Holyday Events / Countdown Timer |
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What is different about this timer Several
websites have a countdown timer that continuously shows the number of days, hours,
minutes, and seconds left until one single date. This timer has a year's worth of
Jewish Holidays programmed into it and will automatically reset itself after the end of
one holiday and begin counting down to the next holiday. More holidays can be added
as well. It also will display only the numbers of days until it gets down to less
than three days, then it will display the days and hours, and then just the hours and
minutes, then the minutes and seconds, and finally, just the seconds. It will then
display an appropriate message for the entire day. For longer holidays such as
Sukkot, Chanukah, and Passover it will display a different message for each day of the
holiday while displaying the countdown to the next holiday on a second line (in light
purple). It will also display (in red) the Omer count between Passover and Shavuot. Why 6:00 PM? According to Hebrew custom the day begins at sundown (see Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). In order to be able to calculate the sundown time for a given location you have to know the latitude, longitude, and time zone that you (or your computer for that matter) are located in. Unfortunately, it is not possible to do this for every computer in the world using a single web-based program. Therefore, we have chosen 6:00 PM as an average, general time to begin the new day. The program uses your own computer's internal clock to display the correct time remaining for your area. Click on any of the linked Holydays below to find out more about
that Holyday.
Why we render the counting of the Omer according to Pharisaic Tradition It has been customary within Messianic/Christian circles to render the counting of the Omer as starting on the Sunday after the beginning of the Passover. This is because it has been universally taught that Yeshua (Jesus) rose from the dead early Sunday morning. However, a more careful reading of the text from a Hebraic standpoint points towards the resurrection occurring sometime between the end of the Sabbath and midnight. There were three basic schools of thought in the first century about when the counting of the Omer started: (1) the Pharisees (P'rushim) who believed that it started the day after the beginning of Passover (i.e the 16th of Nisan), (2) the Boethusians* and Sadducees who believed it started on the Sunday after the beginning of Passover, and (3) the Essenes who believed it started on the Sunday after the end of the entire eight day festival (one week later than the Boethusians and Sadducees). According to Leviticus 23:14, no one was permitted to eat any of the new grain or growth until the sheaf of the Firstfruits had been waved before the LORD. It was at this point that they started counting the Omer. When Yehoshua (Joshua) and the Israelites entered the land and celebrated the Passover, they ate of the corn and grain of the land on the day after Passover (Joshua 5:10-12), thus marking the beginning of the count as being the day after the beginning of Passover. The Pharisaic tradition is the one used by the Jewish people today and the one we follow at Yashanet. For more information about this subject see Tim Hegg's article "Counting the Omer" (PDF format) * The Boethusians (most likely a branch of
the Sadducees) were very loyal to King Herod and are almost definitely the ones referred
to as the "Herodians" in Mark 3:6, 12:13. They gained their name from
Simeon ben Boethus who was appointed high priest by Herod the Great in 24 BCE. |
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