Patchwork Rant

• Uh-Oh …is right.  I don’t think I’ve gotten this upset since… Yom Kippur.  But this is different, this isn’t something out of our hands, this is the STUPIDITY of MANKIND and I don’t think I can take much more, really I truly don’t.  Have they done this to you, yet?  Has it happened at your library?  Have you gone in to get a book from the 720s and THERE AREN’T NUMBERS ON THE BOOKS, ANYMORE?!?!?!  Am I the *only* person who valued the Dewey Decimal system?!??!  I’m absolutely floored.  Angry beyond all words.  How could they DO that?!?!?!?  The entire 14-branch inter-library system has gotten rid of the system this entire country has utilized for well over a HUNDRED years.  Is society really so dumbed down that we can’t even follow a chronological numerical pattern in order to locate a book?!?!  And worse, the new system (BISAC – book industry standards and communications) is so convoluted, I might NEVER find another book again as long as I live.
• I went in looking for ‘Men and Gods’.  I knew it’s call number – I checked it out once before and made a note of the reference number.  I get there, and there’s… NO… NUMBERS!!!!  So I flag down this vacant and obscenely idiotic librarian, and ask why they took the numbers off the books.  And of course, she can’t give me one good reason, because there isn’t one!!!, and instead she’s trying to explain to me how now they have categories, and then those categories are broken down into sub-categories, which are broken down into sub-sub-categories, and it could even break down further than that into sub-sub-sub-categories.  So my book is now going to be in ‘Religion’ (because I would look for ‘myths’ under ‘religion’, too, wouldn’t you?) under the subcategory of ‘World’ under the subcategory of ‘myth’.  And all I want to to is clock her in the head with as many books as I can reach, which at that point was A LOT, being we were in a libary… because she also informed me that my book still has a call number along WITH the BISAC in their system, which means it’s been shipped out to ‘processing’ to receive it’s new coding, and won’t be available for several weeks, they can give no definite time, we’re very sorry, ma’am.
• Y’know, I had issues when they went to the on-line catalog.  I did and still DO… because the damned thing NEVER works.  Last week you could look up books, but the system was on the fritz and didn’t give locations, just the call number/BISAC (it’s in turn-over, you know) and if it was on the shelf or not.  A long list of ‘On Shelf’ with no locations next to them.  And that’s a GOOD day – if they’re down for server upgrades or technical difficulties, you’re totally screwed.  Leighton library (I don’t go out there, anymore) didn’t even bother to INSTALL a library electronic card catalog, because the branch was too small and there’s no room, so if you want to look something up, you have to stand in line at the desk for THEM to do it for you.  And as if that wasn’t a big enough pain in the butt?  NOW DEWEY HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!!!!
• What’s next is that they take the chapter markers and verses out of Bibles.  They’re antiquated, and we can just have sections called ‘Law’, ‘Battles’, ‘Kings’, ‘Poetry’, ‘Prophets’, ‘Jesus’, and ‘Letters’.  Oh, and don’t forget that last chapter, ‘Myths’.  Because that’s what I’m equating this to.  And do you know what people will say?  “Thank GAWD!! I could never pronounce ‘Thessalonians’, anyhow!  This will be SO MUCH easier, without all of those ADDRESSES to remember!!  It’s about time!”  Morons.
• I ranted (loudly) about it at Burger King (after telling the librarian in no uncertain terms where she could stick her BISAC), and the girl at the counter didn’t know what Dewey was.  ((WHO, idiot.  Dewey is a PERSON.))  Then I was ranting at the table to Brian – who met us there after all this – and the table with the texting soccer mom and the table with the iPod/earbud wearing teens didn’t even register anything.  The soccer kid gave me a funny look, but then, he’s probably not used to people talking, not texting… with real words. [Poor kid, mummy was FAR too busy to pay attention to him.  Probably doesn't know the Dewey Decimal is gone, either, let alone what it is.]
• I also tried to address it at scrapbooking last night (I went to a church ladies’ night to scrapbook – no danger of spiritual talk, so it’s been kewl up to last night, when they started playing “JEEEZUS!!  I PRAISE JEEEEZUS!!! over and over, really, really loudly.).  Anyhow, I thought it’d be a topic for scrapbooking… the demise of Dewey Decimal.  MJ (names changed to protect the imbecilic) and Aunt Mae were the only two who could hear me over the howling radio.  MJ said, “What’s the Dewey Decimal System?”  (She’s in her 30s, btw.)  “I don’t have time to read.  I barely manage a chapter in my Bible before bed, and even then, I don’t register what I’m reading, so I have to put it down…”  Aunt Mae said, “Oh, honey, I haven’t been in a library in YEARS and YEARS…”  And I had to work REALLY hard not to cry.
• Aunt Mae informed me that she wanted to know more about the feasts I celebrated (that were the reason I didn’t scrapbook in September with them).  So I showed her our Omer chart, and explained that Leviticus 23 commands us to count off the 50 days from Pesach/Passover to Shavuot/Pentecost.  That it’s a time of getting closer with the Lord, as Israel drew spiritually nearer from when they left Egypt to the foot of the mount where they met Yehovah.  She said, “Pentecost?  Oh, that’s the day the Holy Spirit came down.  It doesn’t have anything to do with the Israelites.”  ((That’s right, ma’am.  The only part of your Bible that applies is the New Testament.))  I about vomited in my mouth when she added, “Beth Moore has a wonderful study on the feasts…”
• WHY. DO. I. BOTHER?!?!??!?!
• The conversation then went to Bible studies, and it went like this:

MJ:  So, how are you liking the new evening study book?
Aunt Mae:  Oh, I LOVE our new study!  It’s SO good!
Crabapple:  I don’t like it at all.
Aunt Mae:  ((gasp))  Why not?
Crabapple:  It’s got no depth.  No meat.  It’s too simple.
Aunt Mae:  Yes, but that’s GOOD!  I can’t handle anything deeper. (!!)
MJ:  The beauty of the study is that you don’t have to do any reading or homework.  I don’t have time for that kind of thing.  I just like to go and have conversation.  You can get SO much out of the conversations, at weekly study…

• I think I figured out WHY they got away with ditching the Dewey Decimal System.  Because mankind’s collective brain has officially fallen out.  The Mayans got it right – I don’t know how they made a science of it, but they actually calculated the apex of global idiocy.  It’s incredible.  The world is ending, people.  It truly is.  I can’t… there aren’t… words can’t even CONVEY how bad things are.
• And not just this, the whole election thing.  I have these friends – people I have valued as the rare intelligent ones – who have lost all signs of courage, fortitude, logic, and reason.  They’re voting for ‘the lesser of two evils’ because they believe that there are only two candidates (there aren’t!) and that if they actually vote their conscience and fight for something OTHER than that false ‘two-party’ lie, that their vote will be thrown away.  That’s WHY there’s this illusion of a two-party system – because NOBODY WILL STAND UP AND FIGHT IT!!  Just me and Iggy Integrity aren’t gonna do it – YOU have to help, and you’re busy claiming to be a christian who has a political savior who’s a Mormon.  WHAT. IS. THAT?!?!  You do know the man thinks he’s going to die and become a god of his own planet, just like the god of our planet is just a man who died and became god of earth, right?  And THIS is what you want as your leader?  aRe you iNSaNe?!?!?!
• I realize this is getting long.  That you find me tedious and ridiculous and a lot of out ‘ous’ words that I’m not going to add, because they have multiple syllables, and as it is, I’m likely WAY over most of your heads, anyhow (based on my sole real life interaction of the month with the scrapbook ladies… THREE of which were teachers).  I realize that you couldn’t give a flying fig about Dewey Decimal or Mormonism and think I’m extreme in my views on Beth Moore and the Mayans.  But y’know what?  THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT!!  They always said, ‘if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything‘… and well, it’s happened.  The whole world has stopped standing and fell for it all, and now they’re bemoaning their stupidity, because they’ve sunk so deep in ignorance that they couldn’t dig themselves out with a SHOVEL, where our country is concerned.  They don’t even register the ignorance of their own lives, at all.  I weep.
• Yesterday I posted a picture on my FB.  I think it’s a fitting summary of my rant:
  
  This is my new reality.  It’s ugly.  VERY, very ugly.
  Even so, Yeshua, COME!!!!!

  PS:  For more information, click here.
  PPS:  Shabbat Shalom.  :

Kickin’ My Own Booty

Did I mention we’re still here?  This does NOT bode well, either.  Well… it doesn’t bode ill until January 1st (the SMS window is still open thru December 31, so we’ll see…), but I honestly did NOT expect to be here, now.  We’re at Revelation 7:9.  There’s NOTHING left to fill in the gaps.  So the feasts were the obvious and most likely time for a rapture.  And yes, we still have the 8 days of Hanukkah as a possible window, but that’s SO CLOSE to January 1st… and honestly, I can’t dither any longer.  It’s time to start preparing myself for the worst-case scenario… that – like Israel – we’re ‘in Egypt’ for all of the judgments, just not effected by the rest of them.  I refuse to think that way, and at the same time, I refuse to be caught with no oil in my lamp, either.

I’m not talking about storing up food or getting supplies around so that one can live without electricity.  The time for that is WAY past.  I wrote about prepping from 2006 thru 2010… and you’ll note that I haven’t written any such posts since.  It takes too much time/learning and we’re beyond that.  No, my goals are very different, these days.  And the primary one – the one I’m really focusing on right now – is my physical state.  And ho, baby, am I in trouble.

Because have you seen my hiney lately?
Of course you haven’t.  I refuse to post a picture.
It’s just too embarrasing.

Oh, I tease about being a ‘chubby blonde’, but the fact of the matter is that I weigh pretty much what I weighed when I stepped out was forced to be wheeled out of the hospital with Baby Owen in my arms fully inspected and legal car carrier (I hate overbearing gov’t powers, but let’s not digress).  Anyhow, the point is that I had the excuse of ‘I’m nursing, my breasts are heavy with milk’, and ‘He’s a fussy one – I can’t get out to run yet’ for about a year.  Then we weaned, and for all of 5773, I had no excuse, except that I just… didn’t do anything about my sad physical state.  Why bother if I was just in for an uncorruptible body in nine months, anyhow? 

Well, the nine months is OVER, and…

I’m chubby.  I don’t fit any of my jeans – not even the in-between-baby jeans.  I fit the knit shirts, but my belly is so big around, they pull up, and it’s just NOT kewl.  So mostly I wear maternity stuff.  I weigh… a LOT.  Okay, so I don’t look fat – I’m 5’9 and don’t carry it badly – but I look very middle aged mama around the tummy/hips/hiney/thighs.  And I don’t LIKE it.  I can’t run a quarter mile without gasping and panting.  That’s just dadgum pathetic.  And even riding bike like crazy all summer?  I’ve lost NO baby weight.

Brian says that’s wrong.  He thinks I have an hormonal imbalance, because I’ve been tired EVERY day at exactly 3:30pm, for over a year… and I’m not the ‘tired’ type.  Also because I’ve been breaking out like a pubescent teenager.  Also because he’s read that 80% of women over 35 have a hormonal imbalance.  He’s got me taking my temperature when I wake up, this week – supposedly if your temp is consistently 97 upon waking, you have an hormonal imbalance.  I don’t know… we’ll see.  ((What I wanna know is… does 97.9 count?  I mean, just how technical are we getting, here…?))  And is the hormonal imbalance because of my extra weight, or is the extra weight because of the imbalance?

But regardless, I DO know that something’s gotta change.  I’m too big for my own comfort.  I mean, even in my thin days, I had a crappy self-image – multiply that by six pregnancies and a booty, and y’got where I am.  It’s not a happy place, I might add.  And I know a LOT of women find themselves here.  ((Well, not SIX pregnancies, but… you know.))  Only I’m not a lot of women – I’m superwoman.  And a saggy superwoman is unacceptable, FYI.  And a saggy superwoman still here after Sukkot is even WORSE.

So!  I have signed up at MyFitnessPal.com, thanks to the recommendation from my friend LMRamos.  She wrote on her blog that she’s joined a New Year’s fitness challenge there, and I thought, “WoW.  That is exactly what I need, too!  And maybe she could be my buddy!”  So I joined and found myself a New Year’s challenge group (not hers – I don’t want to be TOO tag-a-long!), but we are buddies (along with QMTJ – thank you!!)   It almost feels like my days in StorkNet – I’m part of a support group!  We’re sharing goals, inspirational statements, what we do when we’re not inputting our exercise/food log data… it’s kind of kewl.  My group is closed, now, which feels good, secure, even kind of cozy.

And the really kewl thing?  It does help to do it on-line.  Because you know people are watching, and you know that if you don’t DO something, it’s going to be so glaringly NOT there… so I think this is going to be helpful.  And you just type in ‘Hostess Ding Dong’ (<< yes, I truly did) and it automatically tells you that you’re eating 5000 calories and 200 grams of fat (only the real numbers, silly), and it doesn’t slap my hand for it.  ((And really, it’s not like I don’t have a plethora of excuses.  They were ‘buy one, get THREE free’ at the store, and we have one box left, and it’s like a doughnut for breakfast, and I promise NEVER to buy them again – they taste kinda like foam, anyhow.  I was stupid.  But I’m not gonna just throw food away.  I’m WAY too cheap for that.))

Frankly, I think the thing is too easy on me.  First, you’re only given up to seven work-outs a week as a goal.  Now, I’m doing Tae-Bo before breakfast, running outside or doing elliptical downstairs when Owen goes for nap, and am ‘Sweatin to the Oldies’ every few nights.  That’s MORE than 7/week, FYI… but at least I can log them, anyhow.  And in the past two days, I’ve been under my calorie goal both times – even eating at McD’s and with the Hostess Ding Dong thing.  That seems generous, doesn’t it?  Whatevs, if it makes me feel good and is okay with them, I won’t complain.  ((snort!))

Anyhow, my goal is to lose butt n’ gut with some serious exercise, portion control, and support.  Note I didn’t say change of diet.  I don’t think changing one’s diet is a good idea – because you just revert back, later, and it feels like deprivation in the interim, which is detrimental to a good mindset.  I know, I know, I’m weird, but there you have it.  I don’t like or eat tofu and parsnip slices.  I don’t think forcing myself to drink a green slime-shake of kale and brussel sprouts is EVER going to happen in my lifetime… because I don’t like to vomit, thanks.  But I will drink water with supper and cut the pops down to just when we go out to eat.  And I will stop snitching the remains of children’s food (which is my MAIN downfall).  And I do want to run, more.  A LOT more.

I’ve done it before.  I thought we were done baby-making after Aaron, so I lost 35 pounds in 6mos back then.  Of course, then it was commanded that we beget Owen, and I put it all back on, plus the requisite ten pounds.  ((NoTe:  Women supposedly put on ten pounds for each child.  I carried six bairns… do the math.  It’s too frightening to come out and state.))  If I could lose 35 after Aaron, I’m sure I can lose… FORTY-FIVE?!?!?!… after Owen.  Maybe.  Homigosh, I’m a little concerned…!!

My New Year’s Goal is actually less than that.  Because it’s only ten weeks to New Years.  ((Did you know that?  Better start thinking about your X-mess shopping, people!!))  My goal for New Years is to lose…

Okay, and here’s where I confess something else – I put down the wrong weight when I started.  I put down the last thing I weighed (at the Dr this summer), because I hate scales and figured it hadn’t changed much, as it hasn’t changed much in 2 years.  But apparently it HAD changed (by about five pounds!) so when I got on the scale this morning…

((NoTe:  I’m not sure my scale is calibrated correctly, either.  It’s always grossly different from the Dr. office.  This could be a problem… how do I know what I weigh, anyhow?  Should I just go off what MY scale says?))

…Anyhow, it’s LESS than I’ve weighed at any time since having Owen.  So!  I hadda change my start weight at MFP, and the dadgum program said, “Congratulations, you lost FIVE POUNDS!” which I had to delete, and it’s SO ridiculous, anyhow…

((NoTe:  Or maybe I lost poundage since I started on Wednesday.  Two pounds a day, plus a bonus half pound for good measure? I don’t know… miracles never cease, maybe I have lost five pounds… but likely not.  The whole thing is confusin’, man…))

Anyhow, so that’s my newest project.  Kickin’ my own booty.  There’s a 5K coming up at Thanksgiving – it’s called the ‘Turkey Trot’  (no snickering).  I kind of want to see if I can do it… probably not, but it’s a goal.  And there’s my New Year’s deadline to aim for, too… so…

Yeah.  This is going to be really good!

Bullet Blog

• Hello.
• I really don’t have a lot to say, today.
• I just read 1800+ e-mails.
• ((An account I frequent quarterly.))
• Luckily the AO e-lists are going forum.
• That will help IMMENSELY!!
• I’m also working on school stuff.
• Our new year begins on Monday, you know!
• W-Th-F of this week are my prep days.
• I’m pretty excited.
• There’ll be a ‘Back to School’ blog, of course.
• I’m also drafting halloween costumes.
• This year is… intensive.
• I have things to crochet, masks to make…
• You know how we do Halloween.
• I’ve got diagrams of the costumes I’m making,
• … and have to start gathering supplies.
• For newbies, we dress up as a family theme.
• One year it was JM Barrie (Peter Pan),
• Twice it was Disney, but different characters,
• Then there was the Western posse,
• Once Wizard of Oz, and then Harry Potter…
• And this year?
• Just wait n’ see!!
• We talked about doing ‘The Avengers’…
• But there aren’t any chubby chicks or bearded guys.
• I have to go pick up a periwinkle suit 
• …for Aaron’s (4) costume, this afternoon.
• Have I piqued your curiosity?
• (((Just. Wait!!!!)))
• Did I tell you we got two new bunnies?
• They’re acclimating well.
• I didn’t read the ad well though.
• It said they were New Zealand/Flemish mix.
• Flemish as in… GIANTS.
• I’ve never SEEN such huge rabbits as the mom/aunt.
• I seriously hope they got more NZ than FG in them!!!!
• Cuz they might not fit our cages!
• But we needed some fresh bloodlines to breed with.
• Hey, moms!
• It’s McDonald’s gift certificate season!!!
• They’re the ONLY coupons I endorse/use.
• It’s such a deal… I kid you not.
• $12 savings per $1 booklet!
• Just.. thought I’d… share…
• Anyhow! Aren’t the colors gorgeous?!
• It’s lovely, around here.
• And chilly… I’ve made coffee, already!
• But since we’re still here?
• It’s time to start working up a physical fitness plan.
• In other words: I gotta start running.
• And I will.  Later.
• This afternoon.  Really.
• But right now, I’m considering tomatoes.
• What I should do about the ones still in the garden.
• I’m thinking I might need to bring them in, soon.
• Maybe… as in naptime, today.
• I hate to lose all those tomatoes.
• So… yeah.  Busy!
• We keep busy.
• Keeps you young, y’know…
• Well, I guess that’s it for now.
• I got’s t’move!
• See you later!

Simchat Torah!

Don’t worry – I’m almost done, now. 
This is the LAST feast post.  At least until Hannukah, LoL!

Did you know that Rosh Ha’Shana isn’t the only 2-day celebration?  Because Shemini Atzeret (the 8th Day after Sukkot) is also a 2-day celebration.  The first day is – of course – called Shemini Atzeret, and the second day is called Simchat Torah.  I didn’t realize this… by the way, I’m still learning, myself.  I share what I learn, and this is news to me!  Here’s what I’ve read about Simchat Torah:

Simchat Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simchat Torah is a component of the Biblical Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret (“Eighth Day of Assembly”), which follows immediately    after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei   – HebCal

Simchat Torah (“Rejoicing with/of the Torah,”) … takes place in the synagogue during evening and morning services. In many Orthodox and Conservative congregations, this is the only time of year on which the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark and read at night. In the morning, the last parashah of Deuteronomy and the first parashah of  Genesis are read in the synagogue. On each occasion, when the ark is opened, all the worshippers leave their seats to dance and sing with all the Torah scrolls in a joyous celebration that often lasts for several hours and more.  – Wikipedia

Immediately following the seven-day festival of Sukkot comes the joyous two-day festival of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. (In Israel, the festival is “compacted” into a single day.  This is analogous to a king who invited his sons to a feast for a number of days. When the time came for them to leave, he said: “My sons! Please, stay one more day; it is difficult for me to part with you!” (Midrash)  Holiday candles are lit on both nights, and kiddush and sumptuous holiday meals are enjoyed on both nights and both days of this holiday.

…On Shemini Atzeret (“the Eighth of Retention”) we still eat in the sukkah (according to the custom of most communities), but without reciting the blessing on the sukkah. The “Four Kinds,” though, are not taken on this day. The Shemini Atzeret morning service includes the Yizkor service, as well as a special prayer for rain, officially launching the Mediterranean rainy season.

The second day is called Simchat Torah (“Rejoicing of the Torah”). No longer do we eat in the sukkah. On this day we conclude, and begin anew, the annual Torah reading cycle, an accomplishment that produces unparalleled joy.  The focal point of Simchat Torah is the hakafot procession, in which we march, sing and dance with the Torah scrolls around the reading table in the synagogue. The hakafot are done twice, on the night and morning of Simchat Torah, and in some communities also on the night of Shemini Atzeret. Everyone receives an aliyah on Simchat Torah, even the children.   – Chabad.org

Well, that fits with what we did this year.  On the Eighth Day we ate our feast by candlelight in the sukkah, then took our willow branches outside (five of them – that’s what we got from Aunt Barb, and since I have five littles, they each got one) and we beat them on the ground, symbolic of shedding our sins (instead of waving the lulav).  Then on Simchat Torah we took down our sukkah and streamers and decorations, and ‘started fresh’ and new, again.  We didn’t dance with the Torah, but then, Simchat Torah isn’t over until sunset tonight, so the day is still young!  But we did have an amazing holy festival, and it was sun for the entire family!

Shemini Atzeret – The Eighth Day!

The Eighth Day Assembly is the “additional day” added to the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. For seven days the children of Israel dwelt in the enclosure of booths or huts.

aNNa’S NoTe:  They’re in complete accord with the teachings of the Jewish folk in yesterday’s Hoshanna Rabbah article – that Sukkot is a physical redemption – the ‘natural’ man’s ‘material’ self being addressed.  Continuing on…

aNNa’S NoTe:  We’ve had a 7-day feast allowing all to come and celebrate with Ha’Shem… but now we have a feast just for those who drew close to Him during that time… feasts symbolically are 7-days.  Just pointing that out – do with it what you’d like.

Because Shemini Atzeret is the last of the [fall's high holidays], it is also referred to as the ‘final revelation.’ It’s numerical value is 21. The number 8 is not an ordinary number, it is a singularity; therefore, the Eighth Day Assembly unifies all the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles that passed before. If one were likening this day to the ‘days of Noah,’ it would correspond to the door of the ark being shut, after all the animals had been gathered into the ark, and just before the rains came. It is no coincidence that the prayer of the Eighth Day Assembly is for rain, and that the number of the people on the ark were 8.

aNNa’S NoTe:  The Jewish site said that Sukkot physically separated us… but note that this confirms that, but takes it just a little further – it’s as Noah and those to be saved out being physically gathered BEFORE the rains.  There still hasn’t been a redemption, yet.  Just a conclusion to the preparation process.  Same with the illustration of the continuation of the ‘private’ feast of the king… it means physically they’ve been set apart, but the feast ain’t over, yet.

Therefore, the Eighth Day Assembly is very special unto God. It symbolizes one’s removal from the ways, struggles, and doctrines of the material world, and encloses one into the intimacy and protection of the bride chamber prepared by Christ Himself where the Bride and the Bridegroom experience the ‘face-to-face’ relationship, above the earthly realm. A day and assembly that is not counted among earthly days or assemblies. In that sense, it is a “hidden day“. Not having place within the boundaries of the earthly seven days, it is not something you see, but rather something you experience

aNNa’S NoTe:  The eighth day is something else, too –  It’s Messiah’s Brit Day.  Eight days after a Jewish baby is born, they are circumcised and given their new name.  This is the day that – 2000 years ago – Messiah was symbolically ‘cut off from sin’ and given His earthly name, “Yeshua bar Yosef”.  Would it not be a WONDERFUL day for us to be cut off from our corrupt forms and taken up to receive our new name?  ((I don’t know much about whether the ‘new name’ thing is true or not, but apparently there are four verses that hint at it - (Isa 62:2)(Isa 65:15)(Rev 2:17)(Rev 3:12).))  So… anyhow, we shall see!

Hoshanna Rabbah – The Seventh Day!

Last year, I posted this as part of a big thing, combining it with ANOTHER feast day… and I shouldn’t have done that, but I was pressed for time, and thought I should condense, and… that.  Yeah.  Anyhow, this year I want to treat them as separate events, and so I’m putting them into separate posts and have made the changes on the sidebar, as well.

Having said, the Seventh Day of Sukkot is a special one, and there’s a LOT of information for me to share with you about it, so I’m gonna quote two summaries on Hoshannah Rabbah, to start with.  The first is just a wiki thing, and then second is from a wholly Jewish site, which means it’s talking about Sukkot from a view bereft of Messiah.  But there is much there, regardless.  Let’s get to it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoshana_Rabbah

http://matzav.com/rav-brazil-on-hoshanah-rabbah-3

The Shem Mishmuel explains the following. The Ari says that the kedusha of Yom Kippur is likened to the walls of Tziyon while the kedusha of Hoshana Rabba is likened to the walls of Yerushalayim. …When the judgment of Yom Kippur arrives, the middah of emes which is revealed is for our benefit for it states that all the avairos of Yisrael are coincidental and not part of their emes which immediately stops all the prosecution in the heavenly courts. This is the first chasima – sealing [termination of prosecution] of one’s judgment on the day of Yom Kippur.

…It is the Yom Tov of Succos that becomes our attorney and aids us with our plea for dismissal even when it comes to the spiritual damages we brought upon our physical bodies. Succah is the mitzvah where we enter it totally with our physical bodies in its entirety. It is in the Succah sanctuary where our spiritual wounds of our physical bodies are healed and nourished back to be healthy just as they were before we sinned.  That is why the essential mitzvah of moving into the Succah is sleeping in it. 

Hoshana Rabba is the 21rst day since the creation of Man. Here again we see the number 21 which corresponds to the name of Hashem:  Aleph Hey Yud Hey. Hoshanah Rabba being the culmination of Succos, makes it also a totality of all the days that preceded it. Therefore once again we arrive at the formula 21 times 21 which brings out the middah of emes. … The only difference between the emes of Yom Kippur and Hoshanah Rabba is that on Yom Kippur the emes reveals our inward and hidden essence while on Hoshana Rabba it reveals our essence of our physical bodies that it is also pure and a vessel for to receive Hashem’s presence within.

After Hoshana Rabba the Yid can become bonded as one with Hashem’s Torah for the middah of emes of the Torah [venasan lanu Torahs emes] is now parallel to the emes of the Yid’s essence his neshama and his external bodily emes. It is on Simchas Torah that we don’t circle as before the Torah as an outsider but rather we hold the Torah in our hands and dance with it. For Hoshana Rabba with Succos has enabled the Yid to come in contact with his duel emes in order to bond with the Torah which is the emes of creation.

 

The Living Water

As you ought to know by now, Sukkot is a week-long celebration – we stay in the sukkah (booth/tent) as much as possible during that time, we shake the lulav in joyous celebration of Yehovah’s grace, and we start out the whole sha-bang with a big feast-ish meal in our temporary dwelling, kicked off with the breaking of bread and sharing of wine (aka ‘communion’).  You also know that Sukkot is the culmination of all the feasts – it’s the LAST of the seven, and Jews were commanded to go up to the temple, if at all possible, this week.

Did you know, though, that it’s also called the ‘Festival of Living Water’, because this was a time when the people would pray to Yehovah for rains, to prepare the ground for the planting of next years’ crop?  Prayers for water are a BIG part of Sukkot… and there was also a pouring out of water in a very poignant ceremony at the temple.

It was at that water-pouring ceremony that Yeshua stood up before the people and declared himself to be the promised Messiah – the answer to their prayers.  He told them that He was their Living Water, not just for one season’s planting, but for eternity.  Take a look at this:

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/6_7/sukkot

On the first morning of Sukkot a procession of priests went down to the pool of Siloam to bring up to the Temple a golden container of water sufficient to last throughout the seven days of the feast. The water was brought up with great ceremony. The shofar was blown and the pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the feast waved their lulavs as the priests carried the water around the altar. The great Hallel (Psalms 113-118) were recited. Then the priest on duty poured out the contents of two silver bowls: one held water and the other held wine. This was an act of prayer and an expression of dependence upon God to pour out his blessing of rain upon the earth.

On the last or “great” day of the feast, the water libation rite reached its climax. The priests circled the altar seven times and then poured out the water with great pomp and ceremony. This was Hoshana Rabbah, the great “HOSHIANA,” (which translated is “save now”). 

We find a significant mention of Hoshana Rabbah in the New Covenant book of John chapter seven verses 37-52. It was on this day, the last and greatest day of the feast (possibly just as the water was being poured out), that Y’shua stood up and boldly proclaimed to the celebrants, “If a man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:38)

Imagine the uproar His statement must have caused! The priest had just poured out the water libation as an appeal to the Creator God to provide water for the people, and Y’shua, as if to answer the prayer, tells the people to come to Him for water. What a radical statement and shocker to the crowd.

Y’shua was claiming to be none other than the Creator Himself! Some recognized His authority and plainly said, “He is the Messiah.” (v. 41) Others were absolutely incensed. Some wanted to seize Him and have Him stoned for blasphemy, that is, claiming to be God. Yet we read that the Temple guards were unable to lay a hand on Him. When the Pharisees and chief priests questioned the guards as to why they could not arrest Him, they simply responded, “No one ever spoke the way this man does.” (v. 46) The Temple guards were transfixed by His word. They were unable to act against Y’shua when faced with His obvious authority.

…It is no coincidence that Y’shua chose Hoshana Rabbah, the last and greatest day of Sukkot to make the declaration that “If a man is thirsty let him come to Me to drink.” (John 7:38) Y’shua proclaimed Himself to be the Great Provider, the Redeemer of Israel who led the people through the wilderness. He is the great light shining in the darkness, and His body is the great Temple which was raised up after being destroyed as the final sin offering. He provided the final and greatest atonement for His people Israel and for all nations.

…Messiah promised “living water” for all who believe. What is living water? It is cool, fresh spring water. In the land of Israel water is especially precious, and in Jesus’ time there were three main ways of obtaining it. You could build a cistern to collect the rain, but if there was not enough rain, as was often the case, you couldn’t fill it and the water soon became stale. Or you could dig a well, which was more reliable. However, the most prized source of water was a spring. Spring water was the sweetest and best water of all. It bubbled up from the recesses of the earth and continued to flow even when other streams were dried up.  This is the water He promised, the best water, real spiritual satisfaction. This is the Shekinah promise to those who believe.

You want to know the sad thing?  While those who don’t believe in Yeshua as Messiah celebrate this and praise the Lord, keeping His commands (and therefore keeping this special day Holy), those idiot chrischuns who claim to believe in Messiah DON’T!  They don’t even know what’s special about the day, about the feast… they don’t recognize Truth!  It absolutely drives me crazy!  The Jews are praying for their water to come, and the Christians have it and completely ignore the significance of the day Yehovah set aside and commanded them to remember for ALL generations… and this is WHY it’s still valid and needful and beneficial to the New Testament (and present day!) believer!!!  What a sad statement for the church, who are stocking up for Trunk’R'Treat and oblivious to the things Yeshua told them… for it was He Himself who said, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.”  There’s a feast celebrating our Living Water in less than THREE DAYS, and the silence about it in christian circles is just horrifically deafening.

We are getting closer and closer to the last day of this feast, and as we do, I must admit, my excitement is building, again.  Mostly due to my good friend V, who believes the rapture occurs on Hoshana Rabbah, when those who are avidly seeking the Living Water will follow Him to safety.  I was reading the article above, about how on the seventh day the priest march seven times around the altar and then cry out unto the Lord for salvation – and doesn’t that JUST sound like Joshua outside of Jericho?  And what happened then?  If Ha’Shem could do that then to a walled city, just IMAGINE what He will do when we cry for salvation on Hoshana Rabbah, after seven days of tabernacling in obedience to Him!!

As I said, I’m not terribly picky about which day/feast it is, just so long as it’s soon!  But here we are – Friday.  Tonight begins Shabbos, Saturday night begins Hoshana Rabbah, and Sunday Night begins Shemini Atzeret (the Eighth Day Feast… I’m pretty geeked.  It’s an amazing time – an exciting time.  Nevermind the ignorance of others, I have three very poignant days ahead, and I’m going to focus on that – focus on Him.

Shakin’ the Lulav!

Okay, you know me and Leviticus 23.  It’s like me and Revelations… I’m just THERE.  A lot.  And guess what Leviticus 23 says about Sukkot?

On the first day, you will take for yourselves a fruit of a beautiful tree, palm branches, twigs of a braided tree and brook willows, and you will rejoice before the L-RD your G-d for seven days.   – Leviticus 23:40

The fruit of a beautiful tree, palm branches, twigs of a braided tree, and brook willows.  This is called the ‘Four Species’, and I’ve actually never addressed the four species, here.  We (in our lapbooks) learned about them as a family last year, but I never put anything up regarding them, so… let’s do that, today!

Here’s what JewFAQ has to say:

Another observance during Sukkot involves what are known as the Four Species (arba minim in Hebrew) or the lulav and etrog. We are commanded to take these four plants and use them to “rejoice before the L-rd.” The four species in question are an etrog (a citrus fruit similar to a lemon native to Israel; in English it is called a citron), a palm branch (in Hebrew, lulav), two willow branches (aravot) and three myrtle branches (hadassim). The six branches are bound together and referred to collectively as the lulav, because the palm branch is by far the largest part. The etrog is held separately. With these four species in hand, one recites a blessing and waves the species in all six directions (east, south, west, north, up and down), symbolizing the fact that Yehovah is everywhere.

…Why are these four plants used instead of other plants? There are two primary explanations of the symbolic significance of these plants: that they represent different parts of the body, or that they represent different kinds of Jews.

According to the first interpretation, the long straight palm branch represents the spine. The myrtle leaf, which is a small oval, represents the eye. The willow leaf, a long oval, represents the mouth, and the etrog fruit represents the heart. All of these parts have the potential to be used for sin, but should join together in the performance of mitzvot (commandments).

aNNa’S NoTe:  Remember ‘More Four’… the series I’ve done on Biblical Love and it’s relationship to the number four?  The four in the NT (Mark 12:30) are Heart-Soul-Mind-Strength.  If we look at the parts of the body delegated to these ‘four species’… we have etrog(heart), palm(strength/spine), willow(mouth/?) and myrtle (eye/?).  I don’t know which is which for the eye and mouth, but that’s interesting to consider, isn’t it?  Continuing on…

According to the second interpretation, the etrog, which has both a pleasing taste and a pleasing scent, represents Jews who have achieved both knowledge of Torah and performance of mitzvot. The palm branch, which produces tasty fruit, but has no scent, represents Jews who have knowledge of Torah but are lacking in mitzvot. The myrtle leaf, which has a strong scent but no taste, represents Jews who perform mitzvot but have little knowledge of Torah. The willow, which has neither taste nor scent, represents Jews who have no knowledge of Torah and do not perform the mitzvot.

We bring all four of these species together on Sukkot to remind us that every one of these four kinds of Jews is important, and that we must all be united.

Isn’t that interesting?  I’d have to change that end statement (personally) to we must stand United in Christ.  But that’s just me.  And you know me.  ((wink!)) 

AND…!  I’ve got a really fun video for you, to go along with all of this!  This video… my kids love it, but it has really struck a chord with me, because it reminds me of a singles Bible study I was in while living on-base in the Air Force as a college student.  These guys are EXACTLY like the ones I hung out with… Even LOOK like them a bit!  The lead would be Pat, the bearded one Mike, the older man Col. Tague, and the tie-man Chaplain B.  It’s SOOO much like them… so this video just tickles me pink.  ((grins))

So there’s something new I’ve never written before!  And of course this is a first day of the feast thing, and we’re into the feast pretty far, now, but… hey.  It’s never too late to learn something new.  And Jews actually shake the lulav while walking around the podium of their church every night during Sukkot, so it’s not actually JUST a first day thing!

Anyhow, I thought this was good stuff, and worth mentioning. Hope it helps!