Torah Portions

The Stones Cry Out Part 1

Allow me to share this endorsement of our latest book again. If you have read our books, please share your thoughts about them with us in the comments below or email me.

And yes, many observe the Equinox.  There are many who are deceived, improperly educated.  And this is why Joe puts out a newsletter every week, why he writes books, why the SightedMoon Zoom Shabbat service started, why he travels to places like England and the Philippines to share this message and why were are going to the NRB in February.  The calendar is always a divisive issue in social circles because the details are many, that’s why there are so many books Joe has written.  I’m not looking to put Joe on a pedestal here.  This is not about Joe worship.  But Joe has tenaciously studied out the calendar from every angle, not to prove himself right, to to seek to find and share what Yehovah is telling us about His Calendar.

In The Stones Cry Out, Joe has shared the history of all the different groups within Israel, and the beliefs they had about the scriptures and the feast days and the calendar.  When you line it all up, you can see for yourself the how and why these misunderstandings and arguments about how and where and why  they came about.

This is my new favourite book and I’m only 60-70 pages in.  And I encourage you to read the footnotes in this one.  Sometimes there’s more footnote on the page than Joe’s words.

Sombra Wilson

When I wrote Stones Cry Out, I wanted it to be one of our FREE books so everyone would have it. It is more of an encyclopedia than a book to read. It will be your quick resource book; you will have access to every question about any calendar, how it got started, and who started it. You will also learn the history of how the Mishnah was assembled, when it was assembled and why. Then, you will learn how that information was transferred into both the Jerusalem and the Babylonian Talmud until it reached its final stage in the Mishneh Torah. Along with this progression, the calendar also progressed and changed long after 358 C.E. when Rabbi Hillel first published it. But…what was before the Hillel calendar? What does the Mishnah record about those things?

The Stones Cry Out was originally going to be one book explaining all the various proofs we have discovered, demonstrating when the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are throughout history.

You can know; it is not a mystery.

As I began to write The Stones Cry Out, I quickly found myself going back, time and time again, to explain how the calendar is behind the confusion of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. The Rabbis, as they began to write the Mishnah, incorporated wrong understandings, and those errors were written into what became known as the Talmud and then the Mishneh Torah. The expulsion from the land and subsequent persecutions in trying to send out messengers to report the barley being found or the crescent moon being seen, proved to be more and more dangerous over time. All of these things took place over 14 centuries.

Then as I was working on The Stones Cry Out, I discovered that many people were now accepting the Zadok calendar as factual. This is when we pivoted to include all the details of the various calendars that have crept back into public knowledge today and are being used to mislead new people who are just starting to learn about the calendar. All of this was directly connected to the period starting with the Hasmonaeans, up to the destruction of the Temple. Then, with the compiling of the Mishnah, the studies that led into the writing of the Jerusalem Talmud, then the Babylonian Talmud and finally the Mishneh Torah, each error that was added is compounded over time.

The Stones Cry Out, Part 1 explains the history of how each compilation of the Oral Torah incorporated errors, leading the followers thereof away from the actual Torah. In understanding these facts, it is then possible to understand more readily how the Sabbatical and Jubilee years were then mixed and later changed. By explaining all this history, I will be able to help you the reader understand the tombstones when most authorities do not. They have assumed, to their error, the Hillel calendar to have always been in use since Mount Sinai. Not understanding the history of the calendars is why most authorities dismiss the tombstones as too confusing to use. Once you understand The Stones Cry Out Part 1, Part 2 will be very easy to grasp.

Daniel 7:25 tells us he will change the appointed seasons and commandments. Many assume Constantine did this when he made Sunday the Sabbath. Few have considered the calendar’s many changes and how they relate to us today. Hidden in this proverbial swamp of confusion is the truth about the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. The Sabbatical and Jubilee years reveal the truths about the calendar that have been hidden for almost 2000 years.

We are in the very last days and Yehshua warned us that during this time:

Mat 24:10 And then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Mat 24:11 And many false prophets will rise and deceive many.

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will become cold.

Mat 24:13 But he who endures to the end, the same shall be kept safe.

Paul also warned Timothy about these last days, warning that some would leave the truth and begin to follow demonic teachers:

1Ti 4:1 But the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons,

Paul again warned the Thessalonians that the Great Falling away would take place in the last days. How can you fall away if you have never come to know the truth? So who is Paul talking to? Those who are called and answer that calling begin to walk this road of restoration back to Yehovah, and then at some point along that walk, they change and leave this walk following the teachings of demons to false calendar.

2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, my brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

2Th 2:2 that you should not be soon shaken in mind or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word or letter, as through us, as if the Day of Christ is at hand.

2Th 2:3 Let not anyone deceive you by any means. For that Day shall not come unless there first comes a falling away, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition,

2Th 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself forth, that he is God.

We must endure until the end. We must not let ourselves become offended by personalities and leave the faith once given.

I want you all to have access to and the ability to read this book and use it as a reference. https://sightedmoon.com/the-stones-cry-out-lp/ Click on the link fill in the form and you will have access to the FREE PDF anywhere in the world. If you want a copy you can hold in your hands we have published it at Amazon for the lowest price they would allow us. Order you copy after Shabbat and begin to read it today.

The 10 Days of Awe

Order your copy today at  https://sightedmoon.com/10-days-of-awe-lp/ and learn how to understand end-time prophecy in light of the nightly news on your TV screens.

What is the curse of the Sotah woman? How did Yehshua die paying the price of the Sotah woman? What does that have to do with world events today? How is Climate Change connected to the curse of the Sotah woman?

The 10 Days of Awe describes the final ten years of judgment in this final 120th Jubilee Cycle of this 6th millennium (2024-2033). The extreme heat domes around the earth, droughts, floods, cyclones, typhoons, earthquakes, and wars are all explained once you understand the cup the Sotah woman must drink, having been suspected of adultery. It is not, and never was climate change or global warming.

When the curses of this temple ritual are implemented, the 10 plagues of Egypt in these last days come to life. Once you understand that the 10 gods that Yehovah attacked in the Exodus are the same ones He is attacking today, but with different names, then world events take on a whole new understanding.

Joseph Dumond’s uncanny ability to understand the Jubilee Cycles of Leviticus 25, along with his understanding of the Holy Days of Leviticus 23 and a huge blessing from Yehovah, revealing these truths to him, has enabled him to correctly predict the middle of the week of the Daniel 9 prophecy. That middle of the week was the year 2020. He has been the only voice warning about 2020 since 2005. You can read about this warning in his other books, The Prophecies of Abraham, Remembering the Sabbatical Year of 2016 and The 2300 Days of Hell.

Dumond began to warn about the next big event, the Abomination That Makes Desolate, which only Joseph Dumond warned was coming in the fall of 2023. He even went to Jerusalem to watch it being built and warned his readers as it progressed. No one else has done this.

The Elijah Trilogy consists of The Restoration of All Things, The Abomination That Makes Desolate, and this book The 10 Days of Awe.

The 10 Days of Awe is going to stun you with historical facts that will upset you with your religious upbringing, but once those facts are seen, they cannot be unseen. The world is going to suffer from famine on a worldwide scale, unlike anything ever seen before. Read this book as fast as you can and share it with others. Time has run out. The Abomination has now been revealed, the 7 Trumpets have begun to sound after which the 7 vials will be sounded out. This truly magnificent and God-inspired book explains where we go, when and who is about to be slaughtered. You do not have time to waste. Order it now and begin to read it the moment it arrives.

New Moon Day

Last week, we explained how difficult it would be to see the moon on Monday evening, December 4, 2024.

The degree of difficulty in seeing the moon on Monday evening is shown in the next chart.

But someone was able to see the moon Monday evening. Gadi Eidelhiet, a known sighter of the moon, saw the moon with his naked eye and then took this picture. I can barely see the moon in the picture.

On Tuesday evening, the 30th day of the preceding month, the moon would have been easier to see. Even if no one did see it, it was a 30-day month.

Several people began shouting “New Moon Day” Monday evening. Gadi saw the crescent moon from Israel. Were they right to do so? If they were, this Sabbath is the 5th day of the 11th month. Yet I am claiming it is actually the 4th day.

Does it matter?

Absolutely, it does because you are now setting yourselves up for another controversial year unless you have a clear understanding of how the moon is to be sighted.

We also had people in other countries see the crescent moon on Monday evening. Should their witness count toward the start of the month?

You are to judge in this matter. You must understand. We will soon explain why this is so critical.

On December 4, 2024, Devorah Date Tree wrote the following:

First, it’s important to understand that whenever we look for the crescent, it’s because the moon is potentially visible to the naked eye. However, whether the moon will actually be sighted, depends on a combination of the percentage of moon’s illumination, the time between sunset and moonset (i.e. how dark it is), some other complex geometric parameters, atmospheric obstructions (including haze on the horizon which there always is), whether the observer is looking in the right place, and how good the observer’s eyesight is.

It’s our understanding that the Creator intended for us to look for the crescent moon, the way the ancient Israelites would have done. Meaning without the use of optical aids, which are instruments which magnify the object or enhance the contrast of light, include binoculars, telescopes, and cameras.

In fact, we often receive reports from observers who use optical aids to spot the crescent saying that, they don’t believe they would have been able to see the moon with their naked eye, had they not first located it through an optical aid. And some have even reported that they weren’t certain whether they actually saw the crescent with their naked eye, or whether they were influenced by having sighted it through the optical aid (confirmation bias). In short, the use of optical aids can lead to very questionable “positive” naked-eye observations.

Also, a photo isn’t proof that it’s the beginning of the Biblical Month, as the crescent can be seen any time after conjunction, assuming the optical aid is able to magnify the object and create enough contrast. Therefore, only a reliable witness can testify as to whether the moon was sighted with the naked eye.

Unfortunately, many proponents of using optical aids, don’t share this in their reports. Or they use tricky wording like the “sighting was unaided”, but not whether optical aids were used to fist spot the crescent. Therefore, if this is something which is important to you, we recommend being careful whose observations you are relying on.

Regarding this month’s observation, on Monday, 2 December 2024 (the end of the 29th day) we received one report from an observer who spotted the crescent using an optical aid, and then sighted the moon with his naked eye. And one report from an observer who spotted the crescent through an optical aid, but wasn’t able to sight the moon with his naked eye. Others who used optical aids and those that didn’t, didn’t see the moon.

Could the observer who saw crescent with his naked eye, been able to do so without the use of an optical aid on that particular evening, we’ll never know. All we can tell you is that the probability of being able to sight the crescent with the naked eye that evening was 0.2 (below 0 means it’s impossible), and that there was a lot of haze on the horizon. In other words, it was an extremely difficult observation.

We are pleased to be able to share with you that the crescent moon was sighted on 3 December 2024 (the end of the 30 day), from Tiberias by Dennis Chkolnik, and from Katzrin by Ariella Casey, Ben Casey, and Devora Gila.

Why Do We Need Two Witnesses?

This past Monday, we had one witness see the new crescent moon through an optical aid. He also had a picture. It was a great picture, and even the picture showed how faint the moon was and how difficult it would have been to see. But is a picture a second witness or just evidence from the first witness proving his case?

It is not a second witness. It merely corroborates the first witness’s testimony as part of his evidence.

Meriam Webster defines a witness as the following:

1

: attestation of a fact or event : testimony

 

2

: one that gives evidence

specifically : one who testifies in a cause or before a judicial tribunal

 

3

: one asked to be present at a transaction so as to be able to testify to its having taken place

 

4

: one who has personal knowledge of something

 

5

a

: something serving as evidence or proof : sign

b

: public affirmation by word or example of usually religious faith or conviction

Why Two Witnesses?

In Deuteronomy, Moses outlines Yehovah’s plan for Israel’s judicial process, establishing systems to deal fairly and respectfully with those accused of crimes.

Deu 17:2  If there is found among you, inside any of your gates which Jehovah your God gives you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of Jehovah your God, in breaking His covenant,

Deu 17:3  and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded,

Deu 17:4  and if it is told you, and you have heard and inquired carefully, and, behold, it is true and the thing is certain, such abomination is done in Israel;

Deu 17:5  then you shall bring forth that man or that woman who has committed that evil thing, to your gates, even that man or that woman, and shall stone them with stones until they die.

Deu 17:6  At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

Deu 17:7  The hands of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. So you shall put the evil away from among you.

Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges

Deu 17:8  If a matter is too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, matters of strife within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose.

Deu 17:9  And you shall come to the priests of the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and ask. And they shall declare to you the sentence of judgment.

Deu 17:10  And you shall do according to the sentence which they declare to you from that place which Jehovah shall choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they tell you.

Deu 17:11  According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach you and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand or the left.

Deu 17:12  And the man that acts proudly and will not listen to the priest who stands to minister there before Jehovah your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die. And you shall put away the evil from Israel.

Deu 17:13  And all the people shall hear and fear, and not be presumptuous any more.

One such procedure required two or three witnesses for a criminal conviction: “You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

Deu 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be made sure.

Deu 19:16 If a false witness rises up against any man to testify a falling away against him,

Deu 19:17 then both the men who are disagreeing shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges which shall be in those days.

Deu 19:18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry. And behold, if the witness is a false witness and has testified falsely against his brother,

Deu 19:19 then you shall do to him as he had thought to have done to his brother. So you shall put the evil away from among you.

Deu 19:20 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and shall commit from then on no such evil among you.

Deu 19:21 And your eye shall not pity. Life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Num 35:29  So these things shall be for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Num 35:30  Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses. But one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.

One aspect of worshipping Yehovah is understanding that His Laws are given to safeguard His people, not as punishments. Yehovah established rules of justice to prevent unfair, arbitrary, erroneous, or dishonest treatment of an individual. These judicial requirements are known as procedural due process and substantive due process.

Israelites who broke the law, committing evil in the eyes of the Lord, were subject to harsh penalties, but not without careful investigation by leaders of the community. A person had to be proven guilty of a crime through examination and due process before a penalty could be served. Under no circumstances could a matter deserving of the death penalty be decided on the testimony of a single witness:

“On the testimony of two or three witnesses, a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness” (Deuteronomy 17:6).

We have an example of the law requiring two or three witnesses coming into play in 1 Kings 21, when Queen Jezebel hatched a wicked plot to steal a vineyard for her husband, King Ahab. She declared a holiday and invited Naboth, the vineyard’s owner, to sit in a place of honour. All the time behind the scenes, she was orchestrating Naboth’s demise: “Seat two scoundrels opposite him,” she instructed the city leaders, “and have them bring charges that [Naboth] has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death” ( 1 Kings 21:10). Her murder of Naboth had all the appearances of due process—she made sure there were two witnesses against him, just as the law specified. Jezebel’s trampling of the law—while pretending to honour it—shows the depth of her corruption.

A single party might get away with falsely accusing someone of a crime, but it is much harder for multiple witnesses to conspire to pervert justice. Also, one person could mistakenly misinterpret an act as criminal, but it is far less likely for two or three witnesses to all get it wrong. For this reason, the law required that allegations be evidenced and attested to by at least two eyewitnesses.

An additional safeguard against falsely convicting someone of a crime was that the witnesses themselves were responsible for initiating the penalty: “The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you” ( Deuteronomy 17:7). The whole community joined in administering justice, attesting to the corporate character of the covenant family. Evil, crime, and its punishment impacted the entire fellowship. If one Israelite sinned against Yehovah, all were liable in one way or another. It was in everyone’s best interest to remove evil from their midst.

The principle of more than one witness recurs in the New Testament. Jewish law recognized that two or three witnesses were required to establish the truth or validity of someone’s claims.

Jhn 8:16 And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me.

Jhn 8:17 It is also written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true.

Mat 18:15 But if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear you, take one or two more with you, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax-collector.

2Co 13:1 I am coming to you this third time. In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.

1Ti 5:19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except before two or three witnesses.

Part of the law’s perfection is its preservation of justice and the protections it offers those accused of crimes.

Why is it essential to establish this procedure of always having two or more witnesses for sighting the moon?

The Death Penalty for Breaking the Sabbath

In the Mosaic law, Israelites who broke the command against working on the Sabbath faced the death penalty. This penalty underscored the supreme importance of observing a holy day of rest as a sign of Israel’s covenant relationship with Yehovah. It established a symbolic truth regarding Yehovah’s eternal rest.

Exo 35:2  Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of rest to Jehovah. Whoever does work in it shall be put to death.

As Israel was about to build the Tabernacle, Moses gathered all the people together and said, “For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.” This passage reiterates the Sabbath observance that Yehovah had given to Israel through Moses earlier:

Exo 16:21 And they gathered it every morning, each man according to his eating. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

Exo 16:22 And it happened, on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

Exo 16:23 And he said to them, This is that which Jehovah has said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath to Jehovah. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil. And that which remains over, lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

Exo 16:24 And they laid it up until the morning, as Moses said. And it did not stink, neither was there any worm in it.

Exo 16:25 And Moses said, Eat that today. For today is a sabbath to Jehovah. Today you shall not find it in the field.

Exo 16:26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, in it there shall be none.

Exo 16:27 And it happened some of the people went out on the seventh day in order to gather. And they did not find any.

Exo 16:28 And Jehovah said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My Laws?

Exo 16:29 See, because Jehovah has given you the sabbath, therefore He gives you the bread of two days on the sixth day. Each one stay in his place. Let not any one go out of his place on the seventh day.

Exo 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

Exo 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exo 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger within your gates.

Exo 20:11 For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it.

Exo 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exo 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger within your gates.

Exo 20:11 For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it.

Exo 31:12 And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying,

Exo 31:13 Speak also to the sons of Israel, saying, Truly you shall keep My sabbaths. For it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I am Jehovah who sanctifies you.

Exo 31:14 You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it isholy to you. Everyone that defiles it shall surely be put to death. For whoever does any work in it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Exo 31:15 Six days may work be done, but on the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to Jehovah. Whoever does any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Exo 31:16 Therefore the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant.

Exo 31:17 It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever. For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.

We have an example of a man picking up the sticks on the Sabbath, and he was executed.

Num 15:32  And while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day.

Num 15:33  And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation.

Num 15:34  And they put him under guard because it had not been clearly said what should be done to him.

Num 15:35  And Jehovah said to Moses, The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.

Num 15:36  And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died, even as Jehovah commanded Moses.

Observing the Sabbath was an important sign of the covenant between Yehovah and His people. Failure to observe this critical symbol of the covenant was such a serious breach of the relationship that it was assigned a penalty of death. Until now, Israel had a proven track record of either forgetting or disobeying Yehovah’s commands. In the people’s excitement to begin constructing the Tabernacle, it was imperative that worship not be overlooked, even to do praiseworthy work. Thus, the death penalty emphasizes the seriousness of maintaining fidelity to the solemn pledge between you and Yehovah.

The Holy Days of Leviticus 23 are also known as Sabbaths.

The Passover

Lev 23:4  These are the appointed feasts of Jehovah, holy convocations which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons.

Lev 23:5  In the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, is Jehovah’s Passover,

Lev 23:6  and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to Jehovah. You must eat unleavened bread seven days.

Lev 23:7  On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no work of labor,

Lev 23:8  but you shall offer a fire offering to Jehovah seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation. You shall do no work of labor.

The point that we need to see here is that special days, which were counted as Sabbaths, were appointed for Israel to keep, and were separate from the regular weekly Sabbaths (Leviticus 23:3-8). These days were usually described using two particular phrases, “holy convocation” (Exodus 12:16; Leviticus 23:24; 23:35-36; Numbers 28:18), and “you shall do no servile work” (Exodus 12:16; Leviticus 16:29; 23:25; 23:35-36; Numbers 28:18). The same phrases are used to describe the regular weekly Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3). It is not said specifically in the Old Testament that the first day of the feast of unleavened bread was a Sabbath, but we can see that it was because it was described by these same two phrases (Exodus 12:16; Leviticus 23:7; Numbers 28:18). In the New Testament it is referred to as a Sabbath (Mark 16:1; John 19:31), and as it came on the same date every year, the fifteenth of the first month (Leviticus 23:6; Numbers 28:17), then it would occur on a different day of the week every year. When it did not coincide with a regular weekly Sabbath, there would be two Sabbaths during that week. This is important for us to understand because, as we shall see, Yehshua died on the day of the Passover, on 14th Nisan. It was the day before the feast day Sabbath on the 15th day of the first month, called “a high day” (John 19:31 KJV), and not before the regular weekly Sabbath.

John 19:31 Then the Jews, because it was Preparation, begged Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the sabbath. For that sabbath was a high day.

That Sabbath was the High Day of the 15th day of Unleavened Bread, which fell on the Thursday that year.

Along with the First and Last Days of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret are all called Sabbaths.

The Feast of Trumpets

Lev 23:23 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Lev 23:24 Speak to the sons of Israel saying: In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath, a memorial summons, a holy convocation.

Lev 23:25 You shall do no work of labor but you shall offer a fire offering to Jehovah.

Atonement

Lev 23:27 Also, on the tenth of this seventh month, this is a day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you. And you shall afflict your souls and offer a fire offering to Jehovah.

Lev 23:28 And you shall do no work in that same day, for it is a day of atonement, in order to make an atonement for you before Jehovah your God.

Lev 23:29 For any soul who is not humbled in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

Lev 23:30 And any soul who does any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.

Lev 23:31 You shall do no kind of work. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Lev 23:32 It shall be to you a sabbath of rest, and you shall humble your souls. In the ninth of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your sabbath.

Sukkot are two Sabbath Days.

Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret

Lev 23:39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast to Jehovah seven days. On the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.

The only Holy Day I was not able to find called a Sabbath is Shavuot, but I am going out on a limb here and say that it, too, is a Sabbath because it is listed with all those other days, all those other Holy Days that are called Sabbath. You are to prepare your meals before the weekly Sabbath. You are allowed to cook on the Holy Days except Yom Kippur.

I have laid all of this out to prove that Yehovah can execute you for not keeping the Sabbath or Holy Days. The annual Holy Days require two witnesses to determine when the first month begins and when the seventh month begins, as these are the only two months in which all the Holy Days fall. Again, it is for the reason of passing judgment that the Two Witnesses in Revelation are called to do a specific work. Their witness will precede the judgment Yehovah will bring on the world in the last 3 1/2 years.

So, the debate this week about when the month begins should never have happened. You all should have already known you must have two witnesses to determine the recent moon. Having one witness does not allow for judgment to begin. You must have two. Ignoring the Two Witnesses to sight the moon and keeping the Holy Days at the wrong time is a capital offence resulting in death. Yehovah must have legal witnesses to execute His judgments.

Binding & Loosening

This Newsletter was written after Gadi reported seeing the New Crescent Moon on Monday evening, December 2, 2024, making Tuesday the first day of the 11th month.

As of Monday evening, we only knew of one witness. Based on that one witness, I wrote this newsletter to clarify that we must have two witnesses to declare the new moon. That meant that this Shabbat would be the fourth day of the 11th month.

The following report is from Gadi, sent out on Thursday, December 5, 2024, three days after he sighted the moon. What would you do now if this was the Feast of Trumpets and the start of the 7th month? You have already celebrated the Feast of Trumpets based on the fact that you do not have two witnesses. Now, three days later, you are told there were two witnesses. Do you adjust and have only 9 days until you keep Atonement, or do you remain committed to keeping Atonement on the 10th day because originally you had only one witness?

Or do we keep the Feast of Trumpets for two days each year just in case and then adjust once we are absolutely sure when it was before we keep the Day of Atonement?

Another question to ask. The second witness below is the only one to have seen the moon without the use of optical aids. Does this mean that they are the only one who is qualified to be a witness? Does Gadi’s use of optical aid to find the moon disqualify him as a witness?

If you are going to allow the use of optical aids, then do you regulate whether or not you can use a telescope connected to a computer that tracks the moon? Is this a witness if this method sees the moon and projects that image onto the computer? What is the line that you can’t cross in just how powerful the telescope or binoculars are that are allowed to be used?

Having weighed all of these questions, you must now come up with your decision. Is this Shabbat the 4th day of the 11th month or the 5th day? Did you accept the witness who used optical aids or not?

Hello All

The observation of the moon on Monday 2-Dec-2024 was indeed challenging, partly due to significant haze in Israel that made it difficult to see the thin crescent.

Personally, I observed from an unfamiliar location and chose an observation point that was the highest in the area. However, there was another mountain directly in line with the moon, which left me with very little time to observe it. Even after spotting the moon with binoculars, it took about 7 minutes before I could barely see it with the naked eye. The crescent was extremely thin and pale amidst the haze.

Below is a table with a few more observations. Despite many people managing to see and photograph it with binoculars, it was much more challenging to see with the naked eye.

Attached are two images: one showing the first sighting, where the moon is barely visible, and another from the following day, with the moon aligned above an electricity  pole.

Let us now wrap this discussion up with the words from Yehshua:

If Your Brother Sins Against You

Mat 18:15 But if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear you, take one or two more with you, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax-collector.

Mat 18:18 Truly I say to you, Whatever you shall bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall occur, having been loosed in Heaven.

Mat 18:19 Again I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth as regarding anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in Heaven.

Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.

What does this mean, that which we bind up on earth will be bound in heaven? Adam Clarke has this to say about verse 18:

Whatsoever ye shall bind, etc. – Whatever determinations ye make, in conformity to these directions for your conduct to an offending brother, will be accounted just, and ratified by the Lord. See on Mat 16:19 (note); and, to what is there said, the following observations may be profitably added.

Mat 16:19  And I will give the keys of the kingdom of Heaven to you. And whatever you may bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven, and whatever you may loose on earth shall occur, having been loosed in Heaven.

Οσα εαν δησητε – και οσα εαν λυσητε. Binding and loosing, in this place, and in Mat 16:19, is generally restrained, by Christian interpreters, to matters of discipline and authority. But it is as plain as the sun, by what occurs in numberless places dispersed throughout the Mishna, and from thence commonly used by the later rabbins when they treat of ritual subjects, that binding signified, and was commonly understood by the Jews at that time to be, a declaration that any thing was unlawful to be done; and loosing signified, on the contrary, a declaration that any thing may be lawfully done. Our Savior spoke to his disciples in a language which they understood, so that they were not in the least at a loss to comprehend his meaning; and its being obsolete to us is no manner of reason why we should conclude that it was obscure to them. The words, bind and loose, are used in both places in a declaratory sense, of things, not of persons. It is ὁ and ὃσα, in the neuter gender, both in chap. 16, and here in this: i.e. Whatsoever thing or things ye shall bind or loose. Consequently, the same commission which was given at first to St. Peter alone, (Mat 16:19), was afterwards enlarged to all the apostles. St. Peter had made a confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. His confession of the Divinity of our Lord was the first that ever was made by man; to him, therefore, were given the keys of the kingdom of heaven: i.e. God made choice of him among all the apostles, that the Gentiles should first, by his mouth, hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. He first opened the kingdom of heaven to the Gentiles, when he preached to Cornelius. It was open to the Jews all along before; but if we should suppose that it was not, yet to them also did St. Peter open the kingdom of heaven, in his sermon at the great pentecost. Thus, then, St. Peter exercised his two keys: that for the Jews at the great pentecost; and that for the Gentiles, when he admitted Cornelius into the Church. And this was the reward of his first confession, in which he owned Jesus to be the promised Messiah. And what St. Peter loosed, i.e. declared as necessary to be believed and practised by the disciples here, was ratified above. And what he declared unlawful to be believed and practised, (i.e. what he bound), was actually forbidden by God himself.

I own myself obliged to Dr. Lightfoot for this interpretation of the true notion of binding and loosing. It is a noble one, and perfectly agrees with the ways of speaking then in use among the Jews. It is observable that these phrases, of binding and loosing, occur no where in the New Testament but in St. Matthew, who is supposed to have written his Gospel first in Hebrew, from whence it was translated into Greek, and then the force and use of the expression will better appear. Dr. Wotton’s Miscell. Discourses, vol. i. p. 309, etc., etc.

“The phrases to bind and to loose were Jewish, and most frequent in their writers. It belonged only to the teachers among the Jews to bind and to loose. When the Jews set any apart to be a preacher, they used these words, ‘Take thou liberty to teach what is Bound and what is Loose.’” Strype’s preface to the Posthumous Remains of Dr. Lightfoot, p. 38.

I think I understand what is being said here, but I then went to the Jewish Encyclopedia

BINDING AND LOOSING (Hebrew, “asar we-hittir”; Aramean, “asar we-shera”):

By: Kaufmann Kohler

Rabbinical term for “forbidding and permitting.” The expression “asar” (to bind herself by a bond) is used in the Bible (Num. xxx. 3 et seq.) for a vow which prevents one from using a thing. It implies binding an object by a powerful spell in order to prevent its use (see Targ. to Ps. lviii. 6;Shab. 81b, for “magic spell”). The corresponding Aramean “shera” and Hebrew “hittir” (for loosing the prohibitive spell) have no parallel in the Bible.

The power of binding and loosing was always claimed by the Pharisees. Under Queen Alexandra, the Pharisees, says Josephus (“B J.” i, 5, § 2), “became the administrators of all public affairs so as to be empowered to banish and readmit whom they pleased, as well as to loose and to bind.” This does not mean that, as the learned men, they merely decided what, according to the Law, was forbidden or allowed, but that they possessed and exercised the power of tying or untying a thing by the spell of their divine authority, just as they could, by the power vested in them, pronounce and revoke an anathema upon a person. The various schools had the power “to bind and to loose”; that is, to forbid and to permit (Ḥag. 3b); and they could bind any day by declaring it a fast-day (Meg. Ta’an. xxii.; Ta’an. 12a; Yer. Ned. i. 36c, d). This power and authority, vested in the rabbinical body of each age or in the Sanhedrin (see Authority), received its ratification and final sanction from the celestial court of justice (Sifra, Emor, ix.; Mak. 23b).

In the New Testament.In this sense Jesus, when appointing his disciples to be his successors, used the familiar formula (Matt. xvi. 19, xviii. 18). By these words he virtually invested them with the same authority as that which he found belonging to the scribes and Pharisees who “bind heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will not move them with one of their fingers”; that is, “loose them,” as they have the power to do (Matt. xxiii. 2-4). In the same sense, in the second epistle of Clement to James II. (“Clementine Homilies,” Introduction), Peter is represented as having appointed Clement as his successor, saying: “I communicate to him the power of binding and loosing so that, with respect to everything which he shall ordain in the earth, it shall be decreed in the heavens; for he shall bind what ought to be bound and loose what ought to be loosed as knowing the rule of the church.” Quite different from this Judaic and ancient view of the apostolic power of binding and loosing is the one expressed in John xx. 23, where Jesus is represented as having said to his disciples after they had received the Holy Spirit: “Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.” It is this view which, adopted by Tertullian and all the church fathers, invested the head of the Christian Church with the power to forgive sins, the “clavis ordinis,” “the key-power of the Church.”

When those in authority declare the New Moon or the Barley Aviv, that will be the rule here on earth and in heaven. Those who witness these events are witnesses, and you, the brethren, each of you must decide what rules you will follow and/or whose authority you will accept. Do not forget who Yehovah is giving this authority to. It will be to his Two Witnesses. And they will be looking for the crescent moon to begin the 10 Days of Awe, which are the 10 Years of Awe in our time.

Rev 11:3  And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.

Yehovah is saying in Mat 18 and 16, that those given the authority, those who witness on His behalf, and decide the start of the month and the year, by their authority the Holy Days will be established on earth and in heaven. And by these two witnesses, then judgment will come from Yehovah on those who do not keep His Holy Days at the proper times.

Here at sightedmoon.com, today, Shabbat, December 7, 2024, is the fourth day of the eleventh month. My judgment is that Gadi’s use of the optical aid disqualified him from witnessing the moon. Last year, Randy Cates and I went to Israel last spring, and we both witnessed the Barley as being Aviv, with dough in the heads while still green ears. That judgment has bound us as to when we keep the Holy Days for this year. The fact that we are now two months ahead of those on the Hillel calendar or the Karaites this year does not bother me. It did at first, but I have now completed The Stones Cry Out Part 2 and in it I have discovered that we have 16 tombstones proving that they kept Passover two months ahead of what Torah Calendar declared was the first month. Yes, I said 16 tombstones are testifying they kept Passover in early and mid-February.