“The Jewish pilgrim Isaac ben Joseph ibn Chelo who visited Hebron, among other places in the Holy Land, wrote: ‘The Jews, who are very numerous here, do a considerable trade in cotton, which they spin and dye themselves, as well as in all sorts of glass-ware made by them in Hebron.’ ‘They have an ancient […]
October 12, 1039 On Hosha ‘na rabba, or the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles (i.e. Sukkot), Jews gathered on the Mount of Olives. Solomon ben Judah wrote “from the morrow after Hosha ‘na rabba or the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles” Source: A History of Palestine (p. 705). Moshe Gil. 1992.
The Jewish people’s continued attachment to the Temple Mount is exemplified by an event that occurred during the reign of the Byzantine Empress Eudocia. When she went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 438, she was greeted warmly by Jews everywhere, probably as a result of her policy of supporting non-Christians. When the […]
It is in the Mishnah, the oral law that preceded the Talmud compiled in Israel by Yehuda Hanasi, that we are first introduced to the main theme of the holiday, that of judgment: “On Rosh Hashanah all human beings pass before him [God] as sheep before a shepherd” (Tractate Rosh Hashanah 2) Source: Haaretz, “The […]
Letters written by Simon Bar Kokhba, leader of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, were found in a cave near the Dead Sea in 1960. “Send wooden beams (lulavs) and citrons (Etrogs) for the celebration of Sukkot.” Request by Bar Kokhba for the “four kinds” required for Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles: “Shimeon to Yehudah […]
Quaestiones Convivales, IV, 4:4 – 6:2, pp. 669 C – 672 B (6:2) At this, all did urge him (i.e. Moeragenes) and beg him to go on. “First”, he said, “the time and character of the greatest, most sacred holiday of the Jews clearly befit Dionysus. When they celebrate their so-called Fast (i.e. Yom Kippur), […]
Yom Kippur (The Fast) “On the tenth day of the same lunar month [Tishri, Hyperberetaeus] they Fast till the evening…” (Antiquities 3.10.3) Sukkot “Upon the fifteenth day of the same month, when the season of the year is changing for winter, the law enjoins us to pitch tabernacles (i.e. booths) in every one of our houses…” […]
We have evidentiary documentation of the celebration of the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and the related holidays of Hosha ‘na Rabba and Shemini Atzeret, beginning with the Apostle Paul, the great Jewish Historian Josephus (37-100 CE), author of Antiquities of the Jews, and the Roman Historian, Plutarch (46-120 CE), the author of […]
Paul was taken prisoner in Caesarea and was later transported via boat to Rome for trial. Storms disrupted the journey, which is documented in the Book of Acts. “The Fast” (i.e. Yom Kippur) is referenced in the writings of Paul’s journey: “Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the […]
Rosh Hashanah “In the seventh month (Tishri), in the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto you, a memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns, a holy convocation.” –Leviticus 23:24, JPS Tanakh Yom Kippur “And it shall be a statute for ever unto you: in the seventh month (Tishri), on the […]