What is Lent?

Who are the prophets of God in the Old Testament?

December 25, 2024 - January 2, 2025, is Hanukkah (Festival of Lights)

The Feast of Tabernacles, October 16-23, 2024

In October of 2024, two Jewish Holy Days will occur. Since one is preparation for the second, I will cover both of them in this lesson. Both are found in the book of Leviticus.

Each year on the 9th of Av, the saddest day in Jewish history, the Jews observe a day of mourning for the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem. The first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. and the second temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. In 2024 the day of remembrance will occur on August 12. Tradition holds that other calamities struck the Israelites on that same date. It was when the children of Israel were denied entrance into the Promised Land; when the last stronghold of the Bar Kokhba war was captured in 135 A.D. When a year later the Roman emperor established a heathen temple on the site of the Jewish temple. And it was the day the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492. It also brings into remembrance other calamites such as the expulsion of Jews from England and France, the Crusades and the holocaust. The 9th of Av thus became a symbol for all the persecutions and misfortunes of the Jewish people. Today, many Jews will observe the mourning rites for the death of a family member. This might include fasting, abstaining from bathing or the use of oils and perfumes. Sitting on the ground or on a low stool and not working. Readings would include the Book of Job and Lamentations (which describes the grieving over destroyed temple in the day of Jeremiah). At the synagogues the lights might be dimmed and only a few candles would be lit, as symbols of the darkness which has befallen Israel. The curtain of the Ark, which contains the Torah scroll, is removed. This is the curtain in the Holy of Holies in the Temple which, according to legend, was stabbed and desecrated by the Roman emperor Titus. Public places of entertainment and restaurants are closed on the eve of the 9th of Av. Why might this day of remembrance be of special significance in 2024? It is often times on such special days when many Israelites are preoccupied with religious observances and fasting that the enemies of Israel have attacked them. Most notably in 1973 when a coalition of Arab nations attacked Israel on Yom Kippur, a day of fasting for many of the Jewish people.  Today, Iran is threatening to attack Israel in retaliation for the deaths of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Some commentators suggest that this attack on Israel might occur on this day of mourning, the 9th of Av or August 12, 2024.

Pentecost: The Birthday of the Church Celebrated May 19, 2024

Did it Really Happen? Does it Really Matter?

The Miracle of Passover: Zola Levitt