Thursday March 2, 2006 Greetings brethren, Update: The original information was incorrect and Bob Saforek is doing well! Praise Yahweh! Lottie Brooks is in the final stages of cancer. Take a moment to ask for prayer for Lottie and the Brooks family. The outpouring of support for the Savage family has been great brethren. The love of Yah is edified through His children. I apologize for the delay in reporting the new moon sighting and the response to many emails. Response is coming. I was out of town Tuesday night in an airport when the sun set. I was unable to see the new moon but many brethren did see the new moon Tuesday night. New moon reports follow. Abib and PassoverIn addition to the new moon report there is a report from Israel concerning Abib. Barley in the Abib stage was not found consistently. This fits with a edict by the Sanhedrin some time ago that the 16th of the first month has to be after the vernal equinox. This new moon would have been about 6 days short of that edict. March 6th is the earliest date for Abib to fit with this edict. The concern of such edicts is to prevent the fall festival of Tabernacles from ending before the vernal equinox. This makes sense since brethren will be bringing their harvest to the temple to celebrate before Yahweh. The crops of Israel were mainly grain in the spring and early summer. The fall crops included grapes, fruits, and olives. Yahweh calls Israel together to rejoice in the blessings. The culture today is much different being more complex in growing seasons. It is popular today for large corporate farmers to farm in the US during the 6 months of summer and farm in South America mainly Brazil the other 6 months. Yahweh blesses His people by providing the necessities. In a month we will be commemorating the exodus from Egypt and the release from the divorce of Israel. The two may seem disparate at first glance but we are blessed to have been brought out of bondage to a new marriage with Messiah Yahshua. The sacrifice of Messiah Yahshua set us free from the sins of our fathers and set us on the path to righteousness through Yahweh's torah. The forgiveness of past sins creates within us the possibility of a clear conscious to be more aware of what is required of us by Abba Yahweh. When we stop to realize what Messiah Yahshua has achieved through the torah the more exciting the plan of salvation becomes within our lives. Yahshua sacrificed his life so that we might have a chance at the covenant with the him. Yahshua has renewed a covenant made generations before between Yahweh and Abraham. This renewal is a birth for us into the family of Abraham so that we might have part in the covenant of eternal life. Many of us were not part of Abraham's descendants but through Messiah Yahshua we receive adoption into a heavenly family. Yahweh bless, James A. Meyer 2/28 New Moon ReportsCisco, TexasSighting a beautiful, bowl-shaped new crescent were Voy & Sue Wilks and the Joe York family of Cisco, Texas, and Carolyn Carney of San Antonio -- ten people. Dinuba, CaliforniaShalom and Blessings! A beautiful new moon was observed at 6:20 pm in Dinuba, CA. Praise YHWH!! Renee, Matt and Jessie New MexicoNew moon sighted. Bulverde, TexasBeautiful bowl Danville, VirginiaThe sunset as usual, was beautiful, but unable to see the new moon due to clouds. Sand Springs, OklahomaNot sighted, cloudy to the west. Roseau, DominicaI'm thankful anyhow that I can report of having sighted the new moon last evening in 21 minutes after sunset at 6:33pm here in Roseau, Dominica. 3/1 New Moon ReportsJerusalem, IsraelOn Wednesday March 1, 2006 the New Moon was sighted from Jerusalem. The moon was sighted by: *Erich Draht at 17:35
*John Carey, Rivkah Alon, and Miri Burgin at 17:36
*Nehemia Gordon, Devorah Gordon, Lee Alon, Gloria Draht, Bernie Koch,
Ruthanne Koch, Ivan Labombarbe, and Karl Bloodworth at 17:46. A photo of the New Moon is posted at:
http://www.karaite-korner.org/abib/2006/new_moon_jerusalem_2006_mar_01.JPG Rosh Chodesh Sameach!
(Happy New Moon Day!)
Nehemia Gordon Heidelberg, Western-Cape, South-AfricaBless YHWH! Though the sky was covered with clouds, He opened up a window just big enough for the new moon to be seen at 19:40 tonight in Heidelberg, Western-Cape, South-Africa. Boone, IowaThe new moon was seen clearly thru our kitchen window tonight. First time in quite a while. Hope everyone has a great new moon day, The Harvey Family Boone, IA Westside, IowaMy Wife and I went out behind our home tonight and @ 6:09 P.M. Saw the new moon. We rejoice in YHWH for his truth and Kodesh. Blessings to all. Rejoice in the new moon. Shalom, AbiYah Aviv Report 2006Over a period of three days we searched the Land of Israel for Aviv barley. Originally the search was supposed to last four days, but through team work and by utilizing modern communications we were able to cover a vast area in a much smaller amount of time than in previous years. On the first day, Sunday February 26, 2006, we examined the barley near Alon and Ein Mabua, where we had found Aviv last year. The barley there was still in the "cotton" stage (="flowering") and none of it was Aviv. Some of the barley there was still in vegetative stages. All the barley at Ein Mabua was 2-row wild barley. Last year some of the nay-sayers discounted the barley from Ein Mabua, claiming it would never reach full maturity because of the intense heat in the Judean Desert. Incredibly, we found many stalks from last year's barley still standing with the last two kernels still in tact! http://www.karaite-korner.org/abib/2006/26feb06_ein_mabua_terrace.jpg http://www.karaite-korner.org/abib/2006/26feb06_ein_mabua_vegetative.jpg On the second day, Monday February 27, 2006, we covered the northern part of the Land: the Coastal Plain, the Jezreel Valley, the Upper Galilee, the Lower Galilee, the Hula Valley, and the Jordan Valley. We broke up into three teams, each checking different fields. In this manner, the three teams combed over 1500 km just in the second day alone! The barley was quite uniform, mostly in the "cotton" stage (="flowering" stage) but with small quantities of it in the "water" stage. None of the barley was Aviv and none of it was even in the "worm" stage (="soft dough") which precedes the Aviv stage. We did find some lone stalks in the "worm" stage adjacent to the road, however, we do NOT consider "roadside barley" to be valid, because it grows under artificial conditions, assisted by the heat from the asphalt. We examined both 2-row wild barley and 6-row domesticated barley. We should emphasize that the barley in the Jordan valley, which usually ripens earliest, was not substantially different from the barley examined throughout the north. On the third day, Tuesday February 28, 2006, we covered the southern part of the Land of Israel, focusing on the Northern Negev region. In this area we found 2-row wild barley, 2-row domesticated barley, and 6-row domesticated barley. We did find a few lone stalks of Aviv in two locations, but most of the barley at those locations was still flowering, with some stalks in the worm stage. There was NOT a large enough quantity of Aviv to harvest two weeks into the lunar month. According to Leviticus 23:10, Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread) must coincide with the beginning of the harvest, however, the individual stalks of Aviv found in the northern Negev would not result in enough ripe barley to begin the harvest of even a single field two weeks into the next lunar month (when Chag HaMatzot would have been). The lone stalks of Aviv were 2-row domesticated barley found near Bitcha and Sharsheret junctions. From a random sampling at Bitcha, we found 10 out of 10 stalks were not Aviv and most were not even in the "worm" stage (="soft dough") which precedes the Aviv stage. We did find a large field of 6-row barley in the worm stage ("soft dough") at Mordechai Junction, but none of it was Aviv. Pictures of 6-row worm-stage barley are here: http://www.karaite-korner.org/abib/2006/worm_6_row_ofakim_28_02_06.jpg http://www.karaite-korner.org/abib/2006/worm_6_row_ofakim_28_02_06b.jpg After this intensive search we can definitively say that the Aviv has not yet arrived. Therefore, we must wait until the following lunar month to begin the next biblical year. The New Moon of the 1st Biblical Month should be visible (barring clouds) from Israel on Thursday March 30, 2006 at sunset, making Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread) begin on April 13, 2006 at sunset. The New Moon seen on Wednesday March 1, 2006 was the New Moon of the 13th biblical month. The following people participated in the Aviv Search (in alphabetical order): Rivkah Alon, Melekh Ben-Ya'aqov, Rivkah Ben-Ya'aqov, Bruce Brill, Miri Burgin, Erich Draht, Gloria Draht, Moshe Firouz, Devorah Gordon, Nehemia Gordon, Neriah Haroeh, Ferenc Illesy, Bernie Koch, Ruthanne Koch, Ivan Labombarbe, Dina Marcus, Eliyahu Marzouk, and Moshe Yoseph. We want to thank everyone who sent donations to help cover the cost of the Aviv Search and all those who gave of their time to organize and participate in the search. May YHWH bless you! Nehemia Gordon, Ruthanne Koch, and Ivan Labombarbe Jerusalem, Israel | 
