‘Speak’ or Emor in Hebrew is the title of the next Torah Portion in review. Leviticus 21:1-24:23 explores the Appointed Times and much more. I have been learning gobs and gobs from the Chabad in-depth commentary, which includes profound insights from revered Jewish scholars known for their deep understanding of Torah teachings and their ability to apply these teachings to everyday life. One thing that blew my mind was this paragraph written by the Chassidic Masters;
These are the appointed times of G‑d, callings of holiness, which you shall call in their appointed time (23:2). (In Judaism, the ‘appointed times’ refer to the specific times or seasons that God has designated for gatherings of the people.) The festivals are ‘callings of holiness’ (mikra’ei kodesh), in the sense that each is a landmark in time at which we are empowered to call forth the particular holiness or spiritual quality embedded within it. On the first Passover, for example, G‑d granted us the gift of freedom. On the first Shavuot, He gave us the Torah; on Rosh Hashanah, G‑d became King of the universe; on Yom Kippur, we received the gift of teshuvah; and so on. But freedom, wisdom, awe, joy, peace, and the other Divine gifts granted in the course of our history are constant needs of the soul; they are the spiritual nutrients that sustain her in her journey through life. G‑d embedded these qualities within the very substance of time and set ‘appointed times’ at which they can be accessed. Each year, when we reach the juncture of time when a particular spiritual quality has been embedded, we are granted the ability to access it once again. (link)
Isn’t this revelation from the Chassidic Masters truly awe-inspiring? For a while, I grappled with the idea that I might be approaching my faith incorrectly. Why am I not consistently able to share the fruit of the Spirit with those around me? Why am I not always joyful, at peace, gentle, and kind? If the Chassidic Masters are indeed onto something, and I believe they are, the fruit of the Spirit is the sustenance of the Kingdom. They are what we can feed on as we journey through life. Tying the fruit to a particular Appointed Time solidifies the importance of showing up at the ‘holy callings’ of the Lord. But what exactly is a holy calling? Leviticus 23 explains that these are the annual times when the Holy One meets us. He gives us instructions on what we can bring to the party and what He will do at that time. He will deliver at Passover, divide or separate at Unleavened Bread, sprout at First Fruits, marry at Shavuot, reign at Rosh Hashanah, cover at Yom Kippur, and complete the work at Sukkot. We bring the obedience of bringing a lamb at Passover; we clean out our homes and hearts of leaven, symbolic of pride, hypocrisy, and sin, at Unleavened Bread. We get the best of our blessings to the Holy One at First Fruits. We gather at the mountain and receive instructions at Shavuot. We blow the shofar and listen for His voice at Rosh Hashanah. We approach Yom Kippur with a humble and repentant heart. We leave the comfort of our homes and dwell under the sky covering of God at Sukkot.
The fruits of the Spirit are the tools we gain when we gather at these commanded times. They sustain us. We get to taste love when we need it. We get to savor gentleness when the world seems harsh. We get to internalize the fruit of peace when chaos appears to be engulfing us. There is a never-ending supply of whatever we need in the Kingdom of God, where the Divine Breath or Spirit reigns. These Appointed Times are not just about rituals and observances, but about the spiritual nourishment and fulfillment they bring to our lives. Here is a list of fruits elaborated on in the Greek Scriptures.
Galatians 5:19-23: Now the deeds of the flesh are clear: sexual immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, witchcraft, hostility, strife, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, just as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit God’s kingdom. But the fruit of the Ruach is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—against such things there is no law.
The above Chassidic statement does not elaborate on which fruits we obtain during which appointed time, but I will offer some possible connections. Faithfulness is an essential divine trait we can internalize at the appointed time of Passover. When God delivers Israel from the House of Bondage, He begins to show them that He is faithful to protect, provide for, prosper, and love His people. He never failed to fulfill His promises to Israel, which strengthened their trust in His faithfulness. There is a commandment to count the omer from Passover to Shavuot, and this exercise can help us cultivate patience as we wait for guidance from the Holy One and count each day down from 49. I am going to connect gentleness to First Fruits because it points me to the gentleness it takes to garden, to tend to seeds and seedling sprouts. It takes gentleness to produce healthy agricultural produce, which the Israelites bring as an offering to the Holy One at First Fruits. Yeshua is called the first fruit of creation and resurrection. God gently sowed His Word as a seed that produced the Tree of Life, which contains all the fruit of the Kingdom. Kindness would be the next sustaining fruit we get to fill up on at Shavuot. It is the kindness of God that motivates Him to give us wisdom, counsel, understanding, knowledge, truth, power, and ways to fear Him, as included in the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Peace could be embedded in the feast of Rosh Hashanah when God becomes King. Yeshua is called the Prince of Peace, and traditionally, Prince imagery is associated with sovereignty. So, peace comes when the King and His Prince rule over humanity in love and righteousness. Is love experienced at Yom Kippur? Love covers a multitude of sins, and Yom Kippur is the Day of Covering (1 Pt 4.8). Self-control is another fruit we get to pick at the Feast of Yom Kippur as we train our bodies to fast for 25 hours. Self-discipline is a fruit that provides multiple nutrients for our spiritual well-being. God gave Israel the commandment to express joy at Sukkot. I read this brilliant quote the other day and have been meditating on it ever since. “Joy is the matriarch of emotions, and she will not visit you until all of her children have been welcomed”-Joe Hudson. Being joyful at the Appointed Time of Sukkot at the end of the year makes sense now. It is because Israel journeyed through the wilderness and experienced a range of emotions, including grief, disappointment, loss, fear, the sting of discipline, sadness, confusion, peace, love, hate, anger, gratitude, and ungratefulness, among others, that they were able to enter a season of joy. They had to get through the actual messiness of life before they could look back and say, You have brought me to this point, and my heart is joyful because of it.
Of course, we become what we eat. If we gather at God’s holy times of the year and feast on the fruit of the Kingdom year-round, then we should be able to overflow with these divine traits over time. What goes in comes out. Perhaps WE won’t be able to sustain others, but we can show them where to find nourishment so that they, too, can enjoy the divine attributes of being a child in God’s house. On the other hand, it would be adversarial if everyday rage, wrath, gossip, deceit, fighting, drama, chaos, and addiction fuel us. These are the fruits of the Kingdom of Man, or the flesh or earthly nature. If we are addicted to the chaos, and that is what is familiar to us, then that is what we will, in turn, give to those around us. You can start to change your diet by learning about the Appointed Times of God. Here is a resource that provides the annual calendar for these times. Here is a place where you can learn the basics about the Appointed Times. Hopefully, you will continue to learn about them, and as you do, you will find that Yeshua makes each special gathering full of meaning, hope, and clarity. I hope we can attend these special gatherings and let God fill us up for our journeys.
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