Until you have lived in a part of the world where there is no rain for 6-9 months of the year, you cannot appreciate when the rains begin. Each year as Sukkot (the Feast of Booths) ends, we celebrate Hoshanah Rabbah (the Great Hosanna), which reminds us of the action that was taken in ancient times in the Temple when water was taken from the Pool of Siloam and in joy poured out on the altar of the Temple. With this very joyous celebration the people of Israel would begin to thank Hashem for the rains that he brings in their season. Then, as today, we would not pray that the rains come immediately as we recognized that the pilgrims who had come up to Jerusalem should be able to return in safety to their cities before they are flooded with the rains. A few weeks later we start supplicating daily for the rains to come as this is the season for rains.

One of the blessings that Hashem gave us in the Land of Israel is that we do not have any major rivers that provide the needed sustenance for the Land, such as some of our neighbors have like the Egyptians and the Nile or the Babylonians and the Euphrates. This requires the people of Israel to raise their eyes to the heavens and to seek provision. Throughout the ages, the rains have been a sign of favor with Hashem. He promises that if we walk with him, he will provide us the needed rains in their seasons. If we grow distant he may withhold the rains from us.

We have made it though the Fall Feasts and we await in some weeks the bright holiday of Chanukah. This Jewish month of Cheshvan is also known as Marchesvan, the addition literally meaning bitter and reflecting the month’s lack of either celebrations or days of fasting. It is this normality that can work as comfort for the lives of Israelites. For so many of the visitors to Israel, whether Jew or Gentile, the Land is a place of uplifting and a spiritual and emotional high. While many may have experienced living in or visiting more beautiful natural parts of the earth, there is something very powerful in walking down to the brook where David shot his sling- shot at Goliath the giant or to the hilltop where Yeshua fed the multitudes.

Upon their return to their homes in different parts of the world, many people feel as though they have come down off a mountain. They will cherish memories, but they must return to normal life.

Hanukkah is here! This Festival of Lights is so bright, it is sure to make the cooler winter nights warm and full of joy. Throughout Israel, giant hanukkiyot (plural for hanukkiyah, the 9 branched candelabrum that we light during the festival) are in all the city squares, on the corners of streets, in the center of Army bases, and on the roof of the Knesset (parliament).

One of my favorite places to go to see the lighting is the Western Wall—Kotel. There, at the foot of the Wall, is a large hanukkiyah. Jews from all walks of life gather for the lighting, including many Jews who do not look outwardly observant. This festival has an appeal and an ease with which seemingly non-observant Jews can connect with Jewish life without the requirements and restrictions that we find in the Torah-mandated festivals.

The weeks between Purim and Pesach are ones of preparation for the Festival of Redemption that we experience during Pesach. The sages presented for us four weeks of special readings on Shabbat in which we take out an additional Torah Scroll for the final reading from the Torah—the Maftir section. The last of these is Shabbat Hachodesh—the Shabbat before the beginning of Nissan— emembering this commandment given to he whole people of Israel, to remember the new month, this being the foundation for keeping the sacrificial calendar.

Shabbat Hachodesh reminds us of the unique role Hashem gives to mankind in the creation. He brings the change of seasons, through the gravitational orbit of the Earth around the Sun. He directs us in the Torah that the festivals need to be kept in their proper season, and he directs man to recognize and confirm the beginning of the new month. Man must make sure that the months stay in sync with the seasons, which requires a balancing of the lunar and solar calendars. One without the other will create a calendar that will soon lose it’s purpose, as the various harvest festivals will be kept at times when there is either not a harvest at all or the wrong harvest. Imagine celebrating the barley harvest in the fall at the time of the fruit festivals. He leaves to us to work the festivals into this reality. In Exodus 12:2, he gives his first command to the people of Israel: “This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.” Until now he had given commands to the Avot—the Patriarchs—as individuals, and here he begins to direct the people of Israel as a collective. The whole order of the Torah was dependent on the agreement of the leaders of the people as to when this month would begin.

We are seeing at this time the building of more and more of a community of Jewish people, both in Israel and around the world, with a vision for the restoration of our people. One of the most powerful factors is the growing ability for leaders to discuss in depth the needs of the Jewish people in this age, taking into account the dangers of assimilation and humanism, which lead to a lessening of the uniqueness of our set apart people, and ultimately lead our people away from Hashem.

As we celebrated Chanukah a few weeks ago, evening after evening gazing into the light of the candles, Jewish followers of Yeshua are challenged to not let the light of the Jewish people ever be extinguished. Looking upon the example of the Shamesh (the Servant Candle) and thinking about our Mashiach, Yeshua, we make commitments anew to build and work for the restoration of our people from within. The Jewish people is not them but us. We have a responsibility to be faithful to Hashem in and through our lives inside the Jewish people. This requires us to take our place in both the discussion and the work.