Shabbat shalom, Nazarene Israelites.

1. PRAISE REPORTS, PRAYER REQUESTS, UPDATES: 25 April 5785 (2025)

a. Count to Shavuot (Pentecost) – Shabbat 1!

Yom HaNafat HaOmer was on 20 April. 26 April (beginning the evening before) is the first of 7 Shabbatot count up to Shavuot (Pentecost). Shavuot is on 8 June 2025.

Vayiqra (Leviticus) 23:15-16
15 ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 
16  Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to Yahweh. 

Please refer to section 2b for feast-specific studies.
Please refer to section 3 for full feast schedule and additional calendar studies

2. STUDIES:

a. Weekly study:

As Yahweh wills, we plan to continue with Parashat Vayetze next week. This week, there is a need to respond to some commentary we received from Ulf Diebel on 18 April 2025. Mr. Diebel is an associate of the Sanhedrin. He reached out to Norman via our YouTube video (Yeshua Manifestation of Yahweh). It seems that YouTube automatically deleted Mr. Diebel’s comment. We saved the comment on our end and felt led to address the situation this week.

That said, “Deleted Death Threats From A Sanhedrin Associate” addresses threats and defamation made by Sanhedrin associate Ulf Diebel (@EphraimRisingTV-YouTube) against Norman Willis and Nazarene Israel. NI calls for Mr. Diebel to remove his defamatory video and issue a public apology, and for Rabbi Edery and the nascent Sanhedrin to repeal the Birkhat HaMinim death curse against Joseph.

We would also ask for Nazarenes to please pray for Ulf Diebel, for the Sanhedrin to recognize that Joseph is not Esav, and for the Sanhedrin to stop praying for Joseph’s deaths, so that Judah and Joseph may reunite upon the written Torah Moshe and the Prophets. In HaMashiach Yeshua, amein!

b. Additional Studies:

Feast studies table:

Previous parashiot videos
Video Studies
Video Shorts
Book Studies

c. Beit Sefer Children’s Publications (Home Page):

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Parasha activities
Tanach activities
Brit Chadasha activities
Hebrew Lessons

3. SABBATHS, NEW MOONS, AND CALENDAR EVENTS:

a. Feasts of Yahweh:

The new moon of the first Hebrew month was witnessed on the evening of 30 March 2025. Below is the confirmed schedule for Yahweh’s feasts of the first month. Please remember that feast dates for the seventh month remain pending until the new moon of the seventh Hebrew month is confirmed.

Click here for Torah Calendar News
Click here for printable feast schedule

We encourage you to check out our calendar studies, which explain how to observe the calendar correctly, and avoid common errors. A full list of studies can be found in section 3d below for convenience.

b. Next new moon (expected): 28 April 2025 (evening)

The new moon of the second Hebrew month is expected to be visible from Israel on 28 April 2025 with a 1.30% illumination. Confirmation will be made upon the sighting of the new moon (or the 30-day default count).

c. Upcoming Discipleship Meetings: 

All meetings are at 8 AM Colombian time (always UTC-5, but watch your Daylight Savings Time adjustments). The Discipleship Meeting is a discussion between disciples. It is generally 1-hour long but may run longer depending on how the Spirit leads. For more on NI’s description of discipleship, please see NI’s Discipleship program.

29 April (expected)- new moon second Hebrew month
8 June- Shavuot

Note: If the monthly Discipleship Meeting coincides with the weekly Shabbat Meeting, the Shabbat Meeting will take precedence, and new moon discussion will be combined with the Shabbat meeting. However, in the case of a Feast Day Meeting coinciding with a Shabbat meeting, the Feast Day Meeting will take precedence.

d. Why the Firstfruits Torah Calendar?

We often receive inquiries about why NI observes the Hebrew months at different times from the other calendar groups (such as the Messianic, Karaites, and Rabbinical groups). There are several reasons, but the main reason is that we begin the calendar year with the (true) Firstfruits of barley.

In contrast, other groups take a sheaf from the main harvest, and falsely CALL them the “first” fruits (when they are more like the MAIN fruits.) Because of this, most Messianic and the Karaite groups will usually be a month (or even two) late.

Learn all about the Firstfruits Torah calendar, (and how the Jewish, Karaite, Messianic, and the equinox calendars violate Scripture) in our studies on the biblical calendar.

Note: Babylonian dates (5785/2025) are used for publishing purposes only. It should be noted that neither the Hillel II Jewish calendar, nor the Roman-Greco calendar are the biblical Torah calendar of Yahweh. Nazarene Israelites should keep the biblical Rosh HaShanah (new year) according to the Torah (Firstfruits) Calendar.

e. Aviv barley, wave sheaf, and witnesses:

Current witness qualification:
Currently, sister Becca Biderman of Ancient Path New Moon is the only barley inspector who seems to understand what a proper wave sheaf is (and why you should not let the true Firstfruits fall to the ground, so you can take your “first” fruits offering from the middle of the harvest, as other groups do).

Disclaimer: For reasons explained in our studies, NI does not support Messianic doctrine. For more on this topic, please see NI’s 2025 explanation in “Babylon Mystery Calendars“.) However, Becca documents her barley inspections, and her definitions of aviv barley seem accurate according to our understanding of Scripture.

Other barley groups:
There are several other (Amalekite) barley groups whose work we cannot recommend in any way. They ignore Deuteronomy 16:9, they define “Firstfruits” as a random sheaf from the middle of the harvest, and they add rules and definitions that Yahweh does not add. They are usually a month (or sometimes two months) late.

(If you have information about additional ‘barley groups’ in Israel reporting in accordance with the Scriptural definitions of ‘aviv barley’, as explained in NI studies, we welcome you to please send information (website, social media links, etc.) to contact@nazareneisrael.org so that we may review the groups’ work and make a qualified determination.)

New moon witnesses:
Several groups sight the first crescent sliver of the new moon well. NI uses various new moon witnesses who report on the new moon each month. Again, as far as we can tell, only sister Becca Biderman publishes accurate barley reports.

Declaring Rosh HaShanah at the correct time:
As we explain in our studies (see list below), there only needs to be enough aviv barley ready for the omer (wave sheaf) Firstfruits offering by either the 15th or the 21st day of the first month. As explained in these studies, it is a disaster if we declare Rosh HaShanah too late, because it would force farmers in the land of Israel who have the earliest ripening barley to do one of two things:

A) Either they must break Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:9 and begin harvesting their crop BEFORE the Firstfruits offering has been presented unto Yahweh for the nation. Or
B) Lose all or part of their barley crop, while they wait an extra month for the leaders to declare Rosh HaShanah!

By declaring the true Firstfruits unto Yahweh Elohim as He commands, and keeping His appointed days according to His perfect timing, the farmers do not need to lose their crops; neither are they encouraged to break any of Yahweh’s commandments.

4. NAZARENE ISRAEL REVELATION NEWS:

We encourage you to check the news each week, to follow the trends of the four horses. Also, if you have never gone through the permanent links, we urge you to read them. Click here to read the Nazarene Revelation News on the website. (You must be logged in to view.)