On Monday, March 27th,
at sunset, it will be 1 of Aviv, according to the Jewish calendar.
On Exodus 12.2 we read: “Let this month be to you the first of months, the first
month of the year.”
Exodus
13 mentions the name of the first month: "And Moses said
to the people, Let this day, on which you came out of Egypt, out of your
prison-house, be kept for ever in memory; for by the strength of his hand the
Lord has taken you out from this place; let no leavened bread be used. On this day, in the month Abib, you are going
out.”
(Exodus 13:3,4)
(Exodus 13:3,4)
Currently we call the first
month “Nisan”, however this name is only mentioned in Nehemiah 2.1 and Esther
3.7. This happens because the names of the months were changed after
the Babylonian exile.
Aviv means spring, and relates to the barley harvest.
Many people celebrate the
Jewish new year in September/October, on Yom Teruah biblical feast, but it happens
in the seventh month: “Say to the children of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of
the month, let there be a special day of rest for you, a day of memory, marked
by the blowing of horns, a meeting for worship.” (Leviticus 23:24)
Thus, we are a few hours of true biblical New Year. How to celebrate it then?
Thus, we are a few hours of true biblical New Year. How to celebrate it then?
There is a commandment for
all beginning/head of the month (Rosh Chodesh) or day/feast of the new moon.
"And on days of joy and on
your regular feasts and on the first day of every month, let the horns be
sounded over your burned offerings and your peace-offerings; and they will put
the Lord in mind of you: I am the Lord your God."
(Numbers 10.10)
(Numbers 10.10)
This commandment is
forgotten by many of us, but in other verses, we see that is treated with the
same importance as the Saturdays and the Feasts:
"See! I am building a house for the name of the Lord my God, to be made
holy to him, where perfumes of sweet spices will be burned before him, and the
holy bread will be placed at all times, and burned offerings will be offered
morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and at the new moons, and on the regular
feasts of the Lord our God. This is a law for ever to Israel.”
(2 Chronicles 2:4)
(2 Chronicles 2:4)
"Saying, When will the new
moon be gone, so that we may do trade in grain? and the Sabbath, so that we may
put out in the market the product of our fields? Making the measure small and
the price great, and trading falsely with scales of deceit;”
(Amos 8:5)
"This is what the Lord has
said: The doorway of the inner square looking to the east is to be shut on the
six working days; but on the Sabbath it is to be open, and at the time of the
new moon it is to be open."
(Ezekiel 46:1)
(Ezekiel 46:1)
This Rosh Chodesh of 1 of
Aviv, is also called Rosh Chodashim (Head of the Months).
We should celebrate it with
the sound of the Shofar, Worship, Prayer and Offerings, blessing the new
biblical year that begins.
May we flourish and be
fruitful! Let’s also have a heart ready for Pesach which will be held on the 14th
of Aviv! (Leviticus 23.5).
“My loved one said to me, Get up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, see, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers are come on the earth; the time of cutting the vines is come, and the voice of the dove is sounding in our land; The fig-tree puts out her green fruit and the vines with their young fruit give a good smell. Get up from your bed, my beautiful one, and come away. O my dove, you are in the holes of the mountain sides, in the cracks of the high hills; let me see your face, let your voice come to my ears; for sweet is your voice, and your face is fair.”
(Cânticos 2:10-14)
For, see, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers are come on the earth; the time of cutting the vines is come, and the voice of the dove is sounding in our land; The fig-tree puts out her green fruit and the vines with their young fruit give a good smell. Get up from your bed, my beautiful one, and come away. O my dove, you are in the holes of the mountain sides, in the cracks of the high hills; let me see your face, let your voice come to my ears; for sweet is your voice, and your face is fair.”
(Cânticos 2:10-14)
Shana Tovah Umetukah! A Good and sweet Year!