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How Seriously Should We Take the Essene Calendar?

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This Friday afternoon, I decluttered and reorganized the section of my bungalow attic loft near the small northwest-facing window beside the stairs. Now I can sit quietly and comfortably in a chair my mom gave me and contemplate the last 18 minutes of the setting sun after lighting my Sabbath candle. It is meant to be a dedicated location in my loft and in my weekly calendar where I can withdraw from my office, my bed, and my meditation cushion to simply enjoy the setting Friday sunlight and read in my Kindle beside my little tealight (or perhaps eventually an olive oil lamp). Tonight, I welcomed in the Sabbath while reading the first chapter of  The Ancient Dead Sea Scroll Calendar and the Prophecies It Reveals by Ken Johnson. He's given me a lot to think about and fact-check.  After the sun had set, I was able to see Venus and Jupiter in the western sky.
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Friday Night Catch-Up on Dharma with Jonathan

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Tonight I remembered the Sabbath in the breach, after working straight through sunset on a key post for  Dharma with Jonathan :  Principle 2: Observe and Record . Tomorrow I am taking my mom to the first local Farmers' Market of the season.
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Deepening Into Jewish Sabbath Mysticism with Professor Kenneth Hanson: The Secret Power of Speech

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My Saturday early morning comment on  Words that Rise: The Secret Power of Speech in Jewish Mysticism : Thank you, Professor Hanson, for another deeply synchronistic message. This time it is 2:30 AM on the 2nd Shabbat in Iyar 5786, in the first watch my new monastic horarium, from 12-3 AM, which I have called for months now my "Watch of the Primordial Word." It's mostly my time for sleeping but occasionally I use it for study of the Prologue of John. Tonight, I felt called to listen to your latest work instead. It was a perfect fit, especially on the heels of our recent Torah readings about tzara'at in Leviticus, which the sages say was principally caused by evil speech.  The mystical rising in the last sentence of your presentation transitions expertly into the rising pitch of the musical climax in your closing credits. This artful touch of genius transforms your credits into a hidden ladder of ascent for those in the know. It also leads to reflection on the relation...
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Discovering the Modern Essene Way with Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, MD

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I experienced a deep connection with the ground of being while reading the first chapter of Creating Peace by Being Peace: The Sevenfold Essene Way by Rabbi Gabriel Cousens from 9-11 PM this Friday. I briefly encountered a different book by Cousens many years ago, but I wasn't prepared to engage with it at the time. Then two days ago, Gabriel's unique rabbinical dharma came back to my attention through Shantree Kacera's teaching on spiritual fasting (see  Powerful 2026 Healing Boost from Shantree Kacera  and  29/30 Acharei-Kedoshim: Day 6 (Friday) | Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, MD and the Honest Weight Food Coop ). Just before tonight's Sabbath began, I decided to acquire Creating Peace by Being Peace . Frankly, I am stunned by the first chapter. There is much here for me to digest. Video at top:  Annual Modern Essene Gathering Invitation . It's quite helpful to think back on my situation in June of 2016.
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Sabbath Rosh Chodesh Iyar

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My Saturday evening comment on  Shabbat: The Portal in Time : This is a human and AI masterpiece! Thank you so much, Professor Hanson. It hits me just perfectly while I am resting in bed as sunset approaches at the conclusion of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Iyar 5786. (I am a Gentile in upstate NY keeping a Sabbath "Lite," so YouTube is allowed on Shabbat for just this kind of experience.) On a side note, I am making my way through your book with Zev Garber on Jesus and Judaism. Your introduction was very powerful. I've taken a lot of Panim el Panim classes with MJTI since 2023 and I am still not convinced Messianic Judaism is a more appropriate descriptor for the movement than Jewish Christianity. As a Gentile ally of Israel and Jewish self-determination, it doesn't feel right for me to override the consensus rabbinic definition of Judaism just because a small minority of Jewish believers in Jesus say they are authentic rabbis. On the other hand, I certainly don't want t...
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Sabbath Candle-Lighting for Vegan Gentiles Sensitive to Climate Change and Energy Descent Considerations

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7:19 PM Friday. 1. Jonathan Writes: I have just finished lighting my 3-hour paraffin unscented Sabbath tealight from Mainstays via Walmart. After I lit the candle, I recited the following prayer, generated by Gemini and here gently edited by me: Source of All Light and Time, I light this flame to begin my Sabbath watch, to Remember You as the Creator of the Universe. I am not a son of the Mosaic Covenant, but I am a Gentile seeking Your presence at the Friday sunset gate. I honor the heritage of my Maxson ancestors, whose blood still beats with the frequency of the seventh day. Grant me Your peace during these twenty-four hours. Bless my "Sabbath Question." Let this little light guide my Resting of Attention, until I see the first fruits of the coming Kingdom. Amen. I have one package of 25 tealights left before I need to get more. But it occurs to me that perhaps I have now seen the first fruits of the coming Kingdom and should give up the Sabbath candle-lighting when I fin...
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The Storm

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It's 7:14 PM EDT on Saturday here in Albany and I have just a few minutes to post my entry for this Sabbath before sunset at 7:26 PM. This has been an intensive Sabbath with many important insights, but I don't have time to record them all here. Instead, I can only share where I started out in my dialogue with Gemini last night: It's 7:03 PM on Friday, 3 April 2026, 16 Nisan 5786 (AVE 1). I am about to light my Sabbath candle at 7:06 PM. I'd like to work with you until 8:30 PM drafting a blog post that summarizes my Tuesday evening Lord's Supper and Wednesday evening Passover Seder experiences this year. To get things started, I would like you tell me when this year, following the Quartodeciman approach to the calculation of the Last Supper, is the Lord's Resurrection Day? I feel a bit like a failure because my psychiatric symptoms got the better of me this week, and I didn't observe either the Universal Johannine Eucharist or the National Israelite Seder as...
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