Classes and Festivals

Well, this week has had an interesting begining. We have officially had a week of classes and I decided to swith out of one and moved into Biblical Hebrew. Since they have already had a week of class I am playing catch up in learning a new langauge. Not the best way to start out, but I am looking forward to it.

This week is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year celebration. Unlike much of the rest of the world the jewish new years is set to the seasons. They have a rainy season and a dry season in Israel and the dry season is coming to an end. It normally lasts till the third or fourth week in September. So they celebrate the new years as the coming of the rains and with them life in the desert. We were learning about the cycle of the year and how the Jewish festivals are placed at the different seasons and harvest of the year. As I said the New Years festival Rosh Hashanah is this week, it started this evening and goes through Friday when they have the regular Sabbath celebration through Saturday. Next comes Succoth, the feast of booths/tabernacle, which is a celebration of God providing for the Nation of Israel during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. It coincides with the general time of the harvesting of fruits in the land. In Deuteronomy 8:7-9 it tells that God is bringing the nation into a good land (the same good used to describe the creation in Genesis) full of wheat, braley, vines (grapes), figs, pomegranates, olives and honey. They have three harvest here normally, Right after the new year is the fruit harvest, then in late april they harvest barley (mainly as feed for livestock), then the wheat harvest in late may/june. They celebrate Rosh Hashanah now and in ten days they celebrate Yom Kippur (the day of atonement), Shavuot is the feast of the first fruits (harvest of barley), then and succoth the feast of booths are the big feast/festivals of the year.

It has been interesting to watch the people of the city prepare for this first festival, putting up lights and decorating shops and preparing to celebrate. Everything is basically closed down in the Jewish sections of town for the holiday and they have been shooting of fireworks since the sun went down. It will be an exciting time to watch as they celebrate.

Well, I guess it is time to head back to my books and flash cards for Hebrew. If any of you have any questions or desire to see pictures of anything drop me a line and let me know. I am always up for a short trip out to explore.