Torah Seder Tishri 10, 5768

Esnoga Bet Emunah

227 Millset Chase - San Antonio, Texas 78253

Triennial Cycle (Triennial Torah Cycle) / Septennial Cycle (Septennial Torah Cycle)

Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings	Third Year of the Reading Cycle
Tishri 10, 5768 – Sept. 21/22, 2007	Seventh Year of the Shmita Cycle

Candle Lighting and Havdalah Times

San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Brisbane, Australia:

Friday, Sept. 21, 2007 – Candles at: 7:15 PM Friday, Sept. 21 2007 – Candles at: 5:25 PM

Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007 – Havdalah 8:07 PM Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007 – Havdalah 6:18 PM

Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Singapore, Singapore

Friday Sept. 21, 2007 – Candles at 7:19 PM Friday, Sept. 21, 2007 – Candles at: 6:43 PM

Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007 – Havdalah 8:12 PM Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007 – Havdalah 7:32 PM

Cebu, Philippines Jakarta, Indonesia

Friday Sept. 21, 2007 – Candles at 5:36 PM Friday Sept. 21, 2007 – Candles at 5:31 PM

Saturday Sept. 22, 2007 – Havdalah 6:25 PM Saturday Sept. 22, 2007 – Havdalah 6:20 PM

For other places see: http://chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.asp

Shabbat Yom Kippur – Sabbath Day of Atonement

For further study see: http://www.betemunah.org/atonemen.doc

http://www.betemunah.org/kohen.doc ;

http://www.betemunah.org/kippur.doc

MORNING (Shacharit) SERVICE

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
אַחֲרֵי מוֹת, שְׁנֵי בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן
“Achare Mot, Sh’ne B’ne Aharon”	Reader 1 – Vayikra 16:1-3	Reader 1 – B’midbar 11:16-18
“after the death of the two sons of Aaron”	Reader 2 – Vayikra 16:4-7	Reader 2 – B’midbar 11:18-20
“después que murieron los dos hijos de Aarón”	Reader 3 – Vayikra 16:7-11	Reader 3 – B’midbar 11:20-22
Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:1-34 B’midbar (Numbers) 29:7-11	Reader 4 – Vayikra 16:12-17
	Reader 5 – Vayikra 16:18-24
Ashlamatah: Isaiah 57:14 - 58:14	Reader 6 – Vayikra 16:25-30	Reader 1 – B’midbar 11:16-18
Psalm 69	Reader 7 – Vayikra 16:31-34	Reader 2 – B’midbar 11:18-20
	Maftir – B’midbar (Num.) 29:7-11	Reader 3 – B’midbar 11:20-22
N.C.: I Lukas (Luke) 4:16-22	Isaiah 57:14 - 58:14

Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:1-34

XVI. And the Lord spoke with Mosheh, after that the two sons of Aharon the high priest had died (or, the priests the two elder sons of Aharon had died) at the time of their offering extraneous fire (aisha baria) before the Lord; died they by the flaming fire. [JERUSALEM. The two sons of Aharon, in their offering extraneous fire.] And the Lord said unto Mosheh: Speak with Aharon your brother, that he enter not at any time into the holy place within the veil before the mercy-seat; for the cloud of the glory of My Shekinah is revealed over the place of the mercy-seat.

This will be the rite (mida) for the entering of Aharon into the holy place. With a young bullock, having no mixture, for the sin offering, and a ram for the burnt offering. With the vestments of fine linen, the holy robe, will he be dressed, and linen drawers will be upon his flesh, and with the girdle of fine linen will he be bound, and the mitre of fine linen will be ordained for his head. These are the holy garments; but with the golden robes he will not enter, that there be not brought to memory the sin of the golden calf; and at the time when he is to enter he will wash his flesh in forty seahs of water, and attire himself with them.

And from the congregation of the sons of Israel let him take two kids of the goats, without mixture, for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aharon will offer the bullock of the sin offering which (has been purchased) with his own money, and make an atonement with words of confession for himself and for the men of his house. And he will take the two goats, and cause them to stand before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of ordinance. And Aharon will put upon the goats equal lots; one lot for the Name of the Lord, and one lot for Azazel: and he will throw them into the vase, and draw them out, and put them upon the goats. And Aharon will bring the goat upon which came up the lot for the Name of the Lord, and make him a sin offering. And the goat on which came up the lot for Azazel he will make to stand alive before the Lord, to expiate for the sins of the people of the house of Israel, by sending him to die in a place rough and hard in the rocky desert which is Beth‑hadurey.

And Aharon will bring the bullock which is for himself, and make atonement with confession of words for himself, and for the men of his house, and kill the bullock for his sin offering.

And he will take a censer full of coals burning with fire from off the altar from before the Lord, and with his hand full of sweet incense, beaten small, he will enter within the veil. And he will put the sweet incense upon the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of the fuming incense will envelope the mercy-seat that is over the testimony, that he may not die by the flaming fire before the Lord. And he will take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle with his right finger upon the face of the mercy-seat eastward, and before the mercy-seat he will sprinkle the blood seven times with his right finger.

Then will he kill the goat of the sin offering which is (purchased with) the money of the people, and carry in of the blood of the goat within the veil, and do with the blood of the goat as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat. And he will make atonement for the holy place, with confession of words for the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and for their rebellions, and for their sins; and so will he do for the tabernacle of ordinance which remains with them in the midst of their uncleanness. But let no one be in the tabernacle of ordinance at the time of his going in to make atonement in the holy place for the sins of Israel, until the time of his coming out; and so will he make atonement for himself, and for the men of his house, and for all the congregation of Israel.

And he will withdraw, and come forth from the holy place, unto the altar which is before the Lord, and make atonement upon it with confession of words, and take of the blood of the bullock and of the blood of the goat, mingled together, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he will sprinkle upon it from the blood with his right finger seven times, and cleanse it, and sanctify it from the defilements of the children of Israel.

And when he has completed to make atonement for the holy place, and for the tabernacle of ordinance, and for the altar, with confession of words, he will bring near the living goat. And Aharon will lay his hands (upon him) in this order, his right hand upon his left, upon the head of the living goat, and confess over him all the lawlessness of the children of Israel, and all their rebellions, and all their sins, and will put them, with an oath uttered and expressed with the Great and glorious Name, upon the head of the goat, and send (him) away by the hand of a man prepared from the year foregoing, to take him into a rocky desert which is Beth‑hadurey; and the goat will bear upon him all their sins into a desert place; and the man will send forth the goat to a rocky desert; and the goat will go up on the mountains of Beth‑hadurey, and a tempestuous wind from the presence of the Lord will carry him away, and he will die.

And Aharon will enter the tabernacle of ordinance, and take off the robes of fine linen with which he was attired at the time of his going into the holy place, and will lay them aside there. Then will he wash his flesh in the sanctuary, and afterward attire himself, and withdraw, and come forth, and perform his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for his people. And the fat of the sin offering he will burn at the altar.

And he who led away the goat to Azazel will wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in forty seahs of water, and afterward he may enter the camp. But the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the sanctuary to make atonement, will be carried away upon carriages by the hands of young men who are priests; and they will bear them without the camp, and burn them with fire, their skin, their flesh, and their dung. And he who burns them will wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in forty seahs of water, and afterwards he may enter the camp.

And this will be to you for an everlasting statute: in the seventh month, it is the month Tishri, on the tenth day of the month, you will humble your souls, (abstaining) from food, and from drinks, and from the use of the bath, and from rubbing, and from sandals, and from the practice of the (matrimonial) bed: nor will you do any work, neither the native-born nor the stranger who dwells among you. For on this day He will make ATONEMENT for you to cleanse you from all your sins; and you will confess your transgressions before the Lord, and will be clean. It is a Sabbath of rest to you: no work of business will you do, but will humiliate your souls. [JERUSALEM. But in it you will fast for your souls.] It is an everlasting statute.

And the priest who is anointed, and who has offered his oblation to minister instead of his father, will be clothed in the robes of fine linen, even the consecrated robes. And he will make atonement for the Holy of Holies, and for the tabernacle of ordinance, and for the altar; and for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation, will he atone, with confession of words. And this will be to you for an everlasting statute, to expiate the children of Israel from all their sins, once in the year. And Aharon did as the Lord commanded Mosheh.

Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 29:7-11

And on the tenth of the seventh month, the month of Tishri, you will have a holy convocation, and castigate your souls (by abstaining) from food and drink, the bath, friction, sandals, and the marriage bed; and you will do no servile labor, but offer a sacrifice before the Lord to be received with favor; one young bullock, one ram, lambs of the year seven, unblemished, will you have; and their mincha of wheat flour mingled with olive oil, three tenths for the bullock, two tenths for one ram, a single tenth for a lamb, so for the seven lambs one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the sin offering of the expiations, and the perpetual sacrifice and their minchas, and the wine of their libations.

Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 57:14 - 58:14

14 And He will say: cast up, cast up, clear the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of My people. {S}

15 For thus says the High and Lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always at wroth; for the spirit that enwraps itself is from Me, and the souls which I have made.

17 For the lawlessness of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him, I hid Myself and was wroth; and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.

18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will lead him also, and requite with comforts him and his mourners.

19 Peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near, says Ha-Shem that creates the fruit of the lips; and I will heal him.

20 But the lawless are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.

21 There is no peace, says my God concerning the lawless. {P}

1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a horn, and declare unto My people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways; as a nation that did righteousness/generosity, and forsook not the ordinance of their God, they ask of Me righteous/generous ordinances, they delight to draw near unto God.

3 'Wherefore have we fasted, and You see not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and You take no knowledge?'--Behold, in the day of your fast you pursue your business, and exact all your labors.

4 Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of lawlessness; you fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Ha-Shem?

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the fetters of lawlessness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?

7 Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?

8 Then will your light break forth as the morning, and your healing will spring forth speedily; and your righteousness/generosity will go before you, the glory of Ha-Shem will be your rearward.

9 Then will you call, and Ha-Shem will answer; you will cry, and He will say: 'Here I am.' If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the (judging) finger, and speaking lawlessness;

10 And if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then will your light rise in darkness, and your gloom be as the noon-day;

11 And Ha-Shem will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make strong your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

12 And they that will be of you will build the old waste places, you will raise up the foundations of many generations; and you will be called The repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.

13 If you turn away your foot because of the Sabbath, from pursuing your business on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Ha-Shem honorable; and will honor it, not doing your wonted ways, nor pursuing your business, nor speaking thereof;

14 Then will you delight yourself in Ha-Shem, and I will make you to ride upon the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father; for the mouth of Ha-Shem has spoken it. {P}

AFTERNOON (Mincha) SERVICE

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
כְּמַעֲשֵׂה אֶרֶץ-מִצְרַיִם
“K’Ma’Aseh Eretz Mitsrayim”	Reader 1 – Vayikra 18:1-5	Reader 1 – B’midbar 11:16-18
“After the doings of the land of Egypt”	Reader 2 – Vayikra 18:6-21	Reader 2 – B’midbar 11:18-20
“Como hacen en la tierra de Egipto”	Reader 3 – Vayikra 18:22-30	Reader 3 – B’midbar 11:20-22
Vayikra (Leviticus) 18:1-30	Maftir – Vayikra 18:22-30
Ashlamatah: Jonah 1:1–4:11 & Micah 7: 18-20	Jonah 1:1–4:11 & Micah 7: 18-20
Psalm 32
N.C. II Lukas (Acts) 27:1-44

Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Vayikra (Leviticus) 18:1-30

XVIII. And the Lord spoke with Mosheh, saying: Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them, I am the Lord your God. After the evil/lawless work of the people of the land of Mizraim, among whom you have dwelt, you will not do; so likewise, after the evil/lawless work of the people of the land of Kenaan, whither I am bringing you, you will not do, neither will you walk according to their laws; but you will perform the orders of My judgments, and observe My statutes to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. And you will keep My statutes, and the order of My judgments, which if a man do he will live by them, in the life of eternity, and his portion will be with the just: I am the Lord.

No man, either young or old, will come near to any of the kindred of his flesh to dishonor (their) nakedness by carnality, or by the knowledge of their nakedness. I am the Lord. The nakedness of your father, or the nakedness of your mother, you will not dishonor. A woman will not lie with her father, nor a man with his mother; she is your mother: you will not discover her nakedness. The nakedness of your father's wife you will not dishonor, for it is the nakedness of your father. The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, (or of her) whom, your father begat by another wife, or of your mother, whom your mother bare by your father or by another husband, you will not dishonor. The nakedness of your son's daughter, or the daughter of your daughter, you will not dishonor, because they are as your own nakedness. The nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, who have been begotten of your father, she is your sister, you will not dishonor. The nakedness of your father's sister you will not dishonor; she is of kin to your father's flesh. The nakedness of your mother's sister you will not dishonor; for she is of kin to your mother's flesh. The nakedness of your father's brother you will not dishonor, nor come near to his wife carnally; she is the wife of your father's brother. The nakedness of your daughter-in-law you will not dishonor; she is the wife of your son, you will not dishonor her nakedness. The nakedness of your brother's wife you will not dishonor in the life‑time of your brother, or after his death, if he have children; for it is the nakedness of your brother. The nakedness of a woman and of her daughter you will not dishonor, neither will you take her son's daughter or the daughter of her daughter, to dishonor their nakedness; for they are of kin to her flesh; it is corruption. Neither will you take a wife in the lifetime of her sister, to aggrieve her by dishonoring her nakedness, over her, all the days of her life. And unto the side of a woman in the time of the separation of her uncleanness you will not draw near to dishonor her nakedness. Nor unto the side of your neighbor's wife will you come to defile her. And of your offspring you will not give up any to lie carnally with the daughters of the Gentiles, to perform strange worship; nor will you profane the Name of your God: I am the Lord. [JERUSALEM. Neither will you profane the Name of your God: thus speaks the Lord.] Nor with a male person will you lie as with a woman; it is an abhorrent thing. Neither will you lie with any beast to corrupt yourself therewith nor will any woman approach before a beast for evil pleasure; it is confusion. Defile not yourselves by any one of all these; for by all these have the peoples defiled themselves whom I am about to drive away from before you. And the land has been defiled, and I have visited the guilt upon it, and the land delivers itself of its inhabitants. But you, O` congregation of Israel, observe My statutes, and the order of My judgments, and commit not one of these abominations, neither (you who are) native born, or the strangers who sojourn among you. For these abominable things have been done by the men of the land who have been before you, so that the land has been polluted: lest, when you pollute the land, it cast you forth, as it will have delivered itself of the people that were before you. [JERUSALEM. And the land cast you not forth.] For whoever commits any one of these abominations, the souls who do so will be destroyed from among their people. Observe you (then) the keeping of My Word, in being careful to avoid the practice of these abominable rites, which have been practiced in the land before you, and the defilement of yourselves by them: I am the Lord.

Ashlamatah: Book of Jonah

Chapter One

1 Now the Word of Ha-Shem came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying: 2 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim against it; for their lawlessness is come up before Me.' 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of Ha-Shem; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish, from the presence of Ha-Shem. 4 But Ha-Shem hurled a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5 And the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him: 'What do you mean that you sleep? arise, call upon your God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.' 7 And they said every one to his fellow: 'Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us.' So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. 8 Then said they unto him: 'Tell us, we pray, for whose cause this evil is upon us: what is your occupation? and from where do you come? what is your country? and of what people art you?' 9 And he said unto them: 'I am an Hebrew; and I fear Ha-Shem, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.' 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him: 'What is this that you have done?' For the men knew that he fled from the presence of Ha-Shem, because he had told them. 11 Then said they unto him: 'What will we do unto you, that the sea may be calm unto us?' for the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 And he said unto them: 'Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so will the sea be calm unto you; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.' 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not; for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Wherefore they cried unto Ha-Shem, and said: 'We beseech You, O Ha-Shem, we beseech You, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for You, O Ha-Shem, have done as it pleased You.' 15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared Ha-Shem exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice unto Ha-Shem, and made vows.

Chapter Two

1 And Ha-Shem prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 2 Then Jonah prayed unto Ha-Shem his God out of the fish's belly. 3 And he said: I called out of mine affliction unto Ha-Shem, and He answered me; out of the belly of the nether-world cried I, and You heard my voice. 4 For You did cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, and the flood was round about me; all Your waves and Your billows passed over me. 5 And I said: 'I am cast out from before Your eyes'; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple. 6 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; the deep was round about me; the weeds were wrapped about my head. 7 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars closed upon me for ever; yet have You brought up my life from the pit, O Ha-Shem my God. 8 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Ha-Shem; and my prayer came in unto You, into Your holy temple. 9 They that regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 10 But I will sacrifice unto You with the voice of thanksgiving; that which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is of Ha-Shem. {S}

11 And Ha-Shem spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. {P}

Chapter Three

1 And the Word of Ha-Shem came unto Jonah the second time, saying: 2 'Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and make unto it the proclamation that I bid you.' 3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the Word of Ha-Shem. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he proclaimed, and said: 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh will be overthrown.' 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying: 'Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water; 8 but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God; yes, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who knows whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish not?' 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which He said He would do unto them; and He did it not.

Chapter Four

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed unto Ha-Shem, and said: 'I pray, O Ha-Shem, was not this my saying, when I was yet in mine own country? Therefore I fled beforehand unto Tarshish; for I knew that You are a gracious God, and compassionate, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy, and repents of the evil. 3 Therefore now, O Ha-Shem, take, I beseech You, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.' {S}

4 And Ha-Shem said: 'Are you greatly angry?' 5 Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And Ha-Shem God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his evil. So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd. 7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered. 8 And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said: 'It is better for me to die than to live.' 9 And God said to Jonah: 'Are you greatly angry for the gourd?' And he said: 'I am greatly angry, even unto death.' 10 And Ha-Shem said: 'You have had pity on the gourd, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night; 11 and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six-score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?' {P}

Ashlamatah: Micah 7:18-20

18 Who is a God like unto You, that pardons the lawlessness, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger for ever, because He delights in mercy.

19 He will again have compassion upon us; He will subdue our lawlessness; and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as You have sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. {P}

The Rabbi’s Private Prophetic Study

In 2 Lukas (Acts) 27:9 we read:

“Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Hakham Shaul [Paul] admonished them,”

Now a number of questions arise, such as:

What “Fast” was this?
If the “Fast” alluded here to is Yom Kippur, why did Hakham Dr. Lukas (Dr. Luke) not write “because the Day of Atonement was now already past”?
It appears from a cursory reading that Hakham Shaul did fast on the day of Yom Kippur, so why do people who claim to followers of the Messiah do not fast on Yom Kippur?
It has been alleged that since Messiah has made atonement in the heavenly Tabernacle (Hebrews 9:11-12) there is no need to observe Yom Kippur today by fasting all day “afflicting ourselves”. Is this proposition correct?
There are others that claim that since Yeshuah kept all the Law for us we need not observe the Day of Yom Kippur at all. Is this correct?

Let us answer each of these questions from the Word of G-d which is immutable (James 1:17).

According to: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (R.A. Torrey, 1983, Hendrickson Publishers) it states in connection 2 Lukas 27:9 – “The fast was on the tenth day of the seventh month.” (cf. Lev. 16:29, Lev. 23:27-29; Num. 29:7).

Albert Barnes in his work “Notes on the Old and New Testaments,” (1983, Baker Publishing House) commenting on 2 Lukas 27:9, states:

“Because the fast was now already past - By the “fast” here is evidently intended the fast which occurred among the Jews on the great day of atonement. That was on the tenth of the month Tisri, which answers to a part of September and part of October. It was, therefore, the time of the autumnal equinox, and when the navigation of the Mediterranean was esteemed to be particularly dangerous, from the storms which usually occurred about that time.”

Adam Clarke in his work “Commentary on the Bible” (1967, World Publishing), offers the following comment on the text of 2 Lukas 27:9 -

“Sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past - It is generally allowed that the fast mentioned here was that of the great day of atonement which was always celebrated on the tenth day of the seventh month, which would answer to the latter end of our September; see Lev. 16:29; Lev. 23:27, etc. As this was about the time of the autumnal equinox, when the Mediterranean Sea was sufficiently tempestuous, we may suppose this feast alone to be intended. To sail after this feast was proverbially dangerous among the ancient Jews.”

There is no doubt then, by any scholar worth his salt that the text of 2 Lukas (Acts) 27:9 is alluding to the Day of Atonement.

Now Hakham Dr. Lukas does not mention Yom Kippur in his text but alludes to it with the word “fast.” This is in part because Dr. Lukas is writing in a specific genre of Rabbinic literature known as the Rehmes (cf. http://www.betemunah.org/remez.html). In this genre we do not need to quote precisely, all we need is to allude to it, as the reader is supposed to know and therefore there is no need to waste time in precision statements. Another explanation is that Hakham Lukas foresaw that some would invent a heresy that would teach that those who adhere to the Master of Nazareth do not need to fast on Yom Kippur, and therefore he made sure that by using the word “fast” instead of Yom Kippur any confusion on this matter might easily disappear.

As a side note, I believe that the term originally used in 2 Lukas 27:9 was “Ha Tzoma Rabbah” – The Great Fast. Thus the text should read: “because the Great Fast was now already past.”

And why does Hakham Dr. Lukas mentions the day of Yom Kippur in an allusion to it by way of the word “fast” if Hakham Shaul no longer observed this Festival with fasting as some in gross error teach? If Hakham Shaul had discarded the Jewish/Biblical calendar and festivals, G-d forbid, and declared the Roman pagan calendar and its festivals kosher, why did Hakham Dr. Lukas not mention a date in the Roman calendar rather than the “fast” alluding to Yom Kippur? The answer is simple, Hakham Shaul never believed that the death of the Master of Nazareth had abolished the Law, the Jewish Calendar, or its festivals!

Both Hakham Shaul, and Hakham Dr. Lukas were well aware of a critical key text in the prophets:

“For the children of Israel will sit solitary many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim; afterward will the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and will come trembling unto the LORD and to His goodness in the end of days.” (Hos. 3:4-5)

This text lists five things that the children of Israel would be without for “many days,” among them “the king” (i.e. the Messiah) and “sacrifices” until the end of days. Note that “David our King” is placed on equal footing with the “sacrifices.” That is because Yeshuah who is the Torah tabernacling in the flesh (cf. Yochanan/John 1:14) can not abolish the Torah because if he did so he would abolish himself! Having made this point perfectly clear, that it is impossible for Messiah to abolish the Torah, the Jewish/Biblical calendar or its G-d decreed feasts, he as a prophet has the authority to suspend certain parts of the Torah for a period of time, as decreed by G-d Himself.

The Temple and the Sacrifices, have surely been suspended but not abolished! Any statement to the contrary is heretical and in gross error. This fact is illustrated well in the discrepancy between the name of this festival in the Scriptures and its name today. In the Scriptures this day is known as יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים “Yom HaKippurim” (Leviticus 23:27), yet today we call it “Yom Kippur” - Day of Atonement. Why this difference? Because before the Temple was destroyed a number of atonements were made during this day as it is written:

“And he will make atonement for the most holy place, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.” (Lev. 16:33)

Whilst today, as we live in the days in which the Temple remains destroyed (i.e. “without sacrifice”), only one atonement is at stake – ours individually, and communally as families and as a nation. Surely Messiah did atonement, but we remember every year the price of this most expensive atonement by fasting and afflicting ourselves, as the Torah well puts it:

“And this will be an everlasting statute unto you, to make atonement for the children of Israel because of all their sins once in the year.' (Leviticus 16:34).

“And on the tenth of the seventh month, the month of Tishri, you will have a holy convocation, and castigate your souls (by abstaining) from food and drink, the bath, friction, sandals, and the marriage bed; and you will do no servile labor,” (Targum Pseudo Jonathan on Numbers 29:7).

Still concerning fasting on the prescribed days for fasting in the Jewish/Biblical calendar, our Master taught:

Then the disciples of John approach Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast?" And Yeshuah said to them, "The sons of the bridal chamber [fig., the bridegroom's attendants] are not able to be mourning so long as the bridegroom is with them, are they? But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast. (Matityahu/Matthew 9:14-15)

Therefore, since the Bridegroom has been taken from our midst, we surely are subject to G-d’s Laws concerning appointed times for fasting such as on Yom Kippur.

By the way, concerning sacrifices, one must wonder about the following:

If Yeshuah abolished the festivals and the sacrifices, G-d forbid, why is it that his disciples met at the Temple where many sacrifices were made daily, rather than at one of the many local Synagogues that existed at that time in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) as it is written:

“And continuing daily with one mind in the Temple, and breaking bread at every house, they were sharing food with great happiness and simplicity of heart [fig., generosity].” (II Lukas (Acts) 2:46)

Why did Hakham Shaul accepted to pay and make sacrifices for a Jew who was ending his Nazarite vow, long after the death of the Master of Nazareth, and if Hakham Shaul as many wrongly teach had abolished the sacrifices, as it is written:

“²⁰So having heard, they began glorifying the LORD, having said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are of Jews having believed, and all are zealous for the Law. ²¹"But they are informed about you, that you are teaching apostasy from Moses to all Jews among the Gentiles, saying [for] them not to be circumcising their children nor to be walking [fig., conducting themselves] [according to] the customs. ²²"What then is [to be done]? It is certainly necessary [for] the congregation to come together, for they will hear that you have come. ²³"Therefore, do this which we say to you: [there] are four men with us having a vow on themselves; ²⁴these having taken, be purified with them and pay their expenses for them, so that they will shave the head, and all may know that [the things] of which they have been informed about you are nothing [not true], but you are keeping in line with [fig., living in conformity with] and you yourself are keeping the Law.” (2 Lukas/Acts 21:20-24)

If the Law and the Jewish/Biblical Festivals, and the customs as to how to observe these festivals were all abolished by the death of the Master of Nazareth, as some heretically teach, then Hakham Shaul according to the above text was either a great impostor, or hypocrite, G-d forbid!

The problem with all of these grossly erroneous teachings is due simply as Hakham Shaul well put it:

“Because the mind-set of the flesh [is] hostile towards G-d, for it does not want to be subject to the Law of G-d, nor indeed is it able [to be so]. Now the ones being in [the] flesh are not able to please G-d.” (Romans 8:7-8)

Finally, another devastating heresy making the rounds today is that the New Moon should be observed when sighted in Jerusalem, rather than when the last Sanhedrin decreed it should be observed till the coming of Messiah, and that the festivals must be observed according to “the Aviv Barley harvest calendar” rather than the last Sanhedrin decreed it should be observed till the coming of Messiah.

Let us examine as to who should we obey – a Sanhedrin of one Messianic heretic, or a Sanhedrin of 70 Jewish Torah Scholars and accepted by 99.9 % of G-d fearing Jews. We could start by asking a very simple question. When Hakham Dr. Lukas writes: “because Ha Tzoma Rabbah [the Great Fast] was now already past” in 2 Lukas (Acts) 27:9, when was this day of Yom Kippur observed by Hakham Shaul (Paul), when the 70 Jewish Torah Scholars of the last Sanhedrim decreed it to be observed until Messiah comes, or according to this unlawful “Aviv Barley harvest calendar”?

The answer to this question is pretty simple and answered to us by Hakham Ya’aqob HaTsadiq (James the Just), the brother of Yeshuah who was also one of the key leaders of the Jewish Sanhedrim. Please recall the question as to whether G-d fearing Noachites were required to be circumcised after the manner of Moses in order to be saved. In answer to this question, Hakham Ya’aqob HaTsadiq decrees from the Sanhedrim in Jerusalem:

“¹⁹"For this reason, I judge not to be troubling the [ones] turning to G-d from the Gentiles, ²⁰but to write instructions to them to be abstaining from the pollutions of the idols and from sexual immorality and from the strangled [animal] and from blood. ²¹For [the rest they] have Moses from ancient generations, in every city the ones preaching him, being read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath."

If Hakham Ya’aqob Ha-Tasdiq (James the Just) decrees as one of the leaders of the last Jewish Sanhedrim in Jerusalem, says that all “the [ones] turning to G-d from the Gentiles” must attend a services at their local Jewish Synagogue, whether Orthodox or Nazarean, the day in which the Great Fast of the day of Yom Kippur should be observed is when the local Jewish Synagogues say so. If someone has a different custom or law, he/she has introduced an unnecessary division in the most sacred unity of K’lal Yisrael (the people of Israel), has put a stumbling block on those “who from among the Gentiles are turning to G-d,” has cause a division in the unity of the Name (authority) of G-d, and broken themselves off from the Good Jewish Olive Tree (Romans 11). Hakham Shaul admonished anyone returning to G-d quite clearly:

“¹⁷But if some of the [natural] branches were broken off, and you being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a fellow-partaker of the root and of the fatness of the olive tree, ¹⁸stop being arrogant towards the natural branches. But if you are arrogant, [remember] that you do not sustain the root, but the root [sustains] you! ¹⁹You will say then, "Branches were broken off, so that I should be grafted in." ²⁰Well, they were broken off because of unfaithfulness, but you are standing because of your faithful obedience. Stop being high-minded, but [rather] be fearing [G-d].” Romans 11:17-20

Anyone telling the natural branches (i.e. any Jew) that Yom Kippur should be observed in any other day but on the day prescribed by the last Sanhedrim, and observed by 100% of all G-d fearing Jews on the same day is insulting to the Jews, an act of gross arrogance, and as I indicated before an act of rebellion against the natural olive tree, sand therefore separating themselves from the people of Israel.

Fortunately we are in a day most propitious for returning. As the Prophet well says:

“Take with you words, and return unto the LORD; say unto Him: 'Forgive all iniquity/lawlessness, and accept that which is good; so will we render for bullocks the offering of our lips.” (Hosea 14:2(3))

Let us all return to G-d, and make peace with Him and all G-d fearing Jews (the natural branches), and bring unity, respect, and honor to the body of His Majesty King Messiah, and to all K’lal Yisrael, amen ve amen!

Gamar Chatima Tova!

May you end with a good signature (sealing)!

May it go well with you and loved ones over the fast!

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Coming Holidays:

SUKKOTH – Feast of Tabernacles

15^th – 20^th of Tishri 5768

Evening of Wednesday 26^th of September till the Evening of Tuesday the 2^nd of October.

For further Information and study see:

http://www.betemunah.org/succoth.doc

http://www.betemunah.org/birth.doc

HOSHANNA RABBA – The Great Hosanna