Why are our feast days, which are commanded in the Tanakh as Mo’edim or “Appointed Times,” oftentimes different from mainstream Judaism and many other Messianic congregations?

Answer: The short answer is, “We are not Rabbinic”. We do not follow the teachings of the Rabbis simply because they are Jewish, as the Rabbis were shown by Messiah to have erred from the Commandments. Our “Judaism” is 1st century, Messianic, “Mishnaic” Judaism, meaning the customs we follow were practiced by Messiah Yeshua and the Shlikhim [Apostles], and recorded in the 2nd century in what is known as “Mishnah,” confirming and explaining the ‘how’ of what is written in Torah. The Mishnah tells us they “observed”/”saw” the “khodesh”, the crescent new moon. This aligns with Torah. The current, Jewish schedule of holy days follows a calculated solar/lunar calendar which was not completely codified until nearly 1000AD, and uses Babylonian methods of setting feast days, having been first calculated by Hillel the 2nd in the sixth century AD. The Torah has no real concept of a fixed “month”, but counts each “khodesh”, or “renewed crescent moon”.

The start of the Mo’edim, or feasts, is set in the spring at Pesakh, each new crescent moon determining the benchmark for setting the following feasts. Pesakh is 14 days after the first crescent, and Yom Teru’ah/Rosh HaShanah falls on the 7th renewed crescent moon. For details on determining Pesakh and the subsequent feasts, please read this document: Reckoning Pesakh

The season of Teshuvah (“Return”) begins Sunday evening of Aug 8th and continues 40 days leading up to Yom HaKippurim. It is a time to return to יהוה through repentance for our sins. Sin against יהוה may be atoned for through confession and request for forgiveness.

Sin committed against another person must be confessed to the person whom we have wronged to put the wrong right and to ask for forgiveness. The person wronged is under no obligation to grant forgiveness, however, failure to do so after repeated requests is regarded as a sin in itself. Once one has confessed and requested forgiveness we need to make a commitment to not repeat the confessed sin.

PRAY and read Daniel 9:4-19, and Psalm 27 linked here every day of the Teshuvah time period leading up to Yom HaKippurim.

In His mercy, Elohim has given Yisra’el ten Feasts, described in his word. Most of these are Mo’edim, or Appointed Times described in VaYikra (Lev) chapter 23 and elsewhere. Congregation Bat-Tzion celebrates all feasts with gusto! What better way to stay set apart than with our community and in joy, repenting, reflecting, celebration, and remembering!

Below are the estimated dates of the upcoming Feasts. All dates signify the first evening at sundown unless specified otherwise. Actual dates will not be known for certain until the khodesh (renewed moon) is sighted prior to the Feast listed below. Read Reckoning Pesakh to learn more.

• Yom Kippur Assembly (Day of Atonement) – Shabbat Sep 18th @ 3:00 – 5:30 PM
  • Complete fast (from water and food) suggested to “afflict yourselves” (Vaykikra [Lev] 23:27).
  • It is also tradition to wear all white clothing with no leather.
• Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) – Wed Evening, 9/22 to Tue Evening, 9/28
• Sukkot I Assembly – Thu Sep 23rd @ 3:00 – 5:00 PM
• Simkhat Torah / Sh’mini Atzeret (Rejoicing with the Torah / Eighth [Day] Assembly) – Thu 9/30 @ 3:oo – 9:00 PM
• Khanukah – Tue, Nov 30th to Dec 7th
• Purim – 2022
• Pesakh (Passover) – Spring 2022
• Matzot (Unleavened Bread) – Spring 2022
• Omer Reishit (The first omer [sheaf] or firstfruits) – Spring 2022
• Shavu’ot (Feast of Weeks also known as Pentecost) – Summer 2022
• Yom Teru’ah (Day of the Trumpets or Awakening Blast; also known as Rosh Hashanah) – Fall 2022
• Yom Teru’ah Assembly – Fall 2022