Dear Brethren,

February 20th is the first day of the year for the 2008-2009 Observable Hebrew Calendar. Before the Observable Hebrew Calendar can be calculated according to Scripture, the green barley has to be sighted in the vicinity of Jerusalem, Israel.

We do not know when the barley has sprouted around Jerusalem until that information becomes available to us. We depend upon a sighting to be able to get the Observable Hebrew Calendar out to you. Because of the little time between the sighting of the green barley and the amount of time it takes to put out the information, we are always in a time crunch to get the calendar printed and mailed to you.

For those who are seeking truth, the Hebrew Calendar is very important. We at United Hebrew Congregations do not have an agenda of our own. However, our agenda is to subscribe to the truth in Scripture and Scripture alone. We do not get our information from religions or tradition or from any other calendars or from the words of human experts. To the best of our ability we seek truth as the CREATOR has set forth in Scripture and that is the information we use.

Sometimes ETERNAL puts information in Scripture that we must Quest for. If He made all information readily visible then we would not have to search Scripture to glean truth.

What I have leaned through the years is that what we see in this world is not truth. Truth is only revealed in Scripture. Heylel (Lucifer) has turned everything upside down and backwards. What seems like truth is not truth because Heylel (the Deceiver) has concealed truth. That is what she does. If you use our teachings in your Quest for truth then you will know that we encourage every one of you to go to Scripture and find out for yourself if what we teach is truth.

We at United Hebrew Congregations take our position of teaching very seriously. Therefore, to present to you a new concept for a different calendar is an awesome responsibility. What we present to you is the result of years of prayerful seeking and studying. What the CREATOR says matters. We cannot take what religions say about the calendar because the CREATOR says He hates the New Crescent Moon festivals and appointed feasts (holidays).

Isaiah 1:14 (NIV). Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts My soul hates. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.

So, it is our responsibility to seek out what pleases the CREATOR. If it is important to Him, therefore it is important to us because we seek to please Him and Him alone. That is why we put forth the effort of working up a new calendar called the Observable Hebrew Calendar. There IS a way to please ETERNAL and that is by doing things HIS Way and that is what we are trying to do with all our hearts.

We have articles on our website at www.uhcg.com that will explain what we have learned about how to determine the CREATOR’s New Year. If you do not have access to the Internet and want a hard copy to study, let us know and we will send it to you.

Determining the Scriptural New Year is very simple as all of His Ways are. He does not hide His truth or make anything complicated. Even a small child can learn His Ways and please Him. All it takes is a willing and humble heart.

Most people do not realize but the CREATOR has established His Calendar so that it is always in harmony with nature. It absolutely is devoid of astrology and any influence of the equinoxes that come from those who look to the sun as the all-wise source of knowledge. Therefore, we submit our findings to you for this Scriptural New Year.

The first day of the Observable Hebrew Calendar New Year will begin at sunset on Wednesday, February 20. Following are the Festival dates for the eleventh year of the Observable Hebrew Calendar and in the Gregorian year of 2008-2009 are as follows. Remember that the Festival dates begin at sunset and end at sunset the following day.

The Night of Protection begins at sunset on Tuesday, March 4.
The first day of the year and the days of either Nights of Protection are not Sabbaths.

The First Day of Unleavened Bread begins at sunset on Wednesday, March 5.

The Last Day of Unleavened Bread begins at sunset on Monday, March 10.

The Second Night of Protection begins at sunset on Thursday, April 3.
For anyone who missed keeping the Night of Protection please refers to Numbers 9:9-12.

The Feast of Weeks begins at sunset on the Sabbath, April 26.

The Feast of Trumpets begins at sunset on the Sabbath, August 16.

The Day of Atonement begins at sunset on Monday, August 25.

The Feast of Booths begins at sunset on the Sabbath, August 30.

The Last Great Day begins at sunset on Sabbath, September 6.

We realize that the concept of a different kind of calendar to most is difficult to understand because we have never been exposed to the CREATOR’s instructions concerning a yearly calendar. So, let me explain.

The determination of the New Year is the first full moon after the barley sprouts and turns green in the vicinity of Jerusalem. The barley turns green right after it sprouts not when the head is ripe. After the head ripens, the stalk and head turn a beautiful golden color. Therefore, there are two factors that determine all of our calculations for the Observable Hebrew Calendar that begins in the spring.

1. When the barley turns green after sprouting
2. The first full moon after the barley turns green

Those two factors are the only things that determine the Scriptural New Year. Like I said, “Even a small child can learn His Ways and please Him.” And that is our goal--to please the CREATOR.

The time information we use comes from the US Naval Astronomical Observatory and is stated in Universal Time which is based on the time in Greenwich, England. According to Universal Time the world is divided into artificial one-hour time zones around the earth. However, the actual true time of any location is based on its latitude and longitude and changes gradually as you move east or west.

We use the true time in Jerusalem at the Temple location based on the formula as described in detail on page four in this Hope of Israel which is the basis for our calendar.

If you know of anyone who would like us to send a calendar or other material to, please send us their names and addresses and we will be glad to mail it to them. In addition, please feel free to give them our url at [http://www.uhcg.org].

May ETERNAL grant you peace and protection and understanding.

Charles J. Voss

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