The following article was written by former NSA intelligence analyst and Independent Israeli press correspondent, Bruce Brill, and published in an English language journal in Israel in the fall of 1998.  His article was again published in Michael Rood’s Astronomically Corrected Biblical Hebrew Calendar in the spring of 1999.  The article caused quite a stir in Jerusalem, and the following fall both Rood and Brill were invited to attend the annual meeting of the Israeli New Moon Society.  At that meeting, Michael was advised to immediately contact Karaite scholar, Nehemia Gordon so that his current aviv observations could be incorporated into Rood’s published astronomically corrected calendar.

The orthodox rabbinic scholars of the Israeli New Moon Society recognized the work of Gordon in re-establishing the correct interpretation of the ancient Hebrew agricultural term aviv, and they clearly understood the necessity of restoring the sighting and verification criterion for the new moon.  Within two years of that conference which combined the research efforts of Rood, Gordon, and Biblical Astronomer Robert Scott Wadsworth, the rabbinic scholars were satisfied that the Scriptural parameters of the ancient Temple calendar had been accurately restored.  The rabbis also clearly stated that the Creator’s observed calendar would not be re-instated until a Sanhedrin officially changed the calendar back to its original reckoning before the Tiberius calendar council of 359 C.E. instituted the modern Jewish calculated calendar.

The Talmud states that new moon witnesses can profane the Sabbath to report their sightings.  Given that it is permissible in Jewish Law to profane the Sabbath only for the most exceptional reasons, the importance attributed to setting the Holy Days by the new moon sightings is noteworthy.

The Mishnaic stipulations on a new moon witness were detailed and rigorous.  The sighted new moon fixed the month’s start, which in turn set the Hebrew Holy Days.  Once the Sanhedrin certified the sightings, the news was communicated to far-flung Jewish communities throughout Israel and beyond.

The system of sighting, certifying and signaling continued for hundreds of years.  After the Jewish revolts against Rome, most Jews were dispersed from Judea.  By the middle of the fourth century the entire system of sighting, certifying, and signaling new moons and months in what the Romans had renamed “Palestine”, was in dissolution.  A calendar for fixing our months became essential.

The modern Jewish calendar was established by Hillel the Second in the middle of the fourth century.  Yet, the two reasons for its introduction are no longer relevant.  Today, there are both enough Jews residing in and around Jerusalem to sight new moons, and ample means to communicate the sightings.  NASA claims to have improved on the amazingly precise lunar cycle of 29.53059 days used in the Jewish calendar.  And even though the monthly moon cycle varies by as much as +/- 0.7 days per lunar cycle, it has never been adjusted.

There is yet another, more compelling reason to return to the ancient reckoning.  The same reason that allowed profaning the Sabbath: the gravity of celebrating the Holy Days on the celestially correct day.  The framers of the calendar were eminently aware of this.  That is why Diaspora Jews celebrate two days for the major Holy Days.  It is also the reason that Yom Teruah, even in Israel, is a two-day festival.

Ironically, according to this writer’s actual new moon sightings for the past almost-five years from the environs of Jerusalem, much of the time both days of the two-day holidays are incorrect.  Could it be that the Jewish people have been celebrating their Feasts and Fasts on the wrong days?  Could it be that this year, for instance, Yom Kippur was not on the day fixed by the Jewish calendar, but two days afterwards, according to the new moon appearance?

The new moon rarely appears before the calendar claims it is due, but it usually appears one or two days after the calendar’s assertion.  Before the calculated calendar of Hillel, the Jewish month was always set with the unmistakable first appearance of the new moon.  Why not celebrate the Feasts at the celestially correct time as opposed to an incorrect calendar?

My personal sightings have been confirmed by other independent new moon watchers.  Yet, before the advent of modern super-computers, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove with absolute scientific certainty that my personal sightings were correct.

Just this year, an American team, including astronomer Robert Scott Wadsworth, has published a calendar of the projected monthly new moon appearances from Jerusalem.  The team’s Michael Rood arrived in Israel recently with the express purpose of finding moon watchers to confirm his team’s exciting findings.  His data from the Jewish New Year and this writer’s sighting agree, so far.  If Rood’s data scientifically confirms my nearly five-year’s of observation, then the Jewish people are out of synch.  Further, if this is true, then instead of a calendar on the wall, we should be looking for the forlorn maiden moon each month in the twilight of the western horizon…

Bruce Brill
Independent Press Correspondent
Tekoa, Israel

Our thanks to Levite Bruce Brill who offered his plot of land in Tekoa, the ancient village of Amos the prophet and herdsman, to plant the first field of barley in two millennium for the express purpose of determining the month of the aviv.  Along with the sweat and blisters of tilling and dunging the soil, came the satisfaction of engaging in Levitical duties that were left behind with the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple nearly 2,000 years ago.  Restoring the calendar has been decades in development, and with the learning process comes the shedding of traditions, theories, and concepts that had to be buried under the realities discovered while putting many hypothesis to the test in the land of Israel.

Over thirty years ago, Michael Rood began the adventure of establishing the chronological order of the Gospel records and synchronizing them with secular history as well as astronomical proofs established in antiquity.  The restoration of the Creator’s calendar was absolutely essential in understanding these mathematical proofs.  But, more than just math and ancient Israelite history, the restoration of the Creator’s calendar allows us all to enjoy the cycle of life now, the way our Creator intended.  We need no longer be ignorant of His Times and His Seasons.  The fall Feasts of the LORD will be fulfilled by Yahshua to the very day, hour, and moment of their prescribed rehearsal – and the fulfillment will be executed according to His calendar and on His time clock.  The Day of the LORD need not come upon His servants as a thief in the night, if we walk in His light.  Some love darkness rather than light.

Related Articles:
- The Creator’s Calendar Controversy
- Fallen Angels
- The Great Debate
- Come, Join the Dance
- Month of the Aviv
- Barley NOT Aviv