Sabbatical Year

[HannibalFlavius]

I would hope you know I agree with all of this

Sure I do, I have all the confidence in the world in you Rick.

 

[rick357]

Well there is no way of doing it otherwise.

By the way, it sounds like you're saying we literally should NOT want context or understanding.

No not what Im saying I happen to be reading babylon talmud but all must be revealed by and for YHWH...it is not I who has argued that oral law has no place...only that truth is Yeshua.

 

[Hoshiyya]

No not what Im saying I happen to be reading babylon talmud but all must be revealed by and for YHWH...it is not I who has argued that oral law has no place...only that truth is Yeshua.

OK, I agree.

 

[visionary]

I would believe the fixing of the calendar and even more the addition of leap years would have effected the count of the shmita's. Don't you?

The counting of the shmita's is based on the sacred portion of the calendar. That doesn't change whether it is a 360 year or 365 year or even an additional year. The sacred portion of any given year is from Passover to the Eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles and that is why year count doesn't matter. It is only the sacred portion that is counted towards shmita.

 

[visionary]

This fall starts the shmita [sabbath year] according to Rambam. It is also been calculated based on Rabam's calculations that next year will be the Jubilee year. It is fascinating in itself that we have 2014 and 2015 as Blood Moons. What makes it even more interesting is that 3 1/2 years from Passover 2014 lands on Oct 14th the simchat torah. Simchat Simchat Torah that year is the ev shabbat. http://www.hebcal.com/hebcal/?year=...cgifields=mf&.cgifields=ss&.s=Create+Calendar Torah is a new beginning. Simchat Torah or Simḥath Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. IT is the conclusion assembly.

Simchat Torah is a component of the Biblical Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret ("Eighth Day of Assembly"), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei. In Israel and Reform Judaism, the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are combined into a single day and the names are used interchangeably.

On the eighth and final day of the feast, the high priest of Israel back in Yeshua's time, in a great processional, made up of priests and tens of thousands of worshipers, descended from the Temple Mount to pause briefly at the Pool of Siloam. A pitcher was filled with water, and the procession continued via a different route back to the Temple Mount. Here, in the midst of great ceremony, the high priest poured the water out of the pitcher onto the altar.

Since in Israel the rains normally stop in March, there is no rain for almost seven months! If God does not provide the "early" rains in October and November, there will be no spring crop, and famine is at the doorstep. This ceremony, then, was intended to invoke God's blessing on the nation by providing life-giving water.

It is in connection with the Feast of Tabernacles and this eighth day that the gospel of John records a fascinating event. The Son of God was saying in the clearest possible way that He alone was the source of life and blessing; that He could meet every need of the human heart. Doesn‘t that remind you of Rev 22: 2 where we are brought to the throne of God?

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manners of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried, saying,

If any man thirst let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke he of
the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Yeshua was not yet glorified.)

The water and the "pillar of light" provided during the wilderness wandering (when people dwelt in tabernacles) was temporary and in contrast to the continuing water and light claimed by Yeshua during this feast which commemorated that wandering period.

The visions which speak of the coming of all nations to worship at Jerusalem refer to the Feast of Tabernacles on the occasion of their pilgrimage

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yet, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seese therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

This feast speaks eloquently of Yeshua's millennial Kingdom - of a new beginning away from the ravages of the curse of sin. In that day, the earth will give her full bounty, all animals will be docile, armies will no longer march, every man will sit under his own fig tree and righteousness will become a reality in the earth.

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in my entire holy mountain, said the LORD.

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken it.

In memory of the guidance and eternal presence of God in the desert as the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, this festival is also celebrated as a festival of lights.

When Yeshua spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

 

[visionary]

Num 29:35 On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein:

One of the reasons why it is considering the time of the new beginning is because it was.

Neh 8:18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.

Ever wonder why it is considered a "solemn" assembly? It is celebrated as a new beginning, the start of reading the Torah from the beginning again.

Joe 1:14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,

Yet scripture and prophecies ask us to be solemn and not celebrate, even to sanctify a fast.

Joe 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

We are to look forward to it.

Zep 3:18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.

Lam 2:6 And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

Now who would want to do that? So when does this happen?

Lam 2:7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.

Notice that it says "as in the day of a solemn feast"... There is only one feast that is called the solemn feast, and not even Yom Kippur gets that title.

Lam 2:8 The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together. 9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.

Notice that the princes are among the Gentile, there is no law, and no more truth from the throne given.

Lam 2:10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

It is the time of the virgins.

Lam 2:11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. 12 They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers' bosom. 13 What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee? 14 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment. 15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth? 16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it. 17 The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries. 18 Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease. 19
Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street. 20 Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord.

And are there not two witnesses that get killed?

Lam 2:21 The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied. 22 Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD'S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.

 

[HannibalFlavius]

This fall starts the shmita [sabbath year] according to Rambam. It is also been calculated based on Rabam's calculations that next year will be the Jubilee year. It is fascinating in itself that we have 2014 and 2015 as Blood Moons. What makes it even more interesting is that 3 1/2 years from Passover 2014 lands on Oct 14th the simchat torah. Simchat Simchat Torah that year is the ev shabbat. Jewish Calendar October 2017 | Hebcal Jewish Calendar Torah is a new beginning. Simchat Torah or Simḥath Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. IT is the conclusion assembly.

Simchat Torah is a component of the Biblical Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret ("Eighth Day of Assembly"), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei. In Israel and Reform Judaism, the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are combined into a single day and the names are used interchangeably.

On the eighth and final day of the feast, the high priest of Israel back in Yeshua's time, in a great processional, made up of priests and tens of thousands of worshipers, descended from the Temple Mount to pause briefly at the Pool of Siloam. A pitcher was filled with water, and the procession continued via a different route back to the Temple Mount. Here, in the midst of great ceremony, the high priest poured the water out of the pitcher onto the altar.

Since in Israel the rains normally stop in March, there is no rain for almost seven months! If God does not provide the "early" rains in October and November, there will be no spring crop, and famine is at the doorstep. This ceremony, then, was intended to invoke God's blessing on the nation by providing life-giving water.

It is in connection with the Feast of Tabernacles and this eighth day that the gospel of John records a fascinating event. The Son of God was saying in the clearest possible way that He alone was the source of life and blessing; that He could meet every need of the human heart. Doesn‘t that remind you of Rev 22: 2 where we are brought to the throne of God? In the last day, that great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried, saying,
The water and the "pillar of light" provided during the wilderness wandering (when people dwelt in tabernacles) was temporary and in contrast to the continuing water and light claimed by Yeshua during this feast which commemorated that wandering period.

The visions which speak of the coming of all nations to worship at Jerusalem refer to the Feast of Tabernacles on the occasion of their pilgrimage
This feast speaks eloquently of Yeshua's millennial Kingdom - of a new beginning away from the ravages of the curse of sin. In that day, the earth will give her full bounty, all animals will be docile, armies will no longer march, every man will sit under his own fig tree and righteousness will become a reality in the earth. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken it.

In memory of the guidance and eternal presence of God in the desert as the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, this festival is also celebrated as a festival of lights.

You always have such cool posts Vis.


Yup, Simchat Torah is the Pentecost of the fall, a new beginning, a day of circumcision, a conclusion day of the fall, a private party that after 7 days, the gentiles are sent home, and only the true brethren stay.

This celebration should be the one goal on the mind of any Christian, how to get invited to Simchat Torah.

Just like Pentecost, the law is given on Simchat Torah.

 

[rick357]

One of the reasons why it is considering the time of the new beginning is because it was. Ever wonder why it is considered a "solemn" assembly? It is celebrated as a new beginning, the start of reading the Torah from the beginning again. Yet scripture and prophecies ask us to be solemn and not celebrate, even to sanctify a fast. We are to look forward to it.

Now who would want to do that? So when does this happen? Notice that it says "as in the day of a solemn feast"... There is only one feast that is called the solemn feast, and not even Yom Kippur gets that title. Notice that the princes are among the Gentile, there is no law, and no more truth from the throne given. It is the time of the virgins. And are there not two witnesses that get killed?

I know its not polite to speak with your brain full but this post is delicious.

 

[Shimshon]

The counting of the shmita's is based on the sacred portion of the calendar. That doesn't change whether it is a 360 year or 365 year or even an additional year. The sacred portion of any given year is from Passover to the Eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles and that is why year count doesn't matter. It is only the sacred portion that is counted towards shmita.

I understand that. But what I'm thinking of is there would still be a shift in the year as calcuated 'before' the readjusting done to fit the gegorian calendar. Focus more on the leap years. Unless the leap year count was unbroken between the shift from the hebrew calendar and the gregorian we could be experiencing a discrepancy in dates. I believe it would effect the yovel more than anything. It's easy to get back on a 7 yr cycle, you can keep track of when it occurred last. But the yovel is a 50yr cycle and only comes around once a generation, so add the fact that it's not kept with any regularity to begin with, and it may have been intermitently stopped for a time then attempted to be jump start, we may NOT have the exact dates as originally intended.

BUT, would that really matter? I've always believed that Messiah reset the nation anyway. I just like the thought of tying it all together, like a surgeon reconnecting that which was damaged, or a historian reconnecting the people of south america to the modern world. It's not a must, nor a command, to find the connection to our past, it's only a human response I guess. Messiah IS our Shabbat, He IS our everything here in the places we are exiled. And even the gentiles who come along side us have placed themselves, by the will of God no doubt, in the same wilderness as us.

Going to read your other posts now.

 

[Shimshon]

I know its not polite to speak with your brain full but this post is delicious.

Yes, Amen! Only, Now is the time to start declaring the glory of Yeshua, and the restoration he brings! Declare the promises! OUT WITH THEM! Out of our mouths! Let's be the witnesses he called us to be, with every speck of dust that we are formed of. Declare the glory of the LORD, as he dwells within us! Proclaim liberty to the captives, and sacrifice our lives for the widows and lame! Restore Yisrael & Yerushalayim! Now, in our day! Baruch HaShem!

 

[Hoshiyya]

Yes, Amen! Only, Now is the time to start declaring the glory of Yeshua, and the restoration he brings! Declare the promises! OUT WITH THEM! Out of our mouths! Let's be the witnesses he called us to be, with every speck of dust that we are formed of. Declare the glory of the LORD, as he dwells within us! Proclaim liberty to the captives, and sacrifice our lives for the widows and lame! Restore Yisrael & Yerushalayim! Now, in our day! Baruch HaShem!

I hope you're right. It would be nice.

 

[visionary]

I understand that. But what I'm thinking of is there would still be a shift in the year as calcuated 'before' the readjusting done to fit the gegorian calendar. Focus more on the leap years. Unless the leap year count was unbroken between the shift from the hebrew calendar and the gregorian we could be experiencing a discrepancy in dates. I believe it would effect the yovel more than anything. It's easy to get back on a 7 yr cycle, you can keep track of when it occurred last. But the yovel is a 50yr cycle and only comes around once a generation, so add the fact that it's not kept with any regularity to begin with, and it may have been intermitently stopped for a time then attempted to be jump start, we may NOT have the exact dates as originally intended.

BUT, would that really matter? I've always believed that Messiah reset the nation anyway. I just like the thought of tying it all together, like a surgeon reconnecting that which was damaged, or a historian reconnecting the people of south america to the modern world. It's not a must, nor a command, to find the connection to our past, it's only a human response I guess. Messiah IS our Shabbat, He IS our everything here in the places we are exiled. And even the gentiles who come along side us have placed themselves, by the will of God no doubt, in the same wilderness as us.

Going to read your other posts now.

Good point. We will just have to trust those who commented on it through out the centuries looking for that consistency and rhythm that speaks to our hearts as His.

 

[visionary]

The method of determining which is a Shmita year is by dividing the Jewish year by seven. If it is evenly divisible by 7 it is a Shmita year, but this is not the reason for it, rather it started after the Jews conquered the land of Israel under the leadership of Jehosua, and divided the land amongst themselves, then the first seven-year counting period started. It just happened to coincide with the Jewish calendar year that was divisible by seven. The laws of Shemita apply only to the land of Israel, not to the lands that surround it or are distant from it.

 

[visionary]

The shmittah year was celebrated the year that Herod the Great laid siege to Jerusalem, in the year [Siege of Jerusalem (37 BC)]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(37_BC)

"The besieged suffered from lack of provisions, compounded by a famine brought about by the sabbatical year"

 

[visionary]

The Civil year would have started in the Fall, and would have been 38 to 37 BCE. The siege started in the spring 37 BCE, and was over before the year was expired, and it was particularly a severe siege since it was also a shmita year. This was a 7th shmita or 49th year, with the following year 37 to 36 BCE being the Jubilee year.

www.torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?YM=Y-37M7

There is no year zero, so 1BCE to 1 CE is just 1 year. Add 40 more Jubilee years and you have 2000 more years, and it is [Jubilee year 120, 2014 to 2015 CE.]

www.torahcalendar.com/Calendar.asp?PYM=Y2014M7

So = [2013 to 2014 CE]

 

[visionary]

TEL AVIV (JTA) — When Rosh Hashanah comes later this month, Israel’s Jewish farmers won’t just be celebrating the start of a new year. They’ll be marking a year in which they are prohibited from doing their jobs. Called Shmita, the Torah-mandated, yearlong farming hiatus is felt across Israel, affecting its fields, supermarkets and, of course, its politics.


Read more: Understanding Shmita, Israel?s agricultural Shabbat | Jewish Telegraphic Agency

 

[visionary]

Question:
What exactly is the shmita (sabbatical) year? -- Meir

Answer:
Every seven years, the Torah commands us to cease working the land and also to erase any outstanding debts. This mitzvah (Torah commandment) appears in the Torah in three different places – each in a different context: Exodus 23:10-11, Leviticus 25:1-7, and Deuteronomy 15:1-7.

It goes on to say some very interesting aspect to keep the shmita. Shmita - Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews

 

[visionary]

We always read the following Torah portion during the days of the counting of the Omer (in the annual cycle and during the first triennial cycle), the period of preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuot. This is no mere coincidence; the acceptance of the duty of observing the laws of Shmita is a significant part of this preparation process.

Vayikra (Leviticus) 25:1-4 God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai saying: 'Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: "When you come in to the land that I give you, the land shall observe a Sabbath day for God..."'

Rashi is puzzled by the fact that Mount Sinai is identified as the place where the commandment of Shmita was issued. Shmita is the only Mitzvah of the 613 whose command-instruction is related to a specific venue, be it Mt. Sinai or any other place. Rashi duly attempts to explain why Shmita was so honored. His answer is one of the best known of all Rashi's commentaries on the Chumash:

“What is the relationship between the law of Shmita and Mount Sinai? Surely, all of the laws of the Torah were given on Mount Sinai? To teach you that just as the Shmita laws were given on Sinai to the last detail, so were the details of the laws of all the commandments.” Septennial (Shmita - שמיט&#1492 Torah Cycle

 

[visionary]

What does Shmita, the Sabbatical year, have to do with Mt. Sinai? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-david-seidenberg/shmita-the-purpose-of-sinai_b_3200588.html

This question was famously asked by one of the oldest midrashim (Sifra Behar 1), and it has been pondered over for centuries. The question arises from the way the portion about the Sabbatical year is introduced in the Torah:

"YHVH spoke to Moshe in Mount Sinai saying: Speak to Israel's children and say unto them: When you come to the land which I give you, the land will rest, a shabbat for YHVH ... In the seventh year, it will be the Sabbath of sabbaths for the land, a Sabbath for YHVH" (Leviticus 25:2-4).

If all the commandments were given at Sinai, the midrash wonders, why is Mt. Sinai only mentioned here?

And the answer that we can give today is deceptively simple: the whole purpose of the covenant at Sinai is to create a society that observed Shmita. It is in a land where Shmita is observed that human beings will learn to respect the Earth herself, by remembering that none of us can own her.

"For the land is mine," God declares, "and you are strangers and settlers with me" (Leviticus 25:23).

 

[visionary]

So how do the Jews of Israel handle the upcoming shmita?? Shmita, Enjoying a Most Beautiful Sabbatical Year | United with Israel

Which one do you think is right? How are you going to keep it?