The Feasts of Judaism

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.          

Weekly rest is part of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses (Exodus 20, 8-11 - Deuteronomy 5, 12-14). This prescription is repeated, 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 division of the day in use in Judaism, the Sabbath lasted from Friday evening 6 PM until Saturday 6 PM.  

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

Pessah (Passover) - פסח

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

It merges the ancient Hebrew Passover, the day on which the Hebrews celebrate the 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 14 Nissan, the Passover offering is made. This is the ceremony recounted by the Gospel under the name of the Last Supper. Maria Valtorta also uses the word Parascève (preparation in Greek) which traditionally designates Friday as preparation for the Sabbath which begins in the evening. Applied to Passover, this word refers to the preparation of the Passover offering. It is thus synonymous with Good Friday in Christianity.

For those prevented from participating in Passover, Moses instituted the Second Passover or Second Pessa'h (Pessa'h Sheni) which takes place one month later under the same conditions.  

It is this Second Passover to which the mention of Luke 6, 1 about the "Second-First Sabbathh" refers. This feast fell into disuse after the fall of the Temple so much so that in the 4th century, when Jerome of Stridon translated his Vulgate, he mentions Luke’s indication without explaining it. Some Bibles eventually omit this mention.      

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

From 15 Nissan to 21 Nissan, the Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts for 7 days during which all cereals are avoided in favor of eating only unleavened Food.    

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

Maria Valtorta gives a lengthy description of the customs and rituals in her narration of the third Passover of the Lord, the last before the Passion the following year.

Shavuot (Pentecost) - חג השבועות

In the month of Sivan (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 the 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. An annual reading is made of it.

It symbolizes the seven weeks that separated the exodus "from the house of bondage", from the meeting of Moses 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, praying in the Cenacle with Mary, receive the Holy Spirit.

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

This feast lasts the first two days of Tishri (September – October). It recalls the creation of the world. The sounding of the shofar (shofar), a ram's horn, inaugurates this festival reminding the faithful of the sacrifice of Isaac. It also commemorates the day of judgment of humanity, which is why the ten days following are days of penance culminating in the Great Forgiveness (Yom Kippur) when a full fast is observed, including a fast of speech.        

Exodus 12, 2 however, makes the year begin in the month of Nissan. No particular ceremony is noted on 1^st 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 penance and fasting. It is the Sabbath of Sabbaths. In the time of the Temple, it was the day when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies and sent the "scapegoat" into the desert carrying all the sins of Israel.      

Maria Valtorta recounts a scapegoat ceremony among the Phoenicians of Magdalgad. But this is a pagan rite intended to obtain healing. This happens in May.

Sukkot (Feast of Booths) – סוכות

The feast of tabernacles (Sukkot)

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

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 Great Forgiveness and lasts seven days, from 15 to 22 Tishri (September-October).    

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

In memory of the exodus, people dwell 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 were made of an assembly of four types of branches according to the prescriptions of Leviticus 23, 40: "beautiful fruit trees, palm branches, leafy trees and willow branches from 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 the plot of Haman thanks to the victory of Esther and Mordecai over him.. Haman planned to exterminate all the Jews and had "cast lots" for the date of the massacre.

This feast is marked by festive meals and gifts made to children who accompany the reading of the book of Esther.

Destruction of the Temple

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

It does not concern Maria Valtorta who recounts the life of Jesus before the destruction of the Temple. But Jesus predicts 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 BC. The name Feast of Lights comes from its predominant traits.      

This new dedication took place three years to the day after the profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes: 1 Maccabees 1, 54-64 – 1 Maccabees 4, 52-59:      

For the eight days of the festival, at nightfall, each Family lights an additional candle on the eight-branched candelabrum to commemorate the miracle of the Dedication where a single jug of oil was enough to supply the Temple lamp for eight days. The lamp should preferably be placed in front of a window so that all can see it.      

In the work of Maria Valtorta, this is the occasion for gift-giving and improved meals in a family atmosphere.          

She uses the Greek word "Encénies". This term, synonymous with "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 by Judas Maccabeus, there was that of the Temple by Solomon and that made by Zerubbabel on the return from captivity.

Place located in Jerusalem where Jesus celebrated Passover with his Apostles and instituted the Eucharist on the eve of his death (from Latin cenaculum: dining room). This place became the first Church at the request of the Virgin Mary.