High Holy Days (5780/2019)

The High Holy Days officially begin at sundown, Tishri 1, the first day of the first month on the Hebrew calendar, which occurs at sundown on September 29th on the Gregorian calendar this year.  While the High Holy Days are more than a month away, the month of Elul begins in less than two weeks at sundown August 31^st.  In the Jewish tradition, the month of Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The word “Elul” is like the root of the verb “search” in Aramaic. 

The Talmud writes that the Hebrew word “Elul” can be understood to be an acronym for the phrase “Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li” – “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” (Song of Solomon 6:3). Elul is seen as a time to search one’s heart and draw close to God in preparation for the coming Day of Judgement, Rosh Hashanah, and Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.  But what about the man who draws close to his Beloved and spends hours with Him every day?  What does a man who has been loyal to his Beloved for nearly 20 years in every way do when a change in his own life could and probably will change this relationship?  What makes the month of Elul different from any other month on the Hebrew calendar for a man like this?  While these questions frame my current state of mind, they are open-ended and cannot necessarily be answered objectively.

As I wrote in my last post titled “Passover:  Royal Palm Beach to Poway” I am increasingly becoming Christ’s fool these days or at least becoming more aware of the foolishness of my life in Him.  Foolishness that comes from the Hand of God brings to light the wretchedness of the human condition at the expense of the fool, but the true fool lives for the sake of God and others rather than for himself.  Do believers let alone the world fully appreciate how far God will go to demonstrate this foolishness?  Jews seem to have an innate understanding of this reality but to consider this dismal view of the God of Israel in His abasement as a reflection of themselves is something they utterly reject.  I call it pride.  Nothing is more foolish or offensive than demonstrating the Cross—especially to the Jew.  Oh the irony of how their rejection is the reconciliation of the world.  What will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

1 Corinthians 18-21

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written (Tanach), “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” ²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

What is it about foolishness that exposes the heart of man by revealing the character of God?  One must consider what is foolish to us is not necessarily foolish to God.  I can hear the Jewish religious authorities saying to one another, “Look at Him. The Fool on the Hill!”  But since when does the clay tell the Potter, “Use me only for honor never dishonor!”  A man doesn’t come to this level of “foolishness” without having first experienced communion with God to the extent that you cannot tell where the man ends and God begins.  The one is so melded into the other, and then God has His fool.

Revelation 14 presents to us one of the great mysteries of the Bible to which many theologians have proffered their various interpretations.  Despite their sincere efforts I don’t believe that one can really understand this mystery without first taking foolishness into account.  This mystery is altogether related to the rejection of the Messiah and the sins of the fathers.  Then imagine many generations later 144,000 Jewish men who have not been defiled by a woman and who follow the Lamb wherever He goes—something only the sons of Korah could understand!  The most fascinating aspect of this mystery is that the 144,000 will come from the most unlikely walks of life—this is keeping with the deep humility, character, and foolishness of God.

And in the end, I continue with the foolishness that my Beloved has called me to—not for my sake but for His Glory which is for your sake.  I may not remain unmoved, unmarried, and unemployed, but I will always be foolish.  And as I look up at that lowly hill I don’t see a Fool…do you?    

Day after day
Alone on a hill
The man with the foolish grin
Is keeping perfectly still
But nobody wants to know him
They can see that he’s just a fool
And he never gives an answer

But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

Well on the way
Head in a cloud
The man of a thousand voices
Talking perfectly loud

But nobody ever hears him
Or the sounds he appears to make
And he never seems to notice

But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

And nobody seems to like him
They can tell what he wants to do
And he never shows his feelings

But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

He never listens to them
He knows that they’re the fools
They don’t like him

The fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

Oh

Below is a schedule of the upcoming High Holy Days that occur during the Hebrew calendar month of Tishri.  The schedule is in Hebrew with English translation. 

Ethanim-Tishri Moedim/Fall Feasts (5780/2019) 

Elul 1/Aug 31 (sundown) – Preparation through Repentance

Tishri 1/Sept 29 (sundown) — Yom Teruah/Trumpets 

Tishri 10/Oct 8 (sundown) — Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement 

Tishri 15/Oct 13 (sundown Full Moon) — Sukkot/Tabernacles-First Day 

Tishri 21/Oct 19 (sundown) — Sukkot/Tabernacles-Last Day

Tishri 22/Oct 20 (sundown) – Shimeni Atzereth/Great 8^th Day