This will be a quasi-blog, of my experience with celebrating or otherwise observing the major Hebrew festivals as described by the Torah, and not really bothering with considering much of the Mitzvah. At first I will start out basic and rudimentary, and hope to increasingly grow more complex in these observances.

• 2025
  • October 2 thru October 3

This year I read thru the relevant Torah citations that I knew of, namely Leviticus 16 (NASB):

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death 
of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached 
the presence of the Lord and died. 2 The Lord said to
Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at
[a]any time into the Holy Place inside the veil,
before the [b]atoning cover which is on the ark, or
he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the
[c]atoning cover. 3 Aaron shall enter the Holy Place
with this: with a [d]bull as a [e]sin offering and a
ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy
linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be
next to his [f]body, and he shall be wrapped about
the waist with the linen sash and the linen turban
wound around his forehead (these are holy garments).
He shall bathe his [g]body in water and put them on.
5 And he shall take from the congregation of the sons
of Israel two male goats as a [h]sin offering, and
one ram as a burnt offering. 6 Then Aaron shall offer
the bull as the [i]sin offering, which is for
himself, so that he may make atonement for himself
and for his household. 7 He shall then take the two
goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway
of the tent of meeting. 8 Aaron shall cast lots for
the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot
for [j]the [k]scapegoat. 9 Then Aaron shall offer the
goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it
a [l]sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot
for [m]the [n]scapegoat fell shall be presented alive
before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send
it into the wilderness [o]as the [p]scapegoat.

11 “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the [q]sin
offering which is for himself and make atonement for
himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter
the bull of the [r]sin offering which is for himself.
12 He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from
upon the altar before the Lord and [s]two handfuls of
finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the
veil. 13 He shall put the incense on the fire before
the Lord, so that the cloud of incense may cover the
atoning cover that is on the ark of the testimony,
otherwise he will die. 14 Moreover, he shall take
some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with
his finger on the atoning cover on the east side;
also in front of the atoning cover he shall sprinkle
some of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin
offering, which is for the people, and bring its
blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did
with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the
atoning cover and in front of the atoning cover. 16
He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because
of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because
of their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and
he shall do so for the tent of meeting which remains
with them in the midst of their impurities. 17 When
he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, no
one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes
out, so that he may make atonement for himself and
for his household, and for all the assembly of
Israel. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is
before the Lord and make atonement for it; he shall
take some of the blood from the bull and some of the
blood from the goat, and put it on the horns of the
altar on all sides. 19 With his finger he shall
sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and
cleanse it, and consecrate it from the impurities of
the sons of Israel.

20 “When he finishes atoning for the Holy Place and
the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the
live goat. 21 Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands
on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all
the wrongdoings of the sons of Israel and all their
unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall
place them on the head of the goat and send it away
into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands
ready. 22 Then the goat shall carry on itself all
their wrongdoings to an [t]isolated territory; he
shall release the goat in the wilderness.

23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting
and take off the linen garments which he put on when
he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them
there. 24 And he shall bathe his [u]body with water
in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come out
and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering
of the people, and make atonement for himself and for
the people. 25 Then he shall offer up in smoke the
fat of the sin offering on the altar. 26 The one who
released the goat [v]as the [w]scapegoat shall wash
his clothes and bathe his [x]body with water; then
afterward he shall come into the camp. 27 But the
bull of the [y]sin offering and the goat of the
[z]sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make
atonement in the Holy Place, shall be taken outside
the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their
flesh, and their refuse in the fire. 28 Then the one
who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his
body with water; and afterward he shall come into the
camp.

An Annual Atonement 29 “This shall be a permanent
statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth
day of the month, you shall humble [aa]yourselves and
not do any work, whether the native, or the stranger
who resides among you; 30 for it is on this day that
[ab]atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you;
you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
31 It is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, so
that you may humble [ac]yourselves; it is a permanent
statute. 32 So the priest who is anointed and
[ad]ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place
shall make atonement: he shall put on the linen
garments, the holy garments, 33 and make atonement
for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement
for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall
also make atonement for the priests and for all the
people of the assembly. 34 Now you shall have this as
a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons
of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And
just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did.

and Leviticus 23:26-32 (NASB):

26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “On
exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the
Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for
you, and you shall humble [a]yourselves and present
an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 You shall not do
any work on this very day, for it is a Day of
Atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before
the Lord your God. 29 If there is any [b]person who
does not humble himself on this very day, he shall be
cut off from his people. 30 As for any person who
does any work on this very day, that person I will
eliminate from among his people. 31 You shall not do
any work. It is to be a permanent statute throughout
your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It
is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you
shall humble [c]yourselves; on the ninth of the month
at evening, from evening until evening, you shall
keep your Sabbath.”

and basically did the following:

1. I'm not Aaron, so I didn't do anything like enter the Holy of Holies or any of the burnt offering matters, as I have no temple to bring them to, nor such animals to offer, nor did my sons die (having none anyway).

2. Food-fasted (with the exception of water and meds) from sundown October 2 thru sundown October 3. Also, since fasting is generally easy for me since I only-infrequently get hunger-related sensations, I also fasted social media, news, video gaming, podcasts, and general entertainments like sleeping with stuffies, fun errands like shopping, and other game-like situations like jigsaw puzzles, etc.

3. Reflected on issues I felt like I needed more attention to setting in a new direction toward growth, blindspots I might identify and be more keenly aware of, and pondered my motives and actions that relate to my philosophies of redemption/ sin reconciliation/ whose work-merit (Christ's instead of mine) was significant.

4. Pondered the concept of abstaining from work. My job is emergency-based, and I generally find it fun. That seems to match up well with Christ's assertions that it's fine to help a neighbor whose cattle has gotten loose, because that's an odd event of an emergency context and not something of your normal day-to-day wage, but also my job is a large portion idle while I wait for an emergency to happen and sometimes involves playing piddly games to pass the time, but I would do those things at home to relax too. The phrase “choose a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life” is what I've been blessed with, so I'm somewhat just existing in a different location for several hours a weekday, than something that is much of a struggle. The consequence of being cut off from ones' people (but does not say for how long) is something I kinda already do. I didn't reserve off work, and abstaining from working was more work than the work itself, so it was a weird ambiguity of what to do exactly.

5. After sundown the second day, I blew a horn (a bugle) outside for as long as my breath could last.

• 2025
  • October 6 thru October 13

I read thru the relevant Torah texts, namely Leviticus 23:33-44 (NASB):

33 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak
to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On the fifteenth of
this [a]seventh month is the Feast of Booths for
seven days to the Lord. 35 On the first day is a holy
convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. 36
For seven days you shall present an offering by fire
to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy
convocation and present an offering by fire to the
Lord; it is an assembly. You shall not do any
laborious work.

37 ‘These are the appointed times of the Lord which
you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present
offerings by fire to the Lord—burnt offerings and
grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each
day’s matter on its own day— 38 besides those of the
Sabbaths of the Lord, and besides your gifts and
besides all your [b]vowed and [c]voluntary offerings,
which you give to the Lord.

39 ‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh
month, when you have gathered in the crops of the
land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for
seven days, with a [d]rest on the first day and a
[e]rest on the eighth day. 40 Now on the first day
you shall take for yourselves the [f]foliage of
beautiful trees, palm branches and branches of trees
with thick branches and willows of the brook, and you
shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven
days. 41 So you shall celebrate it as a feast to the
Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a
permanent statute throughout your generations; you
shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall
live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in
Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that your
generations may know that I had the sons of Israel
live in booths when I brought them out from the land
of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” 44 So Moses
declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of
the Lord.

and Deuteronomy 16:13–17 (NASB):

13 “You shall [a]celebrate the Feast of [b]Booths for
seven days when you have gathered in from your
threshing floor and your wine vat; 14 and you shall
rejoice in your feast, you, your son and your
daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the
Levite, the stranger, the [c]orphan, and the widow
who are in your [d]towns. 15 For seven days you shall
celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place
which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God
will bless you in all your produce and in all the
work of your hands, so that you will be altogether
joyful.

and Exodus 23:16 (NASB):

16 Also you shall keep the Feast of the Harvest 
of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow 
in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the 
end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your 
labors from the field.

and Deuteronomy 16:13–17 (NASB):

13 “You shall [a]celebrate the Feast of [b]Booths for
seven days when you have gathered in from your
threshing floor and your wine vat; 14 and you shall
rejoice in your feast, you, your son and your
daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the
Levite, the stranger, the [c]orphan, and the widow
who are in your [d]towns. 15 For seven days you shall
celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place
which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God
will bless you in all your produce and in all the
work of your hands, so that you will be altogether
joyful.

16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear
before the Lord your God at the place which He
chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the
Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths; and they
are not to appear before the Lord empty-handed. 17
Everyone [e]shall give as he is able, in accordance
with the blessing of the Lord your God which He has
given you.

and Numbers 29:12–38 (NASB):

12 ‘Then on the fifteenth day of the seventh month
you shall have a holy assembly; you shall do no
laborious work, and you shall celebrate with a feast
to the Lord for seven days. 13 You shall present a
burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing
aroma to the Lord: thirteen bulls, two rams, and
fourteen male lambs one year old, which are without
defect; 14 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed
with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for [a]each of the
thirteen bulls, two-tenths for [b]each of the two
rams, 15 and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs;
16 and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the
continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its
drink offering.

17 ‘Then on the second day: twelve bulls, two rams,
and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;
18 and their grain offering and their drink offerings
for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by
their number according to the ordinance; 19 and one
male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual
burnt offering and its grain offering, and their
drink offerings.

20 ‘Then on the third day: eleven bulls, two rams,
and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;
21 and their grain offering and their drink offerings
for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by
their number according to the ordinance; 22 and one
male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual
burnt offering and its grain offering, and its drink
offering.

23 ‘Then on the fourth day: ten bulls, two rams, and
fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; 24
their grain offering and their drink offerings for
the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their
number according to the ordinance; 25 and one male
goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt
offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

26 ‘Then on the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, and
fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; 27
and their grain offering and their drink offerings
for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by
their number according to the ordinance; 28 and one
male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual
burnt offering and its grain offering, and its drink
offering.

29 ‘Then on the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, and
fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; 30
and their grain offering and their drink offerings
for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by
their number according to the ordinance; 31 and one
male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual
burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink
offerings.

32 ‘Then on the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams,
and fourteen male lambs one year old without defect;
33 and their grain offering and their drink offerings
for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by
their number according to the ordinance; 34 and one
male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual
burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink
offering.

35 ‘On the eighth day you shall have a sacred
assembly; you shall do no laborious work. 36 But you
shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire,
as a soothing aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram,
and seven male lambs one year old without defect; 37
their grain offering and their drink offerings for
the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by their
number according to the ordinance; 38 and one male
goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt
offering and its grain offering, and its drink
offering.

And for notes, I had these overall takeaways:

1. The “dwelling in booths” part seem to apply specifically to those born in Israel native, which I was not. It would be fun, however, to at least attempt it, and dwell in them to some degree, but due to our local weather, it would not be a generally joyful experience, but the building of the booth and the “having participated” in the construction of one would be a fun endeavor, so I resolve to try that to some degree, with resolve to get better at it over the years.

2. I won't be able to do all the bulls, rams, goats, etc, as there is no feasible way to participate that I can tell. I do not have access to that kind of animal to my knowledge, but it would be interesting to calculate how much money each of those would be worth in my era, and then see whether I would be able to donate that amount somewhere, even to a synagogue or some synagogue-supporting organization.

2a. This year I will selectively interpret that all of those animals in sacrifice must not come from a single person, nor that isolated groups of people celebrating Sukkot must each do all those things, but that perhaps, cumulatively all over the world it must be done, and I will need to rely on others having done so. Also, in editorial, doing all of that does not especially seem joyful, whereas the festival is generally supposed to be joyful.

3. It would be pretty easy to avoid “laborious work” in generally on all days, but I can be sure to distinctly avoid it on specifically the first and the eighth days, which by my reckoning would be October 6 and 13.

4. I don't have any harvest, and to my knowledge there is no temple to bring offerings to, nor is there a place to burn anything.

5. On the first day, October 6 there is something to do with celebrating involving branches of pretty trees. I would be nice to arrange with a friend who might have some pretty trees on their property, to allow me to snip some off. I have pecan trees, and one mysterious unknown tree that does have a branch I have been meaning to snip, so I can use that for now on my first try. A weak attempt, sure.

6. It would be of interesting trivia at least, to research what each grain and drink offering are part of all those animals listed, as they must be listed elsewhere.

• 2025
  • December 14-22

I was surprised (although I shouldn't have been, per se, give the date of its institution) that Hanukkah is not a festival as prescribed by the torah, (given that the events the celebration is based on, occurred after the Torah had been written) and therefore is not a prescribed holiday for attendance/obedience, however there is evidence to suggest that Jesus (or otherwise messiah) did attend such celebrations, so is worth at least exploring, but not with as strict of a sense of duty to fulfill rigid prescriptive limitations in method. Were we to pursue rules, they are slack: Starts on Kislev 25 (Dec 15 this year), lasts 8 days, joyful and thanksgiving outside of the home.

• 1 Macc 4:59 - it's annual
• 2 Macc 10:6 - 8 days long
• 1 Macc 4:52-59 - fixed date

• 2025
  • April 1-8

• 1/ Read Exodus 12, Leviticus 23, Numbers 9 & 28, and Deut 9 & 16.