The New Moon and the
Appointed Seasons

The Lesser Light, the Moon; Designated to Govern/Rule the Night of the Day.

In the Turah, Mo’adym specifically refers to the Sacred, Divinely Appointed Times of Yahuah’s Covenant with Yasharal (Israel), the Weekly Sabbath and the Annual Gatherings (Pesach, Shavuot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kipper, Sukkot) as listed in Leviticus 23.

The Psalmist explicitly states that the Moon was created to Mark the “Appointed Seasons” (Mo’adim).

Referring to Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The Biblical Calendar Day ends and a new Day begins at Evening. The Sun “knows” its Appointed time to Arrive, establishing the Rhythm of Daily Life and Worship. The verse does not Assign the Sun the Role of determining Months or Festivals. Its role is in the Daily and Yearly cycles.

This aligns with the Hebrew word for Month, Hhdsh (Chodesh, 2320), which literally means “New [Moon].” In the Scriptural Calendar, the New Moon sighting was the trigger for declaring the Start of each Month, which in turn determined the Dates of the Festivals.

The Hebrew word שֹׁדֶח (Hhdsh/Chodesh) is deceptively simple, often translated as “Month”, but a deep linguistic and theological exploration reveals layers of meaning tied to Creation, Renewal, and the Rhythm of Set Apart Time.

In the Hebrew Bible, Months are determined by the New Moon (Rosh Hhdsh (Chodesh), “Head of the Month”), and was a Day of Special Observance:

The New Moon was not a full sabbath of rest (work was permitted), but it held a semi-festive status, marking the Sanctification of Time.

Hhdsh (2320, Chodesh) derives from the root שָׁדַח (Hhadash 2318), which means “to Renew.” Thus, Hhdsh (Chodesh) is not merely a unit of time but “the New [Moon]”, the Moment of Renewal. The very word tells us that a Month is defined by the lunar cycle beginning with the Appearance of the thin Crescent Moon.

Hebrew has Two (2) distinct words related to the Moon:

This phrase is often translated as “the Bounty of the Moon’s (Hhdsh (Chodesh) Yield” or “the Choice Fruits of the Months (Hhdsh (Chodesh).” Here, Yerachym is the plural of Yerach, derived from Yareach (Moon), and refers to the Agricultural Bounty that Ripens according to the lunar cycles.

The Recurring New Moon (Chodesh) is a Witness to Yahuah’s ongoing Creative Power. Jeremiah 31:35–36 ties the fixed order of the Moon to the certainty of Yahuah’s Covenant with Yasharal (Israel), the Hhdsh (Chodesh) is a Sign of Divine Faithfulness.

The Monthly cycle becomes a miniature cycle of Spiritual Renewal, mirroring the weekly Sabbath and Yearly Festivals.

In the Ancient Near East, other cultures also used lunar months, but the Hebrew Hhdsh (Chodesh) adds a unique theological layer:

In the Hebrew mind, Hhdsh (Chodesh) is not merely a segment of time but a recurring act of creation, a moment when darkness gives way to the sliver of new light, reminding Yasharal (Israel) that Yahuah makes all things new. The use of Hhdsh (Chodesh) consistently indicates that the Month is tied to the Renewal of the Moon.

Scripture identifies the Day of the New Moon (שֹׁדֶח רֹאשׁ, Rosh Hhdsh (Chodesh), literally “Head of the Month”) as a Distinct Set Apart Day.

Scripture does not leave the determination of the first (1st) Month to astronomical calculation alone. It provides an agricultural anchor: the stage of Barley called אָבִיב (Abyb).

This Wave offering cannot occur unless the Barley is in the Abyb stage. Therefore, the first (1st) Month must be the Month in which the Barley reaches Abyb (typically March or April).

If the Barley was not Abyb the leadership would wait until the Barley reached that stage before declaring Abyb.

Within our assembly, local eyewitnesses confirmed sighting the new moon sliver on Thursday evening, March 19, 2026. Their reports align with numerous verified sightings from across the United States and beyond. Below are some of the photographs captured that evening.

The calendar described in the Turah is a lunisolar system. Months begin with the sighting of the New Moon (Rosh Hhodesh), which ties the word Hhdsh (Month) to its root meaning “New”. Because 12 lunar months total about 354 days, a leap month is added 7 times every 19 years to ensure Pesach (Passover) stays in the Spring (the Month of Abyb). This calendar is dynamic. Its sanctification relied on human observation and the declaration of the court (Sanhedrin), rather than a fixed manmade calculation.

The Lunisolar calendar aligns with both moon phases and solar seasons by adding a 13th month every few years, while pure lunar calendars (like Islamic) only track moon phases, resulting in a year ~11 days shorter than the solar year. Lunisolar calendars keep seasons consistent; pure lunar years rotate through seasons over 33 years. Lunisolar is often used for Agriculture and Traditional Festivals.

A lunar calendar is based on the 29.5-day cycle of the Moon’s phases, typically containing 12 months in a 354-day year, making it roughly 11 days shorter than a Solar Year. Often used for Religious or Agricultural Purposes, it features phases from new to full moon. Common examples include the Islamic calendar.

The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) describes a Solar calendar of 364 days. It is divided into four (4) seasons of 13 weeks (91 days) each, giving exactly 52 weeks per year.

The critical theological conflict is that this calendar is presented as a perfect, unchanging system revealed by angels. However, because the true solar year is about 365.25 days, the Enoch calendar would lose about 1.24 days annually, drifting a full month off every 25 years.

In the Enoch 364-day calendar, the Sabbath is celebrated on the 7th day of every week. The year consists of 12 months, each with 30 days, plus 4 special “intercalary” days that separate seasons, resulting in a consistent, perpetual cycle where the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of each month (plus the 4 intercalary days) are typically designated as Sabbaths. The Bible mandates aligning Festivals with Actual Seasons, which the Enoch system cannot do.

The Zadok Calendar is essentially the same 364-day system found in Enoch, but it was used by the Zadokite priesthood at Qumran (the Dead Sea Scrolls community). In the Zadok (364-day) Calendar, the Sabbath always falls on the Seventh (7th) day of the week, which typically aligns with Saturday in the Gregorian calendar. It is a fixed solar calendar where the week of seven (7) days remains unbroken, with the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of every month always being a Sabbath. The name Zadok refers to the Priests that Believed they were the Rightful Temple Authorities.

The traditional Hebrew calendar reconciles the 24 priestly courses with the Lunisolar Year through a practical system where each course served twice a year, and all courses served together during the pilgrimage festivals. This created a workable, historically observed rhythm of Temple service.

The Dead Sea Scrolls community, which used the Enoch/Zadok 364-day calendar, were fierce critics of this traditional system. The 364-day cycle allowed for a perfect, repeating rotation of the 24 priestly divisions (1 Chronicles 24) for Temple service. Their main Objection was that the traditional Biblical Hebrew Calendar lacked Mathematical Perfection and Predictability.

This was not just a scheduling dispute. In the Second (2nd) Temple period, these represented “Calendar Wars” over Authority:

The Zadok/Enoch calendar “do not use the Moon to determine Months or Festivals,” which “directly contradicts Genesis 1:14, which states the Moon was created for that Purpose”. Psalm 104:19 reinforces this same point.

The Apocryphal books were all written from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, they were considered historical works, not inspired scripture. In Hebrew, the Apocrypha is known as Sefarim Chitzonim (ספרים החיצוניים), which translates to “external books” or “outside books”. This term refers to religious texts written during the Second (2nd) Temple period that were excluded from the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) canon, as they were not considered prophetic or divinely inspired.

The Septuagint included the Apocrypha (or Deuterocanonical books) because it was produced by Hellenistic Hebrew scholars in Alexandria, Egypt, over several centuries (beginning around 250 B.C.) to provide sacred texts in Greek.

It’s important to understand that the Apocrypha was preserved primarily by Christians, not by Hebrews. Because early Christians used the Greek Septuagint, a translation of the Hebrew scriptures that included the Apocrypha, these books were transmitted within the Christian tradition. These additional books were popular, encouraging, and written in or translated into Greek, making them part of the broader, flexible literary collection.

Hebrew communities carefully preserved the Hebrew Masoretic Text, which never included these works.

The books of the Hebrew Bible were almost entirely written in Hebrew. While some Apocryphal books, like Ben Sira (Sirach), were originally written in Hebrew, others, like the Wisdom of Solomon, were composed in Greek. The use of Greek, the common language of the diaspora, was seen as a departure from the sacred tradition. Several books in the Apocrypha contain teachings not found in, and sometimes contradictory to, the rest of the Bible. Thus since they contradict the Hebrew canon they were not considered for inclusion into the sacred text.

The Enoch Calendar Directly Conflicts with the Scriptural Calendar because it replaces a dynamic system based on observing Yahuah’s creation (the Moon) and human sanctification with a fixed, mathematically perfect system that ultimately drifts away from the Seasons it was meant to track. It represents an alternative theological vision of time that the Mainstream Hebrew Tradition Explicitly Rejected.

It connects back to the Hebrew word Hhdsh (Chodesh), which means “New [Moon].” The Hanok (Enoch) Calendar, with its fixed months, removes the need to witness the Hhdsh (Chodesh) entirely, fundamentally changing what a “Month” means in the biblical context.

The Book of Hanok (Enoch) (specifically 1 Enoch) was rejected as being part of the original Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) or the Standard Hebrew Canon, nor was it ever part of the Catholic or Christian Bibles. So, why is it even considered today as having any Calendar Authority, or any Doctrinal Authority?

The determination of the weekly Sabbath is different from the determination of the Months. Unlike the New Moon, which requires human determination, the weekly Sabbath is presented in scripture as a fixed, recurring cycle that is not dependent on human observation or judicial declaration. Here is how the weekly Sabbath is determined using scripture alone.

The origin and determination of the Sabbath are established in Genesis, before the Moon was given its role for “Days and Years.”

Scripture presents the seven (7) day week as a Continuous, Unbroken Cycle that is not Reset by the New Moon or any other Astronomical event. In scripture, there is a Significant distinction between:

In every passage where they are listed together, Sabbaths (שַׁבָּתוֹת, Shabbatot) and New Moons (חֹדָשִׁים, chodashym) are distinguished as Separate Categories. If the Sabbath were determined by the New Moon (e.g., the 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th days), scripture would not consistently list them as distinct.

Since scripture does not equate “Seventh (7th) Day” with “Saturday” or any other Modern Name, the identification relies on Historical Continuity.

All Christian leaders had to declare this creed to become part of Constantine’s Christian Religion, the Religion of Jesus the “Christ”!

Furthermore, any follower of the “Hebrew Messiah” (Yahusha HaMashiach) whoever wished to join this “Holy Community” was compelled to adopt a different set of rules and customs. Subsequently special creeds were drafted, to which the Christian would have to swear such as:

Additionally, in approximately 365 AD, the Council of Laodicea wrote, in one of their canons: “Christians must not be judaized by resting on the Sabbath (Saturday), but must work on that day. Rather, honoring the Lord’s Day. But if any shall be found to be Judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.” Note: Protestants are included as they still observe the Holidays and Sabbath of Rome, as in “are you going to church this coming Lord’s day”?

The transition from Saturday to Sunday worship occurred through historic church councils, Roman authorities (e.g., Constantine in 321 AD), and ecclesiastical tradition.

The continuous Practice of Karaite Hebrews, who reject Oral Tradition and Rely Solely on Scripture, likewise Observes the Seventh (7th) Day Sabbath on Saturday.

The weekly Sabbath has never changed, not through calendar reforms, not through shifts in the solar calendar, and not through any other historical process. The evidence comes from three (3) independent sources: the unbroken continuity of the Hebrew weekly cycle, the testimony of Astronomers, and the Historical record of when the day of rest was changed (which was a change of which day people observed, not a change to the Seventh (7th) Day itself. The change was in observance, not the day. Thus Confirming that the Sabbath Remains on the 7th Day (Saturday), a Perpetual Covenant. It is a Sign. No matter the pagan name attached to the day, it still remains the 7th Day.

When Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar to replace the Julian calendar, 10 days were removed from the calendar (October 5–14, 1582, were skipped). Calendar changes, including the shift from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1582, have never altered the Seven (7) Day weekly cycle, meaning the Seventh (7th) Day Sabbath (Saturday) has Remained Consistent. While the Calendar Dates shifted, the sequence of Days—Monday through Sunday—remained unbroken. The dates changed, but the days did not. The Sabbath that had been Observed on Saturday before the Reform Remained on Saturday after the Reform.

Using scripture alone, the weekly Sabbath (the Seventh (7th) day) has never changed. The Day itself remained unchanged — Hebrew communities have Observed Saturday as the 7th Day Sabbath continuously for over 3,000 years, independent of Christian Controversies.

Below is the full Shabbat teaching by Elder Rick Music, including the open discussion that followed. We encourage you to watch, take notes, and share with your household.