Understanding Feasts, Festivals and Holy Days in the Bible

This video lecture addresses the first of the feasts, festivals and Holy Days found in the Bible. It celebrates the escape of the Israelites from Pharaoh and their Egyptians slave masters. The video lectures explains some of the common practices of the festival and seeks to make a connection with some of the things that students may currently believe.

This video lecture examines the Feast of Unleaven Bread which celebrated the hasty departure of the Israelites from Egypt in the wake of the 10 plagues sent by God. The video lecture introduces the student to some of the basic Hebrew terms that are associated with the feast as well as discusses some of the specific food items embedded in the feast iteself.

This video lecture discusses the Feast of First Fruits which is apart of a combination of festivals. This video lecture also helps the student to see this particular Holy Day as apart of a series of events that make up the modern day practice of combining it with other Holy Days that lie in close proximity to it.

The Festival of Pentecost is one of the most popular in church circles because of what it means in the church community. This video lecture helps the student to understand the origin and history of this most popular word. The video lecture seeks to have the student understand the festival in its original Hebrew context as well as connect it to how it is viewed today, primarily be people outside of the Hebrew faith community.

This video lecture is considered the official New Year's Day of the Hebrew culture. It is a thorough discussion of its background and practices. The video lecture highlights the fact that this Holy Day is apart of the civil calendar of the Hebrew calendar and as such should not be confused with the start of the "Religious" calendar of the Early Israelites.

Yom Kippur is a very well known term to most in the last 50 years because of a Jewish war in the 1960's. This video lecture is however about the ancient observance of Yom Kippur and is actually the most solemn of all the Holy Days of the Hebrew culture. This video lecture highlights the importance of the Holy Day in its original context. Several minutes of the video is dedicated to explaining the role of the High Priest at a time when the Temple was still available, prior to the Jewish Revolt of 70 AD.

The Feast of Tabernacles is also known as the Feast of Booths because of the housing shelters that the Israelites were instructed to live in for a certain period of time. This video lecture explains all of this in detail. The video lecture also offers graphic pictures of the booths that were used by the people when the observance was originally adopted by the Israelite community. The video lecture also discusses how the Holy Day is practiced today in a contemporary fashion.

The Feast of Dedication is perhaps the best known outside of Hebrew circles because of its close proximity with Christmas. This video lecture outlines the clear distinctions of the two. The video lecture seeks to take time to help students understand and appreciate the activities of the Maccabean family at a time when the practice of the Jewish religion was under a great deal of pressure by Antiochus IV.

The Feast of Lots, or Purim, is a celebration of the story of Esther from the pages of the Old Testament. This video lecture examines the background of the observance and explains why it is important in the Hebrew culture. In addition to the historical narrative, this video lecture acquaints the student with several of the practices and normative behavior of the Jewish community in regards to this particular celebration.