New Moon Sighting

Psalm 104:19 “He made the moon for appointed times;” ISR2009

Leviticus 23:24 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying ‘In the seventh new moon, you have a rest, a remembrance of the Teru’ah, a set-apart gathering.’ ”ISR2009

I’ve got a story to tell…

But I need to set the stage before I dive in.

The Hebrew month runs on a cycle that begins with the sighting of the new moon. We are now in the 6^th Hebrew month, the new moon having been sighted on August 27 (a key detail to remember).

Next month, the 7^th Hebrew month, is the month that holds the Fall Festivals, or the Moadim (appointed times…Yehovah’s appointed times.) These include, Yom Teruah (The Feast of Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).

These Moadim are laid out in Leviticus 23 which Yehovah gave to His people as a set apart time.

So, starting off with this basis brings me to my story.

It all started last Tuesday when I got a message from…Nehemia Gordon! Yes you read that right! 😀 I had sent a letter for Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson (a Methodist pastor who partners with Nehemia and seeks Yehovah’s truth) to Biblical Foundation Academy International only a few days before. It took almost no time for me to get a response from the Hebrew scholar.

In the message I was proposed with a challenge. As I mentioned before, next month is the new moon sighting for the 7^th month in the Hebrew calendar, and apparently it will be a difficult one to sight. Nevertheless, I was asked if I was up for the challenge to be one of the witnesses to sight the new moon…Uh, Yes!!

After my nerves were finished jumping through the roof I received a message telling me that there was going to be a practice new moon sighting on Wednesday in Jerusalem; which I realized was just the next day…

Being in a foreign country I didn’t know how I was going to get there, but I was absolutely going to figure out how.

After asking around for the best mode of transportation (my teacher explained directions to me in Hebrew…I’m not at that level yet) someone from my class said that I could join him and a couple of his friends because they happened to be going right after class. Sounded like a plan…a plan that Yehovah set up if I do say so myself…

So after class we made the trek to Jerusalem (with me just following in tow with the group). Having already been there the week before I did recognize some areas, but not enough to navigate my way.

I parted ways with the group (who were very gracious to show me where to go) and went to meet my contact to get the DL on sighting the new moon, and this is what I saw…

Ok, maybe not so plain as day in the picture. But it is a little above the flag and slightly to the left.

It was beautiful and breathtaking. It was hard to spot at first because it was so small, but once you see it, it is plain as day. I felt honored to witness this event that our Creator orchestrates for His people to know His times. This is the moon that I mentioned earlier that was sighted on August 27 to begin the 6th Hebrew month, If you want to read more specifics about this moon sighting and next month’s moon sighting you can check it out here:

http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3436769de447cbed81ad724ed&id=b52abfbaed

Now it was time to find my way back to Tel Aviv (I still wasn’t 100% sure how to get back, but I at least knew how to get back to the central bus station…where I came in to Jerusalem).

After I found the station and what bus I was supposed to take, who walks up behind me but the group I came to Jerusalem with! Nothing I could have planned. So I just stuck with them on our way back to Tel Aviv and let them navigate how to get back to campus…needless to say, I now know how to travel to and from Jerusalem.

It was such a sporadic adventure that happened so fast that I had to catch my breath after it was over…but I guess it’s not over yet, because there is still next month to sight the new moon for the Fall Feasts! It is predicted to be a difficult one because of the cloudy weather forecast, but I am confident that Yehovah will make it visible so we may know that it is His appointed time. You can definitely expect a blogpost about this next month!

A little more visible in this picture…because it’s not mine. Photo credit to Yoel Halevi on August 27, 2014 at 7:50 pm over Kiryat Ata.