Rosh Chodesh: The New Moon

God, grant us a long and peaceful life,
A life of goodness and blessing,
A life of achievement and strength of body,
A life of decency and dignity, free from shame and full of honor,
A life filled with Torah and love for You.

FROM THE BLESSINGS ANNOUNCING THE NEW MOON




Jews take time very seriously. The Torah begins with the words “In the beginning,” while the Talmud starts with the question, “From what time may one recite the eveningShema?” The idea of sanctified time is one of the foundations of Jewish faith and practice.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that the first commandment given to the Jews as a nation was to create a calendar based on the cycle of the moon:
"And G‑d said to Moses… in the land of Egypt… This month is for you, the head of the months. First it is for you among the months of the year."(Exodus 12:1-2).
The Torah commands us to sanctify each month at its start, and Rosh Chodesh, literally the “head of the month,” is celebrated as a minor holiday. Special prayers are added to the daily service; we wish each other “chodesh tov,” a good month.
The Jewish month begins when the new moon first appears, a tiny sliver in the night sky. Indeed, the word “chodesh” comes from the root chadash, which means new. The moon’s cycle of waxing and waning is a powerful symbol of renewal, reminding us that every diminution creates the possibility of rebirth. Rosh Chodesh offers us the opportunity to begin anew, not just once a year, but once a month.


Rosh Chodesh, the head of the month, plays a big role in the Jewish calendar, where the lunar cycle is front and center. Learn how the Jewish calendar works. View the following video from Cabad.org to learn more.

Visit Jewish.TV for more Jewish videos.

Some of the local Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth Messianic groups will be celebrating Rosh Chodesh throughout the year. Below are links to RSVP and get info on the celebration for the upcoming 6th month of Elul.


Tuesday, August 6 (Av 30) 6:30pm – Rosh Chodesh Eve
Potluck, Praise and Worship, Overview of Rosh Chodesh, 6th Month
Location: At Pavilion at Sharon Stellmach’s 2800 Saville Garden Way Virginia Beach, VA 23453

Rosh Chodesh EVE* – Potluck & Fellowship
Tuesday, August 6, 6:30 p.m.
Please RSVP by August 1
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0545ABAC2EA46-rosh


Wednesday, August 7 (Elul 1) 6:30pm– Rosh Chodesh
Want to go deeper? Study the Book of Haggai (the Word of the Lord came to Haggai on the first day of the 6th Month)
Location: Regent University Library – 2nd floor – Robertson Room
Contact Glenda Schroedel if you are interested in this Bible Study (ibaberean@gmail.com)

Rosh Chodesh Bible Study*
Wednesday, August 7 (Elul 1) 6:30 p.m.
Please RSVP by August 1
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0545ABAC2EA46-rosh1

God-Fearers: Separated to Do : FFOZ Blogs

Today I am referring to a couple of Blogs featuring topics of the place of Gentiles in the Kingdom.
I have pasted portions to peak your interest!

Shalom

Are Gentiles Cool?
By Rabbi Levi Welton

"As a rabbi, I am intrigued by how people translate terms from the Old Testament. Written in ancient Hebrew, the Torah is replete with words that have multiple meanings, layers and messages often lost in translation from ancient script to contemporary dialect. One of these terms is "gentile" or "non-Jew." I have heard this term being used by many different groups and even as it appears in publications, essays and articles. Perhaps I am being overly analytical, but I believe this translation is a massive and subtle misrepresentation.

When I hear the word "non-Jew," all I know about them is that the person in reference is not of the Jewish faith or culture. They could be of any other religious or cultural background, but this expression strips their identity down into one faceless lump of "gentile." Is this a spiritually mature way of speaking about other people? As a "non-entity"?

If you read the "Word of God," you will see that not once does God use the term "non-Jew" in the Torah. Throughout the entire Bible, the Creator of heaven and earth describes people who aren't Jewish not as "non-Jews" but as "other families" or "nations of the earth" (Genesis 28:14). This illustrates that the Torah view of Jewish people in society is "us withthem" and not "us against them." This may be why Judaism is not a religion that believes you must convert to her in order to obtain divine salvation. On the contrary, Judaism actively discourages converts from converting and instead highlights the "righteous men and women" of the Bible who attained epic spiritual heights without the need to convert (Talmud Sanhedrin 58b)."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-levi-welton/gentiles-are-cool_b_3295375.html


God-Fearers: Separated to Do
By Toby Janicki

In the first chapter of my book, God-Fearers, I sought to define the term Gentile (goy) and show that it is not a derogatory term as some have supposed. After all, Genesis uses it to describe both Abraham’s offspring—“I will make of you a great nation (goy)” (Genesis 12:2)—and Ishmael’s—“I will make him into a great nation (goy)” (Genesis 17:20). [1] In fact, the nation of Israel is called a goy in the Torah. One of the strongest examples of this is found in Exodus 19:6:
God-Fearers: Separated to Do : FFOZ Blogs

UPDATING THE PILGRIMAGE

Shalom,
It has been a long time since my last posting, 2012.
I have been busy the last year with reading, studying, small group meetings, and pondering where the path should lead. It has been a good year for growing in the understanding of Torah and how to live the Words in our daily life. The group gatherings have grown and expanded in multiple directions. One avenue is the planning of gatherings and studies of the Festivals and Appointments of the Lord.
So in helping with that path we will be jump starting this blog to keep in contact and to pass on teachings and to share ideas,
Life continues to be a Pilgrimage and I would like to keep the latter part of this earlier posting to keep the hunger alive.
Our next gathering to celebrate the Appointments of the Lord will be the nights of 6 and 7 August, 6th month Elul, the theme will be repentance and study of Haggai. More info to follow.

I would like to quote a small example from D.Thomas Lancaster's book Grafted In, Israel, Gentiles, And the Mystery of the Gospel. You can get a copy from First Fruits of Zion.

http://www.ffoz.org

Blessed are those whose strength is in you.
Who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
They go from strength to strength.
Till each appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:5,7

"To what can the kingdom be compared? It can be compared to a pilgrimage up to Jerusalem.
Such pilgrimages happened three times a year, For the holy festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, all Israel went up to the Temple. The Mishnah describes the caravans of pilgrims who gathered in the villages and cities of Israel in preparation for the journey to Jerusalem. Friends and family, neighbors and countrymen, met in the villages of assembly. Final provisions for the journey were purchased. Bags were packed. Prayers for safety were prayed. Overnight the pilgrims transformed the village into a city of tents. Some slept under the wheeling stars of the open sky.
At dawn the head of the assembly awoke the pilgrims by shouting into the early morning air, "Arise, let us go up to Zion, o the House of the Lord our God!" (Jeremiah 31:6). The glad song began. ...
As the roads filled with people, distinctions of village, clan, and tribe were blurred and quickly forgotten. When at last they laid eyes upon Jerusalem-resplendent, white stone bathed in sunlight-a cheer rose from the travelers. Before them was the Temple of the Lord.
A pilgrimage to a festival in Jerusalem is a particularly apt metaphor for the people of God. In a pilgrimage, everyone on the road began at a different point of origin and now occupies a different place on the journey, but will one day be joined in one place of glad worship. So too, the people of God, compromised of members from many different beginnings, now occupy many different positions on the journey, but ultimately arrive at the same goal. The journey itself is not the goal, but the journey is the means to the goal. Anyone can join the journey, and our joy will not be complete until everyone on the journey has arrived at the destination"

There are many Christians and Jews who are are worshiping the one true God but are going about it in different ways. The early days were much the same in that there was one Temple in Jerusalem but many Sects with different beliefs about the journey. I am not blatantly putting a stamp of approval of all groups that claim to be Christian or Jewish, there are groups that carry the name Christian/Jew but do not follow the Bible or Torah. I am thankful that I am not the final Judge and that even I will be surprised when the day comes to see who is there and who is not. So let us continue to encourage one another and remember Finney's words:
"You were made to think. It will do you good to think; to develop your powers by study. God designed that religion should require thought, intense thought, and should thoroughly develop our powers of thought. (2)

If my brother is inquiring after truth, I will, by the grace of God, “hear with both ears, and then judge.” But I will not promise to attend to all that cavilers may say, nor to notice what those impertinent talkers and writers may say or write who must have controversy. But to all honest inquirers after truth I would say, Hail, my brother! Let us be thorough. Truth shall do us good. (3)

I have not yet been able to stereotype my theological views, and have ceased to expect ever to do so. The idea is preposterous. None but an omniscient mind can continue to maintain a precise identity of views and opinions. Finite minds, unless they are asleep or stultified by prejudice, must advance in knowledge.… True Christian consistency does not consist in stereotyping our opinions and views, and in refusing to make any improvement lest we should be guilty of change, but it consists in holding our minds open to receive the rays of truth from every quarter and in changing our views and language and practice as often and as fast as we can obtain further information."

Follow the link below for an interesting post on The Centrality of Yeshua.

http://ffoz.org/blogs/2012/07/the_centrality_of_yeshua.html