Rosh HaShanah 5785 / 2025 and feasts
New moon seen: 30 March 2025! Rosh HaShanah sameach!
The new moon was witnessed from Israel on the evening of 30 March 2025 by multiple witnesses. This new moon marks the beginning of the Hebrew Year (Rosh HaShanah). Rosh HaShanah sameach! (See “Rosh HaShanah Confirmed” for details.)
19:05 – Haifa
19:05 – Maale Adummim
19:06 – Givat Zeev, multiple witnesses
19:09 – Kiryat Ata
19:12 – Zevulun valley, northern Israel, Yoel Halevi
19:13 – Jerusalem, Devorah Gordon and others
19:14 – Near Beeri
19:15 – Tiberias
19:35 – Be’er Yaakov
Rosh HaShanah confirmed: 30 March 2025 (evening)
As of 18 March 2025, Nazarene Israel has received reports that an omer’s worth of aviv barley was found in the Land of Israel. (The following images are from Becca Biderman’s March 18 report). It is confirmed that a presentable sheaf of aviv barley will be presentable on Yom HaNafat HaOmer on 20 April 2025. 30 March 2025 (at evening) is Rosh HaShanah 5785/2025 (the head of the Hebrew year). Rosh HaShanah sameach!
1 March 2025 (at evening) began the 13th Hebrew month
Our understanding is that the month of the aviv must be announced when the new month is announced, because in ancient times it would take time for the word to spread, and for the people to prepare, and make the pilgrimage up to Jerusalem in time. For more details on why it is necessary to have the 14 days Yahweh gives us to prepare for the feasts, please see “Babylon Mystery Calendars“. Becca Biderman’s 1 March 2025 inspection reported that there was some wild barley in the land Israel that was in the early stages of fruiting, but that it was NOT aviv barley, as there was NO food substance in the head (i.e., no water or starch). We encourage you to check out our calendar studies, which explain the correct definitions of aviv barley, how to observe the calendar correctly, and errors found in other calendars. A full list of studies can be found in ‘Calendar studies’ below for convenience. We also encourage you to track our calendar updates on our Torah Calendar News page.
And just as a brief note, some ministries are declaring that you must be able to substantially “bring in the harvest” before you can declare the month of the Aviv. To see why this is completely wrong (and is damaging to the farmers), please check out our study, “Let’s Not Break Deuteronomy 16:9!”
Feast schedule 5785-6 / 2025
Below is the confirmed schedule for the feasts of the first month. Please remember that the feast dates for the seventh month remain pending until the new moon of the seventh month is confirmed. (Click here for printable PDF version)
Feasts of the first month count
Below is the count for the feasts of the first month, for those who would like to learn. (Click here for printable PDF version)
How to correctly declare Rosh HaShanah
To declare the biblically correct Rosh HaShanah, Nazarene Israel must be certain that an omer quantity of the firstfruits of barley (in Israel) will be ready (in its aviv stage) within the 15-21 day time frame after the new moon sighting (in time for Yom HaNafat HaOmer, or the Day of the Wave Sheaf Offering). In simple terms, to declare Rosh HaShanah, we need to have an omer’s worth of aviv barley firstfruits ready to offer for Yom HaNafat HaOmer.
Other calendars claim to be biblical calendars, but get the timing wrong every year, which leads many to celebrating the feasts at the wrong times. This is because other calendars use non-biblical concepts not found in the written Torah when declaring the new year.
As we explain in our studies, declaring Rosh HaShanah too late (as the Karaites usually do) would cause Yahweh’s firstfruits to be lost. In contrast, when we declare Rosh HaShanah at the time when the firstfruits of aviv barley will be ready for Yom HaNafat HaOmer, 15-21 days after the new moon, everything aligns perfectly!
(For the latest barley reports, please click here.)
Keeping the correct calendar is important in order to meet with Yahweh on the days that He appointed to meet with us. We have many studies explaining how to keep the calendar according to the written Torah commandments, and why it is important. For more on how the Biblical Hebrew new year is determined (and how it is not determined), and how you and your family can keep the true biblical calendar (the Torah Calendar), please see the studies in the table below.
Calendar studies
Witnesses 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 often a month (or sometimes two months) late.New moon witnesses:
Several groups sight the first crescent sliver of the new moon well. NI uses various new moon witnesses for new moon reports. Again, as far as we can tell, only sister Becca Biderman publishes accurate barley reports.
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