FEAST DAY OF ATONEMENT #1
From the book "The Jewish Festivals" by Hayyim Schauss, published
in 1938.
IN OLDEN DAYS
Old and New Earnestness
We have already mentioned that in olden times, before the
Babylonian Exile, neither Rosh Hashonoh nor Yom Kippur were
distinct holidays, separate from the autumn festival, Sukkos.
(And as I have already mentioned to you, this writer is what you
might call an agnotic of the inspiration of the Old Testament
Scriptures. If he was not he would have said no such comment -
Keith Hunt)
These two serious holidays are very different in character
from the three joyous festivals (Pesach, Shovuos, and Sukkos),
and are obviously a product of a later epoch, carrying that
epoch's imprint.
(Difference, does not prove none existance - day and night are
differnet but they both exist - Keith Hunt)
In each era of ancient Jewish history festivals were created
which were bound up with the ideas, the emotions, and the
conceptions of the Jews of that particular era. It was not
necessary to create new holidays. The old festivals were altered
and re-created; a new spiritual content was poured into them and
they became new institutions.
(As you can gather, this writer is of an evolution mind-set; he
does not take the inspiration of the Bible as literal - Keith
Hunt)
In very ancient times, when Jews were still shepherds in the
wilderness, they observed festivals that were in keeping with the
life of nomadic shepherd tribes. They observed, for instance,
Pesach, the New Moon, and the shearing of the sheep, as festival
days. Later, when they settled in Palestine and became peasants,
rooted in the soil of the land, they began the observance of the
three nature festivals that were bound up with tilling the soil
and the seasons.
(More evidence that the writer sees Israel in a secular evolution
mode of inventing or borrowing from here or there, the festivals
they now have. The Bible tells us that God gave His Festivals, as
given in Leviticus 23, to Israel from the beginning of their
liberation from Egypt - Keith Hunt)
But as the Jews traveled further on their own path of higher
spiritual culture, they sought more and more to separate their
festivals from nature, from the seasons of the year, and surround
them with a new religious content. This process began in the time
of the Jewish kingdom, and attained bold and far-reaching results
after the Babylonian Exile.
(Once more he continues from a secular evolution belief - Keith
Hunt)
Jewish life had changed considerably after the exile. Jewish
religious ideas and feelings had become purer and more earnest.
Their life as a people had changed, too, for Jews were, in that
time, spread over many near and distant lands. The three great
festivals of the Jewish peasants of the older days were no longer
suited to the conditions and the spirit of the newer day. Jews
had no longer the desire to observe nature festivals, which
consisted of eating, drinking, and rejoicing before God,
especially since that type of festival, which was closely bound
up with the village life of the peasants, no longer fitted the
conditions under which Jews lived in scattered communities in
various countries.
So the three great, yearly festivals took on, with time, a
new character. From village revels they evolved into national
observances. They lost their connection with the seasons of the
year and made of the entire people one festive community. Some of
the customs still pointed to the agricultural origin of the
festivals, as, for instance, the first sheaf of barley offered at
Pesach, and the two loaves of bread offered at Shovuos. But the
agricultural season was no longer the reason for the festival,
and the entire observance was no longer planned as an expression
of rejoicing before God, but was a means by which the celebrants
sought to approach nearer to God. The festival of the day was no
longer a folk revel but a "holy convocation" in the Temple or
synagogue, a day of rest, of earnestness, and of spiritual
uplift. Such festivals could be observed not only in the Temple
in Jerusalem, but everywhere, in all the lands to which the Jews
of that day were already scattered.
(Indeed, the writer continues with his evolutioning festivals
within a people that really had no similarity to the people in
the account written in the book of Exodus - Keith Hunt)
The only festival which still retained forms of the old
village revels was Sukkos; and it was for that very reason,
apparently, that Yom Kippur was instituted in those days as
a distinct holiday, so that five days earlier, before the
beginning of the revels, there should come a great and sanctified
day, a day of fasting and reflection on one's sins.
The Development of a Holy Day
Later we shall treat the Sukkos festival as it was
celebrated in ancient days. Suffice it to say that this festival
had the character of a wild revel, which the Jews took over from
the peoples about them. It displeased the spiritual leaders, the
religious teachers of the day, that Jews should open the year
with revelry just as did their heathen neighbors. It was,
therefore, arranged that the joyous festival be observed several
days later, and that the New Year be started with a great fast.
Revelry was not to be practiced when an old year ended and a new
year of life began; instead fasting would be the order of the
day, reciting confessional prayers, and a "reckoning of the soul"
to renew one's inner life for the coming new year. After the
fast, when sins were forgiven and one felt himself a new man
again, would be the time for revelry and joy.
(How the carnal mind can reason with what this writer wants you
to believe as to how the Jews moved over time into reasoning for
themselves the inventions of festivals - Keith Hunt)
In this way, in the course of time, it was arranged that the
tenth day of Tishri, the day on which the new year officially
started, was to be a day of ridding one's self of sin; and the
joyous autumn festival, parallel with the festival of spring, was
to begin on the fifteenth day of the month, at the full of the
moon.
Speculation arises as to why the beginning of the year, in
ancient days, came on the tenth of the month instead of the
first. The only logical explanation for this is that it stems
from a time when there was no leap year in the Jewish calendar,
no thirteenth month to equalize the sun-year and moon-year. In
order to accomplish this equalization, ten days or so were added
to the end of the previous year before reckoning the new year. It
is possible, then, that in the practical life of the period the
new year began on the first of the month; but officially the year
began on the tenth of the month, thus meeting the sun-year. These
ten intervening days were declared days of penitence.
(Oh what crazy and silly reasonings the carnal mind can invent,
when it is not "God centered" but believes not the inspiration of
the Bible. A more classic example than here I cannot give - Keith
Hunt)
When it is said, however, that Yom Kippur is a product of
the epoch after the Babylonian exile, it is not meant that it was
entirely a new institution. Yom Kippur became, in that time, a
new holiday only in that it was entirely separated from Sukkos
and assumed a new character and a new significance, but the core
of Yom Kippur was not new. We must assume that even in the time
of Solomon's Temple a definite day, or perhaps days were
established to cleanse the sanctuary of its profanations; but we
do not know exactly what the day was and what ceremonies attended
it. We must also take for granted that the joyous autumn
festival, even far back in history, began with a day of serious
mien and fasting and ended in revelry, or else that it began as a
revel and ended as a fast. But we do not know what motive or
character was attributed to this day that preceded or succeeded
the revelry. Later, as has been explained, the fast day was
entirely separated from the autumn festival and became a distinct
and genuine Jewish festival. It was remembered however that the
day before the last day of the festival, the day on which the
revelry reached its height, was one of seriousness; and Hoshano
Rabboh, the seventh day of Sukkos, the day before Sh'mini
Atseres, remained, therefore, through all time a minor Yom
Kippur.
(Once more I hope you are learning how twisted and inventive the
mind can be, when it does not believe the Word of God. And truth
my friends IS the Word of God, as Jesus clearly stated in John
17:17 - Keith Hunt)
We cannot be certain when all these changes and reforms in
the Jewish calendar took place. For all this happened in a period
of Jewish history, regarding which there is little documentation
- the four hundred years between the first destruction of
Jerusalem and the rise of the Hasmoneans. In these four hundred
years there evolved a practically new Jewish spiritual life with
new forms and institutions. How and under what conditions these
new forms and institutions arose we cannot know. It is,
therefore, not surprising that we know so little of the greatest
holiday that arose in that period: Yom Kippur.
(Of course this writer is confused, and figures there is no
writings to show how this great feast day of Atonement came into
being in the Jewish community, when he will not believe the books
within a book, that would give him the truth - the Bible - Keith
Hunt)
We can be certain, however, that Yom Kippur did not assume
its importance as the greatest fast day of the year and the great
day for all Jews all at once; it went through a long period of
evolution. Nor is its ritual uniform; it is made up of various
customs and ceremonies, some very ancient and some that were
added in later years.
(Oh indeed, some traditions were added over time, as Jesus talked
about the traditions of the Pharisees, which often made void the
commandments of God. But the writer does not even believe the Old
Testament scriptures let alone those of the New Testament - Keith
Hunt)
It appears that for a certain length of time the tenth day
of Tishri was both the beginning of the year and a day of
atonement. It was the latter in the Temple, but outside of the
Temple it still carried the traits of a festival. Jewish maidens
went to the vineyards on that day in a joyous dance procession.
The day still had a double character and this hindered its
importance as a day of penitence. For this reason a separation
was made: the first day of Tishri was made Rosh Hashonoh, the
official New Year, and the tenth day of the month became almost
entirely a day of confession and penitence. But the separation
never had the full effect it was supposed to produce. Rosh
Hashonoh and Yom Kippur intermingle in their roles. Yom Kippur
never actually became entirely a day of sorrow, a day which casts
shadow on all. Despite the fast, the confession, and the wailing,
it remains a festival with an undercurrent of joy. One must not
eat, but still, one wears festive clothes.
(The writer does not understand that a "fast day" can also be a
joyous day. Sin and its atonement and its banish into the
wilderness, in some of its main types, is both bitter and sweet.
Then when you mingle society evolution in festivals, and
disregard the written information contained in inspired sacred
writings from the Old Testament scriptures, you will most
definately wander off into the secualr reasonings which the
author has done - Keith Hunt)
The Jews of that period felt the need of a genuine Jewish
holiday in which they could express their deepest religious
feelings, and the tenth of Tishri became that day. It is not
surprising that the Jews realized the great importance of Yom
Kippur, and the day became and remained the greatest and holiest
day in the Jewish year.
.....................
Dear reader, this, what you have read, is a super example of the
deceptions of the demonic world that can influence your mind,
when you will not prove that the Bible is the INSPIRED word of
God, who gave Israel His Festivals as contained in Leviticus 23,
from the very start, when the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt
under Moses. How broad the mind of man can be, how inventive, how
misguided, how foolish in understanding, and to put it in a
modern blunt phrase, how "utterly clueless" is the mind apart
from the connection with God's mind and revelation from His word.
Keith Hunt
To be continued; more from the same author!
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