Jewish festivals

The life of the people of Israel unfolds to the rhythm of numerous religious festivals that commemorate the interventions of God as well as other significant events in its History.

The Sabbath - שבת

Shabbat means to rest. It celebrates the sanctification of the seventh day by God at the end of His Creation.

The weekly rest is part of the ten commandments given by God to Moses (Exodus 20, 8-11 - Deuteronomy 5, 12-14). This commandment is reiterated, along with others, on the new tablets of the Law replacing those Moses had broken in anger. In Catholicism, it is the third or fourth commandment, depending on the versions.

According to the divisions of the day used in Judaism, the Sabbath lasted from Friday evening at 6 p.m. until Saturday at 6 p.m.

Christian liturgy retains this division of the day: the anticipated Mass on Saturday evening is equivalent to that of Sunday morning.

Passover (Pesach) - פסח

Passover is the first festival of the year. It is celebrated in two successive steps "in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at sunset", that is from the evening of the 14th of Nissan (from late March to early April depending on the year).

It merges the ancient Hebrew Passover, a day when the Hebrews celebrate their Exodus from Egypt by sacrificing a one-year-old lamb, with the Feast of Unleavened Bread at the end of which the first sheaf of barley was offered.

On the evening of the 14th of Nissan, the paschal offering is made. This is the ceremony related by the Gospel under the title of the Last Supper. Maria Valtorta also uses the word Parasceve (preparation in Greek), which traditionally designates Friday as the preparation for the Sabbath which begins in the evening. Applied to Passover, this word denotes the preparation of the paschal offering. It is therefore synonymous with Good Friday in Christianity.

For those who are unable to participate in Passover, Moses instituted the extra Passover or second Passover (Pesach Sheni) which takes place one month later under the same conditions.

It is to this second Passover that the mention of Luke 6, 1 on the "second-first Sabbath" refers. This festival fell into disuse after the fall of the Temple so that in the 4th century, when Jerome of Stridon translated his Vulgate, he mentioned Luke's indication without explaining it. Some Bibles eventually omit this mention.

Jean-François Lavère noted that "the first Sabbath after the second Passover" perfectly corresponds to the ripeness of the wheat at the approach of Shavuot (Pentecost) where the feast of the harvest takes place, as seen in the reported scene of Jesus, Master of the Sabbath.

From the 15th of Nissan to the 21st of Nissan, the Feast of Unleavened Bread takes place for 7 days during which all cereals are abstained from, and only unleavened foods, non-leavened, are eaten.

The day after the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread, the first sheaf of barley is celebrated. Aviv (Abib), another rarer name for Nissan, which designates barley.

Maria Valtorta describes at length the customs and rituals in her narration of the third Passover of the Lord, the last before that of the Passion the following year.

Shavuot (Pentecost) - חג השבועות

In the month of Siwan (May-June), seven weeks after the feast of the first sheaf of barley (see Passover), the beginning of the wheat harvest is celebrated. It is also called Pentecost, or Feast of First Fruits. It is one of the three pilgrimage festivals of the Jews to the Temple. It concludes the Passover cycle.

It is mentioned in Exodus 23, 16-17.

It is the feast of the giving of the Torah to the Hebrews on Sinai. The annual reading is done.

It symbolizes the seven weeks that separated the departure "from the house of bondage", from Moses' encounter with Yahweh on Sinai. Shavuot means weeks in Hebrew.

It is on this day that the first Christian Pentecost takes place during which the apostles, in prayer in the Upper Room with Mary, receive the Holy Spirit.

Rosh ha-Shana (The New Year) - ראש השנה

This festival lasts the first two days of Tishri (September – October). It recalls the creation of the world. The blowing of the shofar (shofar), a ram's horn, inaugurates this feast by reminding the faithful of the sacrifice of Isaac. It also commemorates the day of the Judgment of humanity; that is why the ten following days are days of penitence culminating in the Great Forgiveness (Yom Kippur) where a complete fast is observed, including a fast from speech.

Exodus 12, 2, however, makes the year begin in the month of Nissan. No particular ceremony is noted on the 1^st of Tishri in the work of Maria Valtorta (September 18, 27; September 7, 28; September 25, 29).

Yom ha-Kippur (The Day of Atonement) - יום כיפור

This feast is marked by a day of penitence and fasting. It is the Sabbath of Sabbaths. At the time of the Temple, it was the day when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies and sent the "scapegoat" into the wilderness carrying all the sins of Israel.

Maria Valtorta reports a scapegoat ceremony among the Phoenicians of Magdalgad. But this is a pagan rite intended to obtain a healing. It takes place in May.

Sukkot (Feast of Booths) – סוכות

The feast of tabernacles (Sukkot)

Also called the Feast of Tabernacles in the work of Maria Valtorta.

Along with Passover and Shavuot, it is the third pilgrimage feast of the Jews to the Temple (Cf. Exodus 23,14-17 and Deuteronomy 16,13-17). It takes place five days after the Day of Atonement and lasts seven days, from the 15th to the 22nd of Tishri (September-October).

Originally, Sukkot celebrated the harvest and closed the annual agricultural cycle. It was extended to commemorate the booths under which the people of Israel lived during their exodus and the tent that sheltered the Ark of the Covenant. Maria Valtorta uses the word tabernacles.

In memory of the exodus, people live for seven days in huts made of branches. According to Maria Valtorta's description, the Galileans gathered in the "field of the Galileans" on the Mount of Olives.

The huts of branches were made from an assembly of four kinds of branches according to the prescriptions of Leviticus 23, 40: "the fruit of a magnificent tree, palm branches, branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook."

Purim (Feast of Esther) - פורים

The feast of Purim (or Lots) is celebrated on the 14^th day of Adar (February – March). It commemorates the deliverance of the Jews of Persia who escaped Aman's plot thanks to the victory of Esther and Mordecai over him.. Aman planned to exterminate all the Jews and had "cast lots" for the date of the massacre.

This celebration is marked by festive meals and gifts given to children accompanying the reading of the Book of Esther.

Destruction of the Temple

The commemoration of the fire of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple takes place on the 9^th day of Av. It is the saddest feast of the calendar.

It does not concern Maria Valtorta who reports the life of Jesus before the destruction of the Temple. But Jesus predicted it.

Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication or Feast of Lights) – חנוכה

Called Encénies in the work of Maria Valtorta.

It begins on the 25th of Kislev (approximately the beginning of December) and lasts eight days, until the 2nd or 3rd of Tevet, depending on the variable length of Kislev. It celebrates the purification of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in 164/5 B.C. The name Feast of Lights comes from its predominant features.

This new dedication occurred exactly three years after the profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes: 1 Maccabees 1, 54-64 – 1 Maccabees 4, 52-59:

During the eight days of this feast, at nightfall, each family lights an additional candle on the eight-branched candelabrum to commemorate the miracle of the Dedication where a single jar of oil sufficed to fuel the Temple candelabrum for eight days. The lamp should preferably be placed in front of a window visible to all.

In the work of Maria Valtorta, it is an occasion for gifts and improved meals in a family atmosphere.

She uses the Greek word "Encénies". This term, synonym of "Dedication", designates the feast of Hanukkah in John 10, 22. The Vulgate uses it: facta sunt autem encenia in Hierosolymis et hiemps erat.

This term passed into Christianity under Pope Felix III (483-492) to designate the inauguration of a church.

In Judaism, besides the Dedication of Judas Maccabeus, there was that of the Temple by Solomon and that made by Zerubbabel upon return from captivity.