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This month shall be the beginning of months for you;
it is to be the first month of the year to you. (Exodus 12:2) |
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In case you haven’t heard, while some were celebrating Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread) last week, it poured here. |
From April 6-13 the rainfall wasas follows: Jerusalem - 64mm Beit Shean - 44mm Jordan Valley - 33mm Northwestern Negev - 24mm |
Yes, that’s a lot of rain. And I can tell you that in Jerusalem, it was cold, windy, and pouring. Not drizzling, not raining, POURING… for days! The magnitude of the rain was definitely a shock to those who came to Israel to celebrate Chag HaMatzot last week, but less so for those of us who live here, as although we had a few nice days, we were still having heavy rain. |
To me, the downpour we had last week is just further confirmation this isn’t the first month, and points to the importance of determining the beginning of the year based on healthy fields, as opposed to stressed fields. |
1. It’s important to inspect healthy fields, because unhealthy fields can lead to patches of barley ripening really quickly in order to produce seeds before it dies, but these patches aren’t an indication that it’s Chodesh HaAviv (Month of the Aviv), they’re just simply stressed stalks. |
2. We know the Jordan Valley (plains of Jericho), had harvest-ready fields by Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread) (Joshua 5:10-12), and so perhaps if we start the year when the fields are harvest-ready in this region, it will ensure we are starting the year in the correct month. |
3. We know the ancient farmers couldn’t harvest if it’s still the rainy season, because they needed to leave cut the sheaves outside to dry, and would thresh and winnow outside as well, and so if it were still raining, their crop would become moldy and be ruined. |
4. I don’t think Yehovah intended us to ride our donkeys on muddy roads and camp at the Temple when it’s cold, windy, and pouring. In fact, I met up with a group of people that camped out in Jerusalem last week for what they thought was the holiday, and at the end of the week they shared with me that they are now convinced that this isn’t the first month, as we are clearly still in winter (Gen 8:22, Song of Songs 2:11). |
If we begin the year on April 20/21,2023, is it possible it will be raining on Chag HaSukkot (Feast of Booths)? I suppose it’s possible, but you need to understand that in November it’s usually still t-shirt weather here, even in Jerusalem, and so I don’t expect that it will rain then, especially with winter ending so late this year. Either way, I think it’s clear this isn’t the first month, so I think we need to take our chances regarding Chag HaSukkot. |
Can we have two consecutive 13-month years? I tend to think we wouldn’t normally have two consecutive 13-month years in a row, but because we are still having new realizations on how to determine the begin the year, it can happen that if we change a criteria from one year to the next, we could end up with two consecutive 13-month years in a row. |
Are you planning on inspecting the fields again? As we haven’t yet found the fields to be satisfactory to begin the year, and we have had a lot of heavy rain, some of you asked whether we could organize another inspection, just to confirm that the beginning of the year is in fact this upcoming New Moon Observation (April 20/21,2023). While it’s very expensive every time we go out, we do think it would be a good idea to confirm whether the fields are Aviv before Chag HaMatzot. We are therefore planning on going out again, and hope to be able to send you that report on May 1, 2023 (what will probably be the 10th day of the Hebrew month). |
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If you have a question regarding the Biblical Calendar, feel free to send it to us and we’ll do our best to try and answer it in a future newsletter. All of our answers are based on relevant Biblical verses, what we’ve seen in the Land over the past few decades, and much study and prayer. |
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Devorah Gordon
Jerusalem, Israel |
Copyright © 2023 Devorah Gordon, All rights reserved. |
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DEVORAH’S DATE TREE Devorah's Date Tree organizes New Moon Observations and Barley Inspections in the Land of Israel. This important effort is headed by Devorah Gordon, who has been living in Israel, and looking for the crescent New Moon and participating in Barley Inspections, for over 25 years. Today our reports reach countless people around the world and are considered the most reliable and respected New Moon and Barley Inspection reports from the Holy Land. If reliable first-hand New Moon and Barley Inspection reports from Israel are of value to you, please support our efforts to restore the Biblical Calendar. Contributions can be made via  PayPal, Patreon, or by sending a check to Devorah’s Date Tree, POB 7816, Jerusalem 9107801, ISRAEL.
Together we can restore the Biblical Calendar! Support Devorah’s Date Tree |
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