Welcome to Voices from Zion. Together we'll explore the scriptures in the original Hebrew, wrestle with hard questions, and celebrate the beauty of what unites us, and the respect that deepens when we acknowledge what doesn't.
So welcome to the dialogue, welcome to the wrestle. Welcome to Voices from Zion, Robbie and the Rabbi. Very, very excited to welcome you to this really incredible edition of Voices from Zion, Robbie and the rabbi as we're coming upon some very important stuff and in the fourth day uh in Genesis 1 it says that God said let there be lights in the firm of the heavens divide the day from the night and for them to be signs for seasons and for days and for years and for many Christians we we don't see the calendar the way God does that you know there's that there's coming certain moons and things that would indicate that this is really high holy days i guess would be a good word for it but i i know next to nothing compared to what you're going to find out today so i'm personally very excited about that so rabbi god bless you thank you okay so indeed we are coming into imminently a very special season of the year and The terminology we find in the Bible, the terminology we use today, has a sufficient degree of difference in it that people would be very justified in asking, exactly what is this season that we're entering now? that is in particular as probably everyone is aware next week is the holy day that we call nowadays Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah, literally the head, the beginning of the year now in the reckoning of the biblical calendar that should raise all the red flags because the beginning of the year well the beginning of the year as we read in exodus chapter 12 in god's statement to moses and aaron in the land of egypt god says this month referring to the month of the exodus shall be unto you the beginning of months it shall be the first month the year to you so by simple counting and if you don't want to count it's exclusive in the bible the month that's coming up now is the seventh month so new year in the seventh month what new year so inevitably we've got to go back to the bible and try to piece this all together and I suppose the best place to begin if we speak about this holiday which is of course in the reckoning in the Bible the first of the holy days of the seventh month we read about it for the first time in Leviticus chapter 23 reading from verse 23 the Lord spoke unto Moses saying speak unto the people of Israel saying in the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto you. That's telling us that it is a holy day.
A memorial proclaimed with the blasting. The blasting, the Hebrew reads, Teruah. Teruah is the blasting sound that we make with the ram's horn. A holy convocation. and there's a prohibition on engaging in servile work and an imperative to bring an offering before the lord this holiday we only read about once more in the torah and the five books of moses that's in numbers chapter 29 numbers chapter 29 again is a chapter that is devoted to the holy days there is one passage of course besides genesis which is before the events that defined the holy days there is one passage in each of the five books of the Torah dedicated to the holy days that is there's one in the biggest there's one in numbers there's one in Deuteronomy there are two in Exodus maybe we'll have education to consider why but in any case the specific holy day that takes place at the beginning of the seventh month appears in only two of these it's not one of the pilgrimage festivals it appears in Leviticus chapter 23 and in Numbers chapter 29 in Numbers chapter 29 it isn't described as zichron teruah which we could render either as a memorial proclaimed with blasting or a memorial of blasting, it is described as the day of blasting Yom Teruah so clearly this theme of blasting again the Teruah the broken sound produced by the Shofar by the ram's horn is central to this holy day but besides that what does the Torah tell us about this holy day well the short answer is absolutely nothing that's not to say that we don't read anything more about it in the Bible where we do read about it at greater length and given the dearth of information we have in the Torah this greater elaboration is in a way perplexing in Nehemiah chapter 8 beginning at the beginning of the chapter all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the broad place that was before the water gate and they spoke unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Torah of Moses which the Lord had commanded to Israel and Ezra the priest he is the high priest after all brought the Torah before the congregation both men and women and all that could hear with understanding upon the first day of the seventh month okay so we recognize the date of course i'm skipping a little bit for the purposes of brevity in verse 5 and ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was above all the people and when he opened it all the people stood up there is the alternative understanding of that verse as that they stood but they stood from speaking in other words they were silent again i'm skipping verse 8 and they read in the book in the Torah of God distinctly and they gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading and this experience of hearing the word of god read from the torah by ezra was such a sensation verse 11 so the levites stilled all the people saying keep silence be quiet for the day is holy neither be aggrieved because they were crying and all the people went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions and to make great mirth because they had understood the words that were declared unto them so you know if anything the questions just become compounded here because obviously they knew.
Ezra knew. Nehemiah knew. And the people who heard the words knew. But inevitably when we ask ourselves what exactly were they reading from the Torah? Because after all, explicitly that's what Ezra was reading.
It couldn't have been some elaborate explanation of what takes place on the seventh month first day because there's almost nothing there. Which of course inevitably plays into the realization that the written word is not the end-all. There's obviously the oral tradition that goes together with it. But in trying to understand what indeed is the significance of this time of year.
So we already noted exodus chapter 12 the lord spoke unto moses and aaron in the land of egypt saying this month shall be unto you the beginning of months it shall be the first month of the year to you and that's not this one the first month is the month of the spring and yet we already noted that in exodus there are not one but two passages that describe the holy days in exodus chapter 23 we read about the pilgrimage festivals no we don't read about any holy day that takes place on the first day of the seventh month but we read about the pilgrimage festivals beginning in verse 14 three times you shall keep a feast unto me in the year the feast of unleavened bread shall you keep seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as i commanded you at the time of the time appointed in the month of spring again that's the first month for in it you came out of egypt and then in verse 16 the feast of the harvest the first fruits of your labors which you sow in the field and the feast of ingathering at the end of the year now hold on to that the feast of ingathering at the end of the year we will of course read in leviticus chapter 23 about the feast of ingathering it is in the seventh month it begins on the 15th day of the seventh month but then how's that the end of the year if the year begins in the first month in the spring that is we all realize that a year is a cycle when you get to the end you don't fall off a cliff you start the next year so by extension if the first month is in the spring then the end of the year should be then immediately preceding the month of spring and of course counteractually if implicitly God is telling us here that there is an end of the year at the time of the feast of ingathering which is, after all, the seventh month then necessarily, by implication that's also the time of a beginning of the year a beginning of the year that means there's more than one beginning of the year I'll just note that in the other passage of the Holy Days that we read in Exodus, in Exodus chapter 34 we read about the same cycle of the holy days and in exodus chapter 34 verse 22 the feast of ingathering is at the turn of the year in the hebrew you have a turning point and again turning point means one year is ending and another is beginning but it's not the first month or the 12th month it's the seventh month so there's a beginning of the year that takes place in the first month and somehow there's also beginning of the year that takes place as clearly specified in exodus chapter 23 and exodus chapter 34 this time of year except i'm being a bit dissembling because Of course, in either of these passages is there any explicit reference to the seventh month. We will only read about the seventh month in specific explicit terms when we get to Leviticus chapter 23.
So what's going on here with this festival of ingathering that doesn't have a date, but we know when it's going to take place because after all, we will read a date in Leviticus chapter 23 and in Numbers chapter 29.
So we know when it takes place, but it doesn't give a date. When we read about it in Exodus chapter 23 and Exodus chapter 34, all we read about is, again, in the first, the end of the year, and the second, the turn of the year. What's going on? And inevitably what we need to consider, in particular, in the point and counterpoint of the first month, and what we will yet read about as the seventh month, is they represent totally different vertices in the year. The first month, of course, is explicitly identified as the month, the first month of the year.
And why am I harping on month?
well we have these two units of time the month and the year and of course historically they are based on completely different cycles in the English month of course is etymologically related to moon and the month is based upon the orbital period of the moon this of course also works in hebrew where there are two words for month one is yerach yerach is the self-same letters as yareach which is the word for moon in hebrew and the other word which we encounter in leviticus chapter 23 and numbers chapter 29 is chodesh Chodesh doesn't overtly refer to the moon but implicitly it does Chodesh is etymologically derived from Chadash which means new the Chodesh is the new moon the moon after all is always waxing and waning you never see the moon exactly the same so that day upon which the moon has waned into oblivion you don't see anything we understand because the moon is roughly between the earth and the sun i say roughly because if it's exactly between the two then there's a solar eclipse it's roughly between the two the illuminated side of the moon is the far side of the moon and we don't see the moon and of course in antiquity they also understood that so there is this reference to the month in god's words to moses and aaron in exodus chapter 12. The first month of the year is the month of spring, the month of the Exodus. And, you know, it's important for us to appreciate the extent to which that theme of the first month is so integral with respect to the commemoration of the Exodus. As Moses says to the people in Exodus chapter 13, verses 3 and 4, remember the day in which you came out of Egypt at the house of bondage. Of course, day is another unit of time, but the particular emphasis in the following verse, in verse 4, this day you go forth in the month of spring.
The first month is the month of spring. Everything is blooming. Renewal. you're also blooming renewal going forth from bondage a nation is being born likewise in Deuteronomy chapter 16 this is the passage about the holy days that we read in Deuteronomy in chapter 16 verse 1 observe the month of spring and make the Passover offering unto the Lord your God for in the month of spring the Lord your God brought you forth out of egypt by night so again it is the month of newness new beginnings and you on some level astronomically we can appreciate that pastor robbie you mentioned the fourth day of creation god creates the sun and the moon, the two great luminaries, but there's a tension between them also. The moon symbolizes dynamism, again, always waxing and waning.
You look at the moon, two successes of nights, it's never exactly the same. And the month of spring emphasizes that dynamic element, something new something reborn as for the sun the sun if anything signifies just the opposite the sun doesn't have faces the sun always looks the same and inevitably what comes to mind is the words of ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 9 that which has been is that which shall be and that which has been done is that which shall be done and there is nothing new under the sun not nothing new under the moon because the moon is all about being new all the time but there's nothing new under the sun and in the same vein that we can readily appreciate that again the word for month in Hebrew besides the word Yerach which is literally identical to Yareach, Moon Chodesh, New, because the month is all about something new renewal, New Moon and focusing upon the Hebrew the Hebrew word for year Shana if anything is also the antithesis of New, so there's also a tension between these hebraic words for month and moon and year the month all about new the very word comes from the root of new chodesh and as for the word for year shana so just to note the first context in which we see this root expressed in the bible it's a little bit off the beaten track but nonetheless it is the first instance in which the root appears in genesis chapter 41 verse 32 joseph is explicating pharaoh's dream and he comments and as for the dream being repeated it's repeated because the thing stands ready from god and god will shortly bring it to pass and of course the word that comes from the same root as year is repeated he shall not and i'm largely related to shana year repetition and uh by the same token we can know it i'm not going to excessively belabor at this point but in the first book of kings in chapter 18 remember the showdown of elijah with the prophets of baal and when it is elijah's turn to show that god will answer his supplication by fire and consume the offering upon the altar he's not content with merely petitioning god to send down the fire first he drenches everything he says in verse 34 fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood and he said repeat it repeat it and they repeated it again same root as Shana of course he says do it a third time also but that's not relevant with respect to repetition year over and over again and if we ask ourselves what should inform a reckoning of time a reckoning of the holy days of the year well there's actually a very important message here the message is of course both that is on the one hand we should appreciate that as per God's command to Moses and Aaron in Exodus chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, the calendar is lunar. We reckon the months of the year according to the moon, apropos of God saying to Moses and Aaron, this is the month with which you begin to count. And the month means moon. But the calendar isn't lunar.
To be very precise, it's luni-solar. and the English experts can check that is a bona fide word it's lunisolar because on the one hand the months are indeed established according to the moon until the exile they were established on an ad hoc basis through eyewitness testimony that witnesses had seen the waxing crescent of the moon. Because we're no longer able to do that provisionally, we use a fixed calendar, but the fixed calendar is still based upon the sighting of the new moon. It is, of course, a calculation. the presumed length of the lunar month after all these years is within less than half a second of the mean length of the lunar month that is accepted astronomically today.
and to that extent there is that lunar component but that's not the only component and inevitably in our reckoning the calendar we need to take another look at Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 1 which again reads observe the month of spring and make the Passover offering unto the Lord your God that's not just telling you that when some sundry month comes you make the Passover offering it's telling you that Passover always has to be in the spring and that of course is a problem it's a problem because if you're reckoning time exclusively through the moon well the mean length of a lunar month is approximately 29 and a half days long it's a tiny bit more than that but that's not relevant for our purposes well that's the case then that means that 12 lunar months amount to roughly 354 days of course 354 days is roughly 11 days short of a solar year When we talk about the month of spring, spring is determined by the vernal equinox. And that has to do with where Earth is in its orbit. That has to do with the solar year. It's not based upon the moon.
So how do you ensure that Passover will always be in the month of spring? And inevitably, that's why we talk about a lunisolar system. Because the months are lunar months. but the reckoning of years has to remain synchronized with the sun in order to ensure that passover will always be in the spring how do we do that well obviously we're not going to be able to add a leap day the way it is done in the gregorian calendar because a leap day is just going to throw off the months from the new moon of course in the gregorian calendar that's not an issue because the months in the Gregorian calendar have nothing to do with the moon. They're completely arbitrary.
But we also aren't going to be able to simply define a year as 12 lunar months, which is the system used in the Muslim world, because then the holidays will retrograde through the seasons, and God said to make sure that Passover is always in the spring.
So we have a system. It is, as in any calendar, an approximation, but it's a pretty good approximation. And that is that in a 19-year cycle, we add seven leap months, not leap days, leap months. That is, in a 19-year cycle, there will be 12 years of 12 months each, and seven of 13 months each, always in keeping with the lunar month. But whether they'll be only 12 months in the year or 13 months in the year has to do with the system that is intended to ensure that we keep the mandate that God gives us in Deuteronomy 16, verse 1, that Passover always has to be in the month of spring.
So, just considering what that implies. On the one hand, then, there is inevitably this emphasis upon the dynamism that is epitomized by the moon. But there's also the repetition that is secured by remembering the sun. And the calendar takes both into consideration. the cycle of the holy days requires the lunar months and the solar years so if we ask ourselves what really does that come to convey to us maybe it's something about the need to preserve and establish on the one hand and the need to be innovative and look forward to the future on the other ah well you know that actually resonates with a whole host of themes in the Bible.
If I can just share one, which I think is particularly apropos, and I think, Pastor Robbie, we talked about this in the Holy Land when you were here in the spring, and that is, let's consider the first two places in the Bible where we read about Jerusalem.
Now, recalling where those first two places are, where we read about Jerusalem, is not a simple mission. Because in neither of them, in fact, does the name Jerusalem appear. But simultaneously, we know it's referring to Jerusalem. Where's the first place? First place?
Genesis, chapter 14, verse 18. and Malki Tzedek king of Shalem in most transliterations that becomes Salem brought forth bread and wine and he was a priest of God the most high and he blesses Abraham blessed be Abraham of God most high possessor of heaven and earth the name of the city is again shalem i'm sorry i have to use the hebrew here shalem as opposed to the standard transliteration as salem because salem with all due respect means nothing shalem however is a bonafide hebrew word Shalem means complete now I made a question which of course I have to defend and that is how do we know that this is Jerusalem so inevitably the answer lies in our conducting an exhaustive survey of every place in the Bible that Shalem appears as a place name as opposed to in the mundane sense of complete which also appears frequently but as a place name when we do our exhaustive survey we find besides genesis chapter 14 verse 18 there's only one other place that one other place is psalm 76 verse 3 in Shalem is Set his God's tabernacle, booth referring to the Sukkah Mahi V'shalem Sukkot and his dwelling place in Zion so of course inevitably we appreciate that this verse as so many of the verses in the Psalms is structured as a poetic couplet meaning there's a correspondence between the first half of the verse and the second half of the verse so obviously tabernacle or booth in the first half of the verse corresponds to dwelling place in the second half of the verse well the location in the first half of the verse which is Shalem clearly corresponds to the location in the second half of the verse which is Zion but where's Zion? Zion of course is Jerusalem Mount Zion even though in contemporary nomenclature it is the name assigned to the ridge that is adjacent to the Temple Mount in the Bible Zion is always the Temple Mount and Jerusalem originally Jerusalem in the time of King David is the southern slopes of the Temple Mount that's Zion so Shalem Salem it definitely is Jerusalem but let's soak up the fact that Jerusalem has a name here that means complete okay that's the first place where Jerusalem appears in the Bible where's the second place? the second place also doesn't employ the name Jerusalem at all but it clearly is Jerusalem and that of course is Genesis chapter 22 the binding of Isaac how do I know that it's taking place in Jerusalem well very simply because in verse 2 God says to Abraham take now your son your only one whom you love Isaac and go you unto the land of Moriah and offer him there for burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of and of course inevitably once again we're going to have to do an exhaustive survey of every place in the bible where moriah appears and once again there's only one other place and that one of the place is in the second book of chronicles chapter 3 verse 1 then solomon began to build the house of the lord at jerusalem in mount moriah where the lord appeared unto david his father for which provision had been made in the place of david and the threshing floor of or not the jebusite at jerusalem in mount moriah mount moriah and jerusalem are one and the same but besides moriah in genesis chapter 22 there is another name that appears in verse 14 Abraham called the name of that place the Lord will see in Hebrew as it is said to this day in the mount the Lord will be seen note that the connotation of Yire'eh, Yire'eh, will see, will be seen, is in some sense the polar opposite of Shalem. Complete is in the present.
It's not only for the future, it's already there.
So we have these two names of Jerusalem. On some level, two antithetical names.
Now, there is additional dimension that I feel compelled to add here, and that is the identity of this seemingly otherwise anonymous Malki Tzedek.
So who is Malki Tzedek? And once again, we'll engage in yet another exhaustive survey of every place in the bible where we encounter the name malchitzedek and once again it's going to be a very short endeavor because there's only one other place it in psalm 110 verse 4 the lord has sworn and will not repent you are a priest forever God is saying this to David after the manner of malchit tzedek or because of the speech of malchit tzedek so of what relevance is malchit tzedek in the life and times of king david so many centuries afterward ah well Malkit Tzedek represents something the conjoining of being king of Shalem and being a priest unto God the Most High God is saying to David who is king you are a priest forever that on some level King David is following the template of Malkit Tzedek and maybe that's exactly what it is a template maybe malchitzedic is a title rather than a peculiar person what might serve to further reinforce that conclusion is if we ask ourselves where do we first encounter the actual name jerusalem it doesn't appear in the five books of moses that doesn't appear so long afterward we encountered the name jerusalem in joshua chapter 10 and in verses 1 and 3 the king of jerusalem is adonit tzedek now adonit tzedek malchit tzedek don't sound similar but the truth of the matter is that they are almost identical in meaning Malkit Tzedek king of righteousness Adonit Tzedek lord of righteousness and perhaps just as every king of Gerar is known as Avimelech and every king of Egypt is known as Pharaoh perhaps every king of Jerusalem is known as king of righteousness lord of righteousness because Jerusalem after all is the city of righteousness if that's the case then we can ask ourselves so who is this Malki Tzedek in Genesis chapter 14 verse 18 so we have an ancient tradition that Malki Tzedek is none other than Shem the righteous son of Noah it's not written in the Bible but this is an ancient tradition that we have and the reason I'm sharing this with you is because we have a tradition with respect to the name of Jerusalem if Malkit Tzedek also known as Shem righteous son of Noah gives the place the name Shalem and Abraham gives the place the name Yireh then God has a problem how is he going to name the city? and indeed we have this ancient Midrash that describes as it were this divine quandary if I name the city Salem as the righteous Shem named it then I'm offending the righteous Abraham If I name the city Yireh as the righteous Abraham named it, then I'm offending the righteous Shem.
So what's the solution? Conjoined the two. Yireh Shalem. The name of the city is Yerushalayim, a synthesis of these two names. Which is, if you think about it, really a profound message because Shem, righteous son of Noah, on some level represents all of humanity.
Abraham as the first patriarch of Israel represents Israel. If we ask ourselves, for whom is Jerusalem the ultimate destination? Of course, inevitably the answer is for everyone. With respect to Israel, we read in Psalm 122, Jerusalem is built as a city that is joined together within itself whether the tribes won't up the tribes of the Lord as a testimony unto Israel to give thanks unto the name of the Lord of course we read likewise in Isaiah chapter 2 verses 2 and 3 that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established at the head of mountains uplifted above hills and all nations shall stream unto it and many peoples will go and say go you and let us go up to the mountain of the lord to the house of the god of jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of zion shall go forth torah and the word of god from jerusalem so of course this is driving home on the one hand that jerusalem has this dimension that we we could describe as parochially Jewish, but also a dimension that is universal and, as it were, ropes in and envelops all the nations of the world, all come streaming to Jerusalem. That's true, but at the moment, I'm really more concerned with considering the implications with respect to the sun and moon.
Right. It's really very basic, namely that just as in the name of jerusalem there is complete which on some level complete means static not shifting but there's also yeah god will see something that is yet unfolding something that is not yet here but will be coming so too a reckoning of time resonates with the sun that signifies complete, static, unchanging, and the moon that's racing around the earth every month and signifying the dynamic that is yet awaiting actualization. And the reason I'm emphasizing this, we need to start, I guess, circling back to our starting point. Remember, we had this enigma. How can you refer to the first day of the seventh month as Rosh Hashanah?
the beginning of the year and the seventh month. But then, of course, we recognized, thanks to Exodus chapter 23 and chapter 34, that something's happening this time of year also. The year is ending, the year is beginning. What year? A year that's not described in terms of months, a year that's described in terms of years.
This is the beginning of the year of months. And that's the month of the Exodus. And it resonates with the moon. and it's all about dynamism it's all about change it's all about newness and month again in Hebrew Chodesh means new and at the opposite end of the year there is the end and beginning of year not described in terms of months in terms of years it's the end of the growing season. In the land of Israel, we have a very well-defined sequence of seasons.
The rains come only during the winter. During the summer, it's a dry season, sun's beating down. The cycle of agriculture in the Holy Land is of course necessarily a reflection of that.
So the harvest festival is a very well-defined period, and of course that's the festival of Pentecost, Shavuot. That takes place seven weeks after Passover, at the end of the spring, at the end of the harvest. And what's crucial to appreciate here is and after you have harvested everything what do you do with it all answer you leave it out in the fields the grain that is harvested is left out in the fields for all the summer because we know that it's not going to be raining during the summer in order for the grain to desiccate under the hot summer sun and what takes place in the fall is the festival of ingathering in the Hebrew, Chag HaAsif ingathering on the most prosaic, basic level because all the grain that's been lying in heaps out in the fields now needs to be brought inside into the granaries before the rain come. It's a feast of ingathering. That's the culmination of the seventh month.
That's the festival that begins on the 15th day, full moon, of the seventh month. It's all about ingathering. What does ingathering mean? Bringing in the sheaves. Taking stock.
In the first month, the month of the exodus, our sites are directed forward. You're going forth out of bondage. And everything is new. And in the seventh month, our sites are directed backward. Introspection.
Taking stock. Where did we start out? And where have we gone? How far back do we look? Oh.
Oh, we look back all the way to the beginning. Just think in Genesis chapter 3, even after Adam and Eve had sinned, they still heard the voice of the Lord God moving about in the garden. And they heard the summons of God unto Adam, unto the man, where are you? Where are you? But God does not quote God's house.
Ayeka in the Hebrew can be rendered as where are you, but on some deeper plane. It means where are you? What have you done to yourself? you were created pristine bearing as it were God's essence divine likeness and now what has it come of you? and that question that question where are you reverberates in the world year by year every year on the anniversary of that question In our tradition, it was on the first day of the seventh month that Adam and Eve were created, and the first day of the seventh month that they sinned.
And God's question is a question on some level to each and every one of us every year that we return to that starting point. As we read in Ecclesiastes 7, verse 29, mine behold this only have I found God made man upright but they have sought many contrivances many intrigues they sought something else and you get to the time of in gathering which is the seventh month and you take a look backwards and you take stock where have we gone where are we doing. If I can jump in. Please, please, please. I probably should have a long time ago, but nonetheless, it's been so intriguing to hear all these things.
But first, I wanted to just ask, did you say that on the first day of the seventh month in your tradition, and I have always understood this, this was the day that Adam was created. yes you did you also say that it was on that same day that he sinned yes unfortunately yes yes in our tradition it was a packed day yeah and um yeah and um and and we've seen this something of an intimation of the idea that is so tragically enunciated in psalm 49 man does not abide in honor he is likened to the beasts that are silenced that he was created that day and that self same day he didn't abide in honor and he sinned and so then interestingly which I think beautifully is the idea of ingathering as I'm hearing it you know, we have, and maybe this, you probably can quote where it came from, but the idea of is you can tell a tree by its fruit, right? That you can tell a tree by its fruit. In other words, that there's good fruit and there's bad fruit. And if you are doing things that are good, you bear good fruit and you're going to sow what you reap, obviously.
And so, you know, again, if you sow the commandments, you sow love, you sow generosity, those things, you reap generosity. But if you sow hatred, bitterness, those kind of things, and you reap that, right? And so as you're thinking about the in-gathering, like as you take stock, and I like that a lot, is looking at, you know, sometimes what's the fruit look like, right? Because it's that idea of now okay you're starting to get your harvest and it may not be what you hoped so one way to say about that is a um a very unequivocal yes and no okay in other words on the one hand of course you're right we did what we did but simultaneously you maybe the most crucial byword, certainly in our associations with this time of year, is the word teshuva.
Now, teshuva is a word, we see it in the Bible, and most people who know Hebrew will immediately translate it as repentance. And that's a correct translation. but I always feel compelled to note here this is an observation that was made by one of the great Bible scholars of the last generation, Rabbi Joseph B.
Soloveitchik that you want to get a rigorous definition of what Teshuvah really means look at the end of the first book of Samuel chapter 7 what's in the first book of Samuel chapter 7 well at the end of the chapter we read about the prophet Samuel as a circuit judge verse 15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life the next verse and he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mitzvah and judged Israel and all those places verse 17 his teshuva was to Ramah because that's where his home was so how should we most rigorously translate the shuvah in the simple english coming home returning home of course returning home means repentance because if we really return home well you know god is always home with his arms outstretched waiting to greet us and take us back with him we just have to want to come home and and that's in some sense yeah that's the the foremost challenge where do you want to be so you know of course inevitably on that plane this is a critical theme we see this in many passages in the bible maybe I'll focus first and foremost on Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 18 and chapter 33, where there's a very vivid description of the wicked man who has a righteous father, but he has turned to a path of wickedness. and ezekiel chapter 18 verse 21 if the wicked returns from all the sins that he committed and keeps my statutes and does justice and righteousness he shall surely live He shall not die None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him. For his righteousness that he has done, he shall live. Have I any desire at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not rather that he should return from his ways and live?
and again verse 27 when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed and does justice and righteousness he shall save his soul alive because he saw and turned away from all his transgressions that he has committed he shall surely live he shall not die and likewise in Ezekiel chapter 33 in verse 12 the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression and as for the wickedness of the wicked he shall not stumble thereby in the day that he returns from his wickedness neither shall he that is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins but it's all up to you to make you what you choose to be verse 14 again when i say unto the wicked you shall surely die if he returns from his sin and does justice and righteousness if the wicked restores the pledge gives back that which he has taken by robbery walks in the statutes of life committing no iniquity he shall surely live he shall not die none of the sins that he's committed shall be remembered against him he has done justice and righteousness he shall surely live and the culmination in verse 19 when the wicked returns from his wickedness and does justice and righteousness he shall live thereby once again so what is this conveying bottom line what does it take to return home it's a trick question it just takes returning home that's the only prerequisite all it takes to return home is to return home and what does that mean and here's where again it strikes at the root of what you said Pastor Robbie because I answered very unequivocally tongue in cheek by saying yes and no yes and no in the sense that on some level you know I did it the deed was done and yet god promises if you really want to you can undo that deed because none of the sins are going to be remembered on the day that you return from your transgressions you shall surely live and of course inevitably this is also central it's integral to the seventh month because the seventh month again is that month in which I take stock and look back. And while I grant, you know, certainly agriculturally, if I messed up my seed and I messed up my tilling the soil, I'm probably not going to get anything to harvest. I may just end up with a harvest of wires and brambles. But when it comes to that spiritual harvest, I can actually do a remake. Yeah, and what's really cool with that is when I think about what you just said, even if I messed up my seat or whatever, assuming I go back to my father's house, there, you're going to be well-fed, et cetera, et cetera.
If you go home, you're not going to go hungry. you know that's true but on some level I'm going to say it's true but it's even more than that that at least on the spiritual plane I'm not going to try to recommend anyone follow this advice agriculturally but on the spiritual plane when you take stock and you see things that may amount through briars and brambles. And we all do. Because there is no man righteous in all the earth who can do good and not sin. As we read in Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verse 20.
When I see those briars and brambles, they can impel me. Ironically, they can drive me to God. Of course, unfortunately there are those who can see those briars and brambles and say it's all hopeless I may as well just keep on going from more briar to more bramble to worse and worse and worse but there's nothing that compels him to do that because the moment that he wants to switch he can make that switch God promises God gives us this extraordinary opportunity and of course inevitably we talk about the 7th month and you have front and center in the 7th month the 10th day of the 7th month which is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and in our tradition I suspect people don't really think of it this way because it is after all a fast day from sundown to the following nightfall but Yom Kippur is one of the happiest days of the year because it means that we have the opportunity to attain forgiveness God gives us that opportunity what a humongous gift and inevitably there's an additional dimension that I think needs to be stressed and it's part of the theme here on Yom Kippur on the 10th day of the 7th month we read an additional dimension it takes place every 50th year there's a reason this is a longer story that in as much as it is only when the people are on the land proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof the inhabitants are in the land that the Jubilee year is practicable.
So we don't have the Jubilee year today, and we haven't had it since the 10 tribes of northern Israel were exiled by Sennacherib almost 2,700 years ago. But there's a theme with respect to the Jubilee year as it's described in Leviticus chapter 25. and that is verse 9 you make proclamation with a blast of the shofar on the 10th day of the 7th month the day of atonement you make proclamation and what is that proclamation going to signify well verse 10 verse on the liberty bell proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof meaning what? meaning you shall return every man unto his possession and you shall return every man unto his family. In verse 13, in this year of Jubilee, you shall return every man unto his possession.
Meaning, the Jubilee year is this cosmic day of homecoming. Everyone goes home. And that's exactly the theme of the seventh month. And it's moreover, I'll stress here, in the Jubilee year, what ushers in that homecoming is the blowing of the shofar.
well we blow the shofar on this day that is described in Leviticus chapter 23 as a remembrance of the blasting and in Numbers chapter 29 is the day of blasting blasting the shofar and announcing to everyone yo time to come home what a true day and maybe if I can if I could just stress like one final point because I realize I'm really going terribly over, but you know, I think there is a tendency to view the secular new year as a happy day, and the biblical new year, the first day of the seventh month, as this sad and somber day.
Well, of course, on the one hand, in Nehemiah chapter 8, we saw that people were bawling their eyes out. They're weeping after they heard the words of the Torah. But, go back to Nehemiah chapter 8 and what's the message there? This is a day of rejoicing. Don't be aggrieved.
And that's precisely the identity of this day. Because you look back, take stock, and you have the opportunity to come back home. and nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing will keep you away from home the moment that you really earnestly want to come back home come back home to God and that makes this Rosh Hashanah and all of the fall feasts this prodigiously happy day and set of days because it's homecoming to God. I hate to say this, but the secular new year is also biblical. Really, it is.
The theme of the secular new year is lifted verbatim. Lock, stock, and barrel. Out of Isaiah chapter 22. what we read in verses 12, 13, and 14. In that day did the Lord, the God of hosts, call to weeping and lamentation, to boldness and to girding with sackcloth.
And behold, joy and gladness, slaying cattle and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. That's where it comes from. Isaiah chapter 22.
What a devastating, depressed attitude. Live in the moment, because that's all there is. After the moment, it's all over. Eat, drink, and be merry. Tomorrow we die.
That celebration? That's what in the secular world they think is a happy new year. It's the most depressing notion of a new year imaginable. Nothing to look forward to. The biblical new year?
The homecoming? The taking stock? And Teshuvah, returning to God? that's the ultimate upbeat message and of course inevitably I have to complete the citation from Isaiah chapter 22 the following verse and the Lord of hosts revealed himself in my ears surely this iniquity shall not be atoned for till you die says the Lord the God of hosts and this theme of atonement except there's no atonement because it's Adrian going to be married for tomorrow we die and precisely the whole message of the biblical new year is you can glimpse everlasting life that message of the shofar the homecoming of the jubilee year can be a homecoming for each of us every year we take stock we look back we go all the way back all the way to that first derailment in Genesis chapter 3 and we can say wow it's time to come home what does it take just come home God's waiting what a message so here we are and I can't help but one final note on my part is I'm listening to the difference between measuring by months and measuring by years and the idea of the sun and the moon. And, you know, I'm not sure of the way the canon of your Bible is, but I am sure the canon of our Bible ends in Malachi and Malachi chapter 4 and verse 2.
it says the son of righteousness and it's s-u-n the son of righteousness will rise with healing on his wings and that sun you know that idea of that new day like that that you pointed out that um as we return uh to that place which is jerusalem as you pointed out so beautifully to be able to actually celebrate these days in Jerusalem someday. I hope soon I'll be able to, that would be fabulous. As I now have gotten a greater understanding of what home would look like in that context. And I really, really am so grateful, Rabbi, for this understanding that you provided me with today. I clearly had bits and pieces, but you put it together beautifully.
God bless you. Thank you. Just to supplement what you just said, ultimately, sun, moon, at the end of the day, we have the message of Isaiah, chapter 24, verse 23. Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before those elders will be his glory.
So, you know, ultimately it's all a lead up to that. The ultimate, ultimate, ultimate homecoming when God is reigning on Mount Zion in Jerusalem for all the world to be basking in the light of the Lord. Amen. Yes, I love it. Shalom from the Bible Belt of North Carolina.
And of course, inevitably, from the holy city of Jerusalem, from Zion, I bless you that we should be able to stand together and see that blessed day when the Lord is reigning on Mount Zion. Speedily, speedily in our days. But every year we know we're one year closer. And we learn that message and we soak it up. every year we don't just see the cycle of the holy days as well you know this is just going to be another holiday season we see it as the the reawakening of the same lights that come this time of year every year so we hear the summons ayeka god saying to adam and eve where are you what have you what have you done to yourselves but that that's on the one hand scary and it's also simultaneously it is so upbeat because we can change the answer we can give the right answer where are we we're coming home god we're coming home father we hear the call yes let's go and on that note we should mention that we're going to be gone next week because of that blasting that's going to be going on and then we'll be back for a week and then be gone for a couple weeks as we continue through these holy days which i'm so excited to We'll follow up on this here in a couple weeks, so we'll miss you next week.
Great. God bless you all. Thanks for listening. Maybe we could talk about either Yom Kippur or tabernacles when we reconvene. Please, please, please.
God bless you. God bless you from Jerusalem. We are so honored that you would join us today on Voices from Zion, Rabbi, and the Rabbi. For more information about Rabbi Haim, go to his website, zionbiblestudies.org. That's zionbiblestudies.org Or visit me, Robbie Delmore At the Christian Carguy website That's christiancarguy.com Once again Shalom from Jerusalem, the holy city God's city
