Question: How does a modern day Essene woman dress, wear her hair, does she wear jewelry and are her beauty products Kosher? How are we to dress our children as well? What about when we go out in public or when we go out to dinner with our husbands (think of date nights or balls or parent teacher conferences)?
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This is a reminder concerning our New Year and Pesach in our sacred calendar.
Beginning Friday evening, on March 18th, is a High Shabbat. This is the last Sabbath of the sacred year; it is traditional to observe the last Shabbat as a High Sabbath giving thanks to Alaha for all He has done and provided us through the year. The time for lighting Shabbat candles is just before sun down in your own area. Rabban +Mar Ya’aqub says that 30 to 45 minutes before sundown is the time for lighting candles. Usually one needs to consult with a local sunset times chart to obtain the most accurate time for your own area. For example, you can use the Time & Date site to obtain sunrise and sunset times for your particular area.
The Spring Equinox begins on March 20th. Our New Year (Rosh Hashana) always begins the Wednesday following the Spring Equinox, which is on the evening of the 22nd with day observance on the 23rd.
Pesakh is observed on the 14 Rishono.
1. My God, my God, for this You have let me remain. You have removed my salvation away from me because of my unthoughtful words.
2. Oh my God, I call on You in the day; do You answer? And in the night, do You remain with me?
3. You are holy, and Israel will live in Your glory.
4. In You, my fathers trusted, they placed their trust in You and You delivered them.
5. To You they cried out and [they] were delivered; they trusted in You, and [they] were not confused.
6. I am a worm and not a man; scorned by men [like] filth among the people.
7. I watch all [of them] make fun [concerning] me, making faces with their lips and shaking their heads, saying:
8. In Mar-Yah he has placed his trust; let Him make the way open for him, if He is pleased in him.
There are five Sabbaths left in our sacred year. Praised be to Mar-Yah Who has spared us, Who has brought us blessing and brought us to this point in the sacred calendar.
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“There are the worlds of the spirits which is covered with total darkness. Those who have performed works without having arrived at a proper knowledge of Mar-Yah and His religion, go, after death, to those worlds of the spirits and are given the opportunity to learn and to live and receive rest in the Lord. In this way, if they are successful in their learning, they are able to overcome death and never see it and sin does not walk behind them nor does she stand in the door of their houses. Such a man has overcome death, and he obtains immortality from Alaha. The door of Truth is covered with a golden seal. Open it, disciple! Open it so that you may behold the the True Light.” (Sefer ha’Makom, BoP)
What does it mean to be able to overcome death?
This is referring to being able to overcome the final death, complete obliteration, reserved for someone that does not accept knowledge provided to them by Mar-Yah. Notice the commentary reference for Mar Mattai 18:8-9… “The one who does not cross over from Sheol to Paradise and eventually into Heaven, crosses over into Gehinnom instead, for that one has not repented and his stripes are the worst to bear, and he bears his stripes for eternity and never enters into life.”
Does sin have a female gender?
Genesis 4:7 says “…If you do not do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” The word for sin is feminine. The term “it” can also be translated as “she”. Some English non-Essenes have interpreted the term “it” as referring to Cain’s brother, however, in Orthodox Essene commentaries, this is referring to the feminine sin, often a metaphor for the evil one, which is seen as a feminine entity, or at least, identified as such.
How can we open the door of Truth?
“Blessed is the man who has not walked in the direction of the wicked, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat of the contemptible ones. But his joy is only in the Aurayta d’Mar-Yah (Mar-Yah’s Torah), and he contemplates in his Aurayta day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)
“Be in subjection to the Will of Alaha; if you stand firm against the evil one he (it/she) will flee from you. Draw close to Alaha and he will draw close to you.” (Igeret Ya’aqub, Book of Presence)
“If you do these observances in accordance with what I, Ya’aqub, have here written to you, you shall find favour with Alaha, walk in peace and your blessings from Maran shall increase.” (Sefer B’nai Or, Book of Presence)
“How can a young man cleanse his way? By observing Your commandments.” (Psalm 119:9-10)
“If you desire to obtain eternal life then you must fulfil the Torah and the Prophets.” (Mar Mattai 19:21)
“Mar-Yah spoke to Mosha in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tabernacle, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ‘Take a census of all the congregation of the B’nai Yisrael, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, every male, one by one; from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Yisrael. You and Aaron shall number them by their divisions. With you there shall be a man of every tribe; everyone head of his fathers’ house.’” (The Holy Peshitta, Sipre d’Minyane/Numbers 1:1-4)
A Heartbeat Away
A heartbeat away. A hair’s breadth. The blink of an eye. So many people live in a state that is close to, but not actually within a covenant with Messiah. They exist only one heartbeat away from His Presence. They are are only a hair’s breadth away from obedience. They are only a blink of an eye from seeing Him.
This also means that what separates them from God, Messiah, a Covenant and eternity in joy and bliss is only a heartbeat; only a hair’s breadth on a blink of an eye away.
How many souls have lived and died, a heartbeat away from commitment to Messiah? How many have settled for a state that lies just outside His loving embrace? How many could open their eyes and have Him there in their lives?
How many? Too many. Too many to even count. Lost souls. Lost, not because they didn’t have all the opportunity in the world to turn to Him, but because they had all the time in the world, but chose, consciously, intentionally, to remain outside of His Covenant, to remain outside of His embrace.
There are no “almost saved” in heaven. No “very nearly faithful” in Olam Ha’Ba. Heaven, Paradise and Olam HaBa is only for those who are not only faithful, but who actively manifest this faith in their lives as Disciples of Yeshua.
We have entered an age where everyone is afraid to make a commitment – most especially about faith. That same fear of commitment may seem to be a helpful tool to avoid false prophets, teachers and fly by night religious entities, but in the same instant, if Messiah returns tomorrow, all those who could not be bothered to make a commitment to Messiah will be left outside in the darkness. No special reprieve. No do over’s. Nothing. They will have had their chance and it will have come and gone.
A heartbeat away from salvation and then its all gone forever.
No one who believes in God, who longs for a place in the World to Come, should stand on the sidelines of life, waiting for a future time that may never come to embrace Messiah and His Halakha.
Standing one inch from the finish line is a terrible way to end the race. Standing out of arm’s reach of Messiah’s loving embrace is a terrible way to end your existence.
Another heartbeat, another opportunity to accept Him.
(Originally published October 14, 2008, by Rabban +Mar Andreos)
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“There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but there is certainly a great difference between these two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love Alaha who made you; second, your neighbour as yourself; and you should never do to others, what you yourself would not want done to you by others.” (Limudah)
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1. Get at least six hours of sleep fitted around your schedule, waking in the early hours for a vigil.
2. Let Alaha have your first waking thought
3. Do your ablutions
4. Dress simply
5. Read at least a chapter of the Scriptures, meditate or engage in religious conversation while preparing to work for the day.
6. Offer morning prayers (perform 4 times daily…morning, midday, evening and a midnight prayer)
a. The Shma
b. The Lord’s Prayer
c. Read a part of Scripture in context
d. Apply Divine Reading (reading Scripture and mediating upon the words)
e. Read or sing a Psalm
f. Pour out yourselves in prayer
7. Renew your intentions and remembrance that when you set yourselves to your days work that you will do no work you cannot entitle to Alaha. All of your labor must be the labor of a traveler who has no roots in the fallen world but who works to make his/her passage to the Kingdom of Heaven and that whatever you do, you do all to the glory of Alaha.
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We post a lot of information for the Assembly of Jerusalem, a lot about Orthodox Essenism, about following Yeshua, about the Torah of Mosha Sealed in the Blood of the Lamb. We do this so often, that it begs the question, “Who is this information for?” Who? Anyone who will read it, think about it and use it in their lives.
If you were a person who were one of the elect, the information of the Orthodox Essenes would call to you, a song that only a few people can hear. A drink of cool water to the thirsty.
Making one’s home with the Essenes was a personal choice, and it was not for everyone, simply because not everyone was called to this Tribe. Only they were able to determine that for themselves.
But the information shared with the world is not strictly about bringing people into the Holy Tribe. It is also our responsibility to share the Truth of the Essene Way of Life with all those who will listen. Others will have their say, about who we are, and what we mean, but base your judgement on what we say for ourselves and then make your determination.
We call those who come from non-Messianic Judaism, to honour the Covenant of Sinai. To live Torah Judaism as they were called to, in the age of Moses, Aaron and Miriam. To honour Hillelite rulings in regard to Torah. There are many individuals in Temani, Mizrachi and Sephardic sects of Judaism, while not Essene, do strive to live in Covenant with Mar-Yah through the Covenant of Sinai. For this community, we only seek fellowship to call them to stay faithful to this covenant.
For those who come from one of the many self-styled Essene groups in the world, we call them to honour the Covenant of Kirbat Qumran, made with the Teacher of Righteousness. If they do not view Yeshua as Messiah, and this covenant was made before the birth of Yeshua, then honouring the Original intent of this Covenant is in their best interest. This means embracing Torah Observance because to claim to be an Essene but to deny Torah Observance, is to completely misunderstand what an Essene really is.
For the Christian who takes Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and while they can see validity in the message of the Essenes, they cannot see themselves moving beyond their current religious affiliation. They are comfortable in their church, congregation, denomination etc., what we call this person to is to honour the Covenant of St. James for the Gentiles, that being the Didache (Limudah). With their Bible in one hand and the Didache in the other, they have all they need to Walk the Narrow Path and secure a place in the Kingdom of Heaven if they are fully committed to Yeshua in love and obedience.
These are not different messages to different people. It is One Message to All People:
“Honour your Covenant with God”
How can a person claim to be a child of Abraham if they do not observe Torah?
How can a person claim to be an Essene if they do not observe Torah?
How can a person claim to be covered under the Brith Chadasha not observe Torah? How can a gentile claim to be a child of Yeshua and not walk the Path of Light laid out in the Covenant of St. James?
There is no Jewish, no Essene congregation on earth that is not called upon by God, to Torah Observance. There is no Christian church or congregation on earth that is not called upon, by Yeshua, to walk the Path of Light laid out in the Didache. That is the truth. Anything other than this is outside of a covenant with the One God.
God is well within His rights to dismiss any person or group that seeks to reject His Covenant or who seeks to reinterpret the requirements of that covenant to suit their own needs. There are far too many religious institutions and teachers who fall under this category. Honour your Covenant with God and He will Keep His promise to you. Reject your covenant with God and He owes you nothing.
There may be something comforting to people who believe that, by birth they are automatically secured a place in heaven, or that because of a rite, or affirmation at one time in your life, that you are promised heaven. These are comforting fairy tales, but like all fairy tales, they are not true. No child of Abraham is getting into heaven if He rejects Torah Observance. No Follower of Yeshua is getting into heaven if he rejects the Way of Light described in the Didache. Only Yeshua, in the final analysis, will be able to discern if a soul has something within them that warrants life beyond the grave, but what He does require has already been spelled out in God’s Covenants. There won’t be a completely different set of criteria created for people who just couldn’t be bothered to honour one of His established covenants with mankind…something to think about.
By Rabban +Mar Andreos