:

M018. Pharisaic Calendar and Court -Pt. 1 – (19:10)

It can also be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podbean, among others.

Pharisee Influence

The calendric system utilized by the Hillelic Pharisees between 41 and 365 C.E. becomes an essential issue for our study. Various present-day researchers, both from rabbinic Judaism and neo-Christianity, have, without adequate foundation, concluded that the Hillelic system was the original method required by Scriptures.

Both rabbinic Judaism and neo-Christian groups, as a result, have assumed that the Israelites always had waited to declare a New Moon Day until the night that its first crescent was witnessed. For some Christian messianic groups, it is presumed that authority to continue this practice in Christianity is brought forth from Romans 3:1-2 and Matthew 23:3. The question is, Do these passages actually support such a conclusion?

The willingness to accept the pro-Pharisaic interpretation of the two above passages comes as the result of two circumstances:

• The assumption that the Jews from this period must have known and practiced the true system.

• The victory of the Hillelic Pharisees in their political struggle against their religious rivals, leaving predominantly Pharisaic records as our primary source for Jewish practices of the first and subsequent centuries C.E., somehow proves their authority. Continue reading “Pharisee Influence” →

Jewish Authority

There is yet another important question that must be addressed pertaining to Yahweh’s instructions from Scriptures regarding when to begin the sacred months and years. How much authority do we allow the Sadducees, Pharisees, or any of the other ancient Jewish groups regarding the sacred calendar?

In reality, there is no justification at all for accepting as authoritative the teachings of any of the Hasidic groups, especially the Pharisees, or even that of the Aristocratic sects of the Sadducees, Boethusian Sadducees, or Samaritans. All systems must be weighed against what Scriptures actually state, not vice versa.

If after examining Scriptures we find that one or another of these groups held true to some of the practices and doctrines that were originally commanded, the most we can say is that they were observing that point correctly. Yet any conclusion must be tempered by the scriptural warnings about the various teachings of the Sadducees, Pharisees, and scribes (lawyers). Continue reading “Jewish Authority” →

Sanctification of New Moons – Pt. 2

Defective and full Months
The Pharisees established rules that limited not only the number of months which could be defective (i.e., only 29 days long) or full (i.e., consisting of a full 30 days) but even limited which months were eligible.

The Mishnah states:

There are never less than four “full” months in the year, nor do more than eight (full) months require to be taken into account.31

In turn, they point out that there were never more than eight or less than four defective months. Meanwhile, a 12 lunar-month year has no less than 352 days and no more than 355 days, while a 13 lunar-month year has no less than 383 days and no more than 385 days.32

These reckonings were further encumbered by other restrictions which ignored the reality of the new moon phases. For example, the last month of the year, Adar—the month which precedes Nisan, the first month of the next year—is always defective,33 as was, except in special cases, the sixth month, Elul.34 The first and seventh months, on the other hand, i.e., Nisan and Tishri, were “never intercalated,” that is, they were always full.35 Continue reading “Sanctification of New Moons – Pt. 2” →

Sanctification of New Moons – Pt. 1

The Hillelic Pharisees differed from their religious counterparts in that they followed the Babylonian custom of demanding that there must be witnesses who could testify to a Calendar Court confirming the sighting of the moon’s crescent on the very first day of the new moon. They also required official sanctification of the new moon by their Calendar Court.

Our attention will now shift to examining the rules for sanctification and dissemination for the Hillelic New Moon Day. As we shall see, many of these regulations prove to be arbitrary and counter to scriptural intent.

Sanctification
The Hillelic Pharisees considered it “a religious duty to sanctify (the new moon) on the strength of actual observation.”1 This duty was required, “even though the observation is not necessary for the purpose.”2

Maimonides argues this Pharisaic position when he writes: Continue reading “Sanctification of New Moons – Pt. 1” →

Rules for the New Moon

Many followers of Yahweh recognize the importance of correctly observing Yahweh’s sacred calendar.

At the same time, there seems to presently exist some confusion regarding the determination of a scriptural month and year.

We know that Abraham was justified to receive the Promised Land “because Abraham obeyed my (Yahweh’s) voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, MY STATUTES, and my laws.” (Gen. 26:5)

The observance of Yahweh’s Festival Days is a STATUTE that Abraham would have kept as a requirement for justification to achieve salvation and eternal life.

One would also have to conclude that Abraham did, in fact, observe the Festival Days correctly. Otherwise, he would have failed to keep them and Yahweh would not have justified him.

During our present time, if one is in error regarding Yahweh’s sacred calendar, it follows that one is not properly keeping Yahweh’s statutes and, therefore, would fall short of Yahweh’s commands. Continue reading “Rules for the New Moon” →

New Moons – Visibility or Calculation?

When it comes to the issue of determining New Moons by visibility or calculation, there are a number of questions one should consider when trying to ascertain Yahweh’s truth of the matter.

It seems that various religious leaders have convinced many people that not only must one actually see the visible crescent of the new moon but must also determine the greenness of the barley crop for the New Year.

These religious leaders purport to know and understand the true criteria for the determination of Yahweh’s calendar. They also claim their knowledge and understanding comes directly from Scriptures.

In addition, these religious leaders claim that their formula for determining New Moons emanates from Scriptures and is very simple. So simple that Yahweh has provided the means for virtually anyone to determine the beginning of months and years regardless of circumstance.

Well, almost anyone. You might not be so fortunate if you don’t have 20-20 vision or are not a farmer.

Continue reading “New Moons – Visibility or Calculation?” →

New Year’s Day Dilemma

Because of the wide range of opinions prevailing among the various followers of Yahweh there seems to be no unified consensus regarding the truth as how to determine the beginning of the scriptural new year.

At the same time, all claim to possess the truth of the matter while insisting that they have derived their conclusions directly from Scriptures.

What we are left with are two possibilities:

1. One conclusion is correct.
2. All conclusions are wrong.

For the sake of simplicity let us proceed with the possibility that all are wrong. All we are trying to do is clear away the confusion to get at the heart of the matter. Once we are finished only Yahweh’s truth should prevail.

Continue reading “New Year’s Day Dilemma” →

New Moon Clarity

How does one figure when the month begins, scripturally speaking, especially those who claim to be seeking Yahweh’s truth?

Logic dictates that one would just add 28 days to the date of the last new moon. Then go outside and look low toward the western sky at sundown. Keep looking for up to two hours or so.

If you don’t see anything, repeat the process the next day and so forth until you do. Simple stuff, or so it seems.

It would have been simple except for the fact that when you personally did this a while back, a friend called you and said “Happy New Year” and proceeded to tell you that he saw the new moon.

Unfortunately, you never saw the thin crescent of the new moon even though you carefully scrutinized the early evening sky.

Questions
Because of this precarious situation, you proceeded to disagree with your friend’s conclusion. You questioned if he was wearing his eyeglasses, using binoculars or a telescope. You even wondered if he had been drinking any alcoholic beverages prior to his sighting. Many more questions were asked, and needless to say, the conversation did not go well.

Then you actually did see the new moon for the New Year, and you were sure you got it right this time. That worked until someone said you were wrong because the barley wasn’t ripe enough; therefore, you were one month off. At this point, a slight sense of frustration set in with the realization that maybe you just weren’t qualified (smart enough) to figure these things out. Best to stick with the experts (religious leaders) to get it right.

So simple enough (and we do want to keep things simple), you proceeded to consult various religious leaders, elders, and teachers of Scriptures. Now things began getting rather messy. Virtually no one could give you a consistent answer.

You now come to the stark reality: It’s been “New Moon Guesswork” all along.

So as a last resort to arrive at the correct answer, you set out to determine which Sacred Name group, among others, had the most followers as this would be the best criteria for arriving at Yahweh’s truth. Surely large numbers of people cannot all be deceived, and besides, Yahweh would not  permit it. So everything is simple now, and you can relax.

Remarkable stuff! Remarkable because it seems the New Moon controversy has been going on for over 2000 years with no end in sight! The truth is that we can end the debate if one carefully investigates Scriptures with an unbiased mind. We will proceed to do just that as we continue.

New Moon Clarity
Let’s start with the reasonably good premise that Yahweh wants mankind to observe his commanded festival and sacred days. (Exod. 23:14-17; Deut. 16:16)) Yahweh has also furnished us with a timing mechanism to observe these days at their proper times. For instance:

And eloahim said, Let there be luminaries in the open expanse of the heavens to divide between the daytime and the nighttime and let them be for signs and for moadim (appointed times) and for days and years; and let them be for illuminations in the open expanse of the heaven to give light on the eretz (land); and it was so. And eloahim made the two great luminaries: the great luminary for ruling the daytime and the smaller luminary for ruling the nighttime, and the stars. And eloahim set them in the open expanse of the heaven to give light upon the eretz and to rule over the daytime and over the night, and to separate between the light and the darkness. (Genesis 1:14-18)

Give thanks to Yahweh . . . to him who made the great lights; for his mercy is world-age lasting; the sun to rule in the daytime, for his mercy is world-age lasting; THE MOON AND THE STARS TO RULE IN THE NIGHTTIME, for his mercy is world-age lasting. (Psalms 136:1, 7-9)

Thus says Yahweh who gives the sun for a light by daytime and STATUTES OF THE MOON AND STARS FOR A LIGHT OF NIGHTTIME. (Jeremiah 31:35)

He (Yahweh) made the MOON FOR THE MOADIM (appointed times), the sun knows where he enters in. (Psalms 104:19)

Moon and Stars Rule Nighttime
It seems very clear that the statutes of the moon, along with the stars, are used to determine the moadim (appointed times) of Yahweh. Therefore the legal authority of the moon and stars is during the nighttime. In contrast, the authority of the sun is the daytime. Indeed, in Scriptures, the days of the month, as well as all the moadim, are always counted by the 24-hour legal days of the moon, which begin at sunset.

From Jerusalem
Now that we have some facts, it would be helpful to know from what location on the earth should the calculations of time be legally considered.

For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Yahweh from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)

It seems that Scriptures are quite clear and unambiguous.

Most everyone realizes that the phenomena of the moon’s phases are caused by the moon’s revolution around the earth in relation to the sun. This lunar circuit takes about 29.5 days to complete, and then the process repeats. Our current months are based upon this cycle.

The lunar cycle point of completion is when the moon goes into conjunction with the sun. When the moon begins leaving its conjunction with the sun, the rebuilding or renewing of the lunar cycle is commenced.

So, at minimum, there would be some relationship with the moon completing its cycle for it to renew or rebuild along with the statute regarding the legal authority with nighttime. One might assume that the visual sighting of the New Moon crescent is required per Yahweh’s statute since in no way does this conflict with the concept of the rebuilding of the lunar cycle or new moon.

No Scriptural Command to See Crescent
One should note that nowhere in Scriptures is there a command for one to actually see a visible crescent of the moon to determine a new moon.

A possible scenario would be that everyone in the general location of Mt. Zion/Jerusalem would diligently look for the moon’s visible crescent, only to be disappointed by the fact that clouds were obstructing the moon and sun.

The next option would be to review the mathematics, for you wouldn’t be looking in the first place if there wasn’t some simple arithmetic at play.

Then there is the added problem of the simple math not being able to reveal a visible lunar crescent because the degree of separation of the moon and sun was too close to call.

Abraham Knew How to Calculate
But then you might say that Yahweh had to simplify it for simple people who could not perform the required calculations of new moons; therefore, he implemented the simple visual rule. Besides, aren’t we talking about farmers, sheepherders, and nomads of the desert?

Somehow even Abraham was able to keep Yahweh’s statutes correctly.

Because Abraham obeyed my (Yahweh’s) voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my STATUTES, and my laws. (Genesis 26:5)

Surely Abraham could not know about such things as mathematics and precise calculations. Unless, of course, there might be some evidence to the contrary. Josephus states:

HE (ABRAM) COMMUNICATED TO THEM (EGYPTIANS) ARITHMETIC, AND DELIVERED TO THEM THE SCIENCE OF ASTRONOMY; for before Abram came into Egypt they were unacquainted with those parts of learning; for that science came from the Chaldeans into Egypt, and from thence to the Greeks also. (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 1:8:2)

In addition, most are unaware that during the time of Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, the year consisted of 360 days with 12 months of 30 days each. This means that the solar and lunar years were synchronized so that one could readily calculate Yahweh’s Festival Days accurately every year as the Old Testament patriarchs did.

Yahweh’s Clock Always Works
So far, we have evidence of Yahweh setting up a clock that all of mankind could use to accurately keep the statutes of his festivals and sacred days. Therefore, it is only logical that Yahweh would teach mankind how to understand the clock and its calculations.

This would also mean that the clock would work regardless of man’s handicap of poor eyesight or clouds obstructing the sky.

When one does the research, there can be found much evidence revealing that the ancients and later Jewish factions recognized the scriptural validity of mathematical calculations regarding the determination of the new moon.

For a more thorough discussion of the matter, please refer to the article by Qadesh La Yahweh Press titled “Rules for the New Moon.”

After perusing the referenced article, the following information will be just a bit easier to comprehend. This is how it works, and you really don’t need good eyesight or be concerned with any clouds in the sky.

How Yahweh’s Clock Works
It logically follows that before determining the first day of the month, you must determine when the last day of the month occurs.

In reality, the actual purpose of the conjunction is to determine the last day of the month. This is a lunar event and, therefore, can only legally be counted during the nighttime of a 24-hour day.

If the conjunction occurs during the night, then that 24-hour day is legally considered the last day of the month. The next day begins at sunset, which is New Moon day.

On the other hand, if the conjunction occurs during the daytime, the following day at sunset is legally counted as the last day of the month. This is because of the “part of” rule, as explained in “Rules for the New Moon.” New Moon day will commence with the second sunset after conjunction.

Keep in mind that the New Moon day is based upon the moon’s position as it relates to Mount Zion during the nighttime.

By now, some of you think that all this can’t be true because, based on the presented information, some new moons will be occurring that will not have a visible crescent after sundown.

If one is worried about not being able to see the thin crescent of the moon, then the following bears repeating, “One should make a note of the fact that nowhere in Scriptures is there a command for one to actually see a visible crescent of the moon to determine a new moon.”

For now, this should be enough information for the reader to ponder. Besides, the issue of the green ears of barley wasn’t even addressed, which is purportedly needed in addition to a visible New Moon crescent for the New Moon day, which begins the scriptural New Year. 

For the discussion regarding “green ears of barley,” please refer to:

The Abib and Barley Error – Pt. 1
The Abib and Barley Error – Pt. 2

If you are looking for more informative material regarding Yahweh’s calendar, be sure to check out another publication by QLYP titled: “The Festivals and Sacred Days of Yahweh.”