February 7, 2011    

Dear Brethren,

February 19th is the first day of the year for the 2011-2012 Observable Hebrew Calendar. Before the Observable Hebrew Calendar can be calculated according to Scripture, the green barley has to be sighted in the region around 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 search for the truth in Scripture and Scripture alone. We do not get our information from religions, tradition, 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 must know that we encourage every one to go to the Scriptures 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 remind you of an ancient method for determining the calendar is an awesome responsibility. What we present 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.

Therefore, it is our responsibility to seek out what pleases the CREATOR. If it is important to Him, thus 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 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 understand His Ways and please Him. All it takes is a willing and humble heart.

Most people do not realize it but the CREATOR has established His Calendar so that it is always in harmony with nature. It absolutely is devoid of astrology (including the equinox) 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 begins at sunset on Friday, February 18. Following are the Festival dates for the thirteenth year of the Observable Hebrew Calendar and in the Gregorian year of 2011-2012 are as follows:

Remember that the Festival dates begin at sunset and end at sunset the following day. The first day of the year and the day of the Night of Protection are not Sabbaths unless they happen to fall on a Sabbath.

The Night of Protection begins at sunset on Thursday, March 3.

The First Day of Unleavened Bread begins at sunset on Friday, March 4.

The Last Day of Unleavened Bread begins at sunset on Wednesday, March 9.

The Second Night of Protection begins at sunset on Friday, April 1. (For anyone who missed keeping the Night of Protection please refer to Numbers 9:9-12).

The Feast of Weeks begins at sunset on the Sabbath, April 23.

The Feast of Trumpets begins at sunset on Sabbath, August 13.

The Day of Atonement begins at sunset on Monday, August 22..

The Feast of Booths begins at sunset on Sabbath, August 27.

The Last Great Day begins at sunset on Sabbath, September 3.

We realize that the idea 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 proximity of Jerusalem. The barley turns green right after it sprouts. After the head ripens, the stalk and head turn a beautiful golden color. Therefore, two factors 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 ETERNAL's 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 thus time 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 materials 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 .

May ETERNAL grant you peace, protection, and understanding.
Charles J. Voss