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40 Hope of Israel Mail Bag

I’m writing to enclose a check for the good work While this may sound simple enough, it will re-
you are doing. sult in CHAOS in practice. If you do not accept the New
Moon time based on some fixed location on earth; if you
Now for a couple of questions that keep coming insist on converting the New Moon time into your own lo-
up in my mind. One is about keeping the Passover in the cal time zone, then you will, FOR EVERY YEAR, differ
month of Abib. I see by your calendar that the month of by one day in your observance of the spring Holy Days
Abib was past and also the barley harvest was past, is it not with some of YEHOVAH’s people either to the east of you
important to keep the Passover at that time? or to the west of you; and for the autumn Holy Days you
will differ by one day with some of YEHOVAH’s people
Also do the New Moons have to be sighted in Je- who kept the spring Holy Days on the same days you did;
rusalem so that you may start the new month? Or can the and you will keep the same days for the autumn as some of
month be started when the New Moon is sighted in your the people with whom you differed by one day in the
own area? spring!

Perhaps you have an article to clarify this as I am This is because using New Moon times in terms
keeping the lunar sabbath according to your calendar, and of your local time zone places you at the center of the uni-
then someone says it has to be sighted in Jerusalem first. verse! Everything revolves around you and your specific
location on earth. Sometimes you are in harmony with
So let me know. I have Jonathan Brown’s booklet people to the east of you and differ by one day with people
and maybe I’ve missed the point. Anyway, I’ll continue on to the west of you. At other times you are in harmony with
your calendar -- but await further info. Thanks. people to the west of you and you differ by one day with
people to the east of you. But you will always be in the
R.C. (Washington) center. This problem will arise every single year.

COMMENT: The New Moons should be observed in Je- In Old Testament times there were no people
rusalem. Jerusalem is where YEHOVAH God placed His anywhere outside of the boundaries of Israel who ob-
Name, and this is where YEHOVAH God and Yeshua the served YEHOVAH’s Feasts and Holy Days. There was
Messiah will return to and set up the government of God -- never a need to spell out detailed instructions for people in
ruling and disseminating YEHOVAH’s Law from the other areas of the world. Today YEHOVAH’s people are
newly built Temple! This is the only place the New Moons scattered around the entire globe. Today there is a real
are to be determined -- NOT locally in whatever part of the need to have some central reference point for a calendar
world you live. that can be used by people in all of the 24 different time
zones. Without this simple amenity it is not possible to
Many people feel that there is no need for some “dwell together in unity” as recorded in Psalm 133. How
“central standard” in determining the New Moon times. can a member of YEHOVAH’s church keep the Passover
They feel that all that all that is needed is the visual sight- this evening in London, England, then catch a 1-hour
ing of the New Moon crescent in whatever part of the flight to Paris, France, tomorrow morning -- and tell his
world they live in. For instance, if you live in Paris, France brethren there: “No, I can’t keep the Passover with you this
then you just need to know the New Moon times in terms evening because I already kept it last night in London.”
of local Paris time. If you live in New York then you just That would clearly be divisive and show a lack of concern
need to know the New Moon times in terms of Eastern for other brethren.
Standard Time (E.S.T.). If you live in Bombay, India then
you just need to know the New Moon times in terms of lo- Without some central, fixed reference point a cal-
cal Bombay times. endar is doomed to produce confusion. That is why
Yeshua the Messiah obviously agreed with the Second
Temple custom of observing the New Moon crescent in

The Berean Voice July-August 2002