When you’re new to pursuing Torah, it’s common to ask how to celebrate the Biblical fall feasts. In this post, I’ll share some practical tips and advice for celebrating the appointed times of YHVH that are stress-free and not overwhelming.
How to Celebrate the Biblical Fall Feasts Stress-Free
Learn about the fall feasts.
First and foremost, you’ll want to become familiar with the fall appointed times. This is something you can and should do as a family. No matter how old your children are, you can begin teaching them about Abba’s appointed times.
There are many great resources out there with the most important being the Scriptures themselves. In short, the Fall Feasts are:
- Yom Teruah – The Day of Blowing the Shofar (Leviticus 23:23–25)
- Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 17:11)
- Sukkot – Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33–44)
Begin reading about each of these feasts and becoming familiar with how they are to be kept. Remember that you don’t have to do literal sacrifices, but all else we can do. If you’re a homeschooling family, consider adding learning about the feast days to your lesson plans. Here are a few resources I highly recommend checking out:
- Fall Feasts Interactive Study (free online course by yours truly)
- Bible Pathway Adventures
- Torah Family Living
- Land of Honey Blog
Make plans to observe them.
Once you’ve become familiar with the biblical Fall Feasts, it’s time to start making plans to observe them. Contrary to popular belief, everything doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect. The fact that you are exchanging holidays you were most likely raised on for Abba’s appointed times deserves a “HalleluYah” all on its own.
When making your plans, you’ll need to start by setting aside the day(s) you’ll be observing the feasts. Of course, this depends on what calendar you follow, as there are many out there. Be sure to mark this on your calendar and ask for the appropriate amount of time off from work. (Tip: it is very wise to take off the day before and the day after if you can.)
Map out a rough draft of what you’ll need.
We are a family of soon-to-be 8, with soon-to-be six children. This means I’ll be planning for activities, reading time, and the like. I don’t want to be scrounging for brown paint when making the toilet paper roll shofars. If we need to order a new tent for Sukkot, I don’t want to wait until the last minute.
This is where you get to decide how “deep” you want to observe. For the first year or two, we tried to link arms with other families for as many feast days as we could. One year, we observed Sukkot at a nearby lake resort with our tent. We were so under-prepared but it makes for a good story now!
And don’t forget that these are CELEBRATIONS, meaning there will always be a FEAST of food! Be sure to make plans for that as well. You don’t want to be stuck cooking on the actual feast day, so make your grocery list and meal plans ahead of time.
Get your observe on!
At this point, the only thing left to do is get your observe on! In other words, when the day rolls around, dedicate it to Yah and do only what you know to do. Again, don’t worry about getting it perfect or doing what others are doing because they say it’s right. It is always about the heart of the matter and that’s what Abba sees. As you become more fluid in your walk, your observance will align with that.
Final Thoughts
When I tell you that we had NO idea what we were doing in the beginning, I mean just that. But, we did the best we could with what we knew. Being on this walk for close to 7 years, we still may not get it all the way right, but again, we do what our understanding allows!
I’d love to hear from you! Will this be your first year observing the Biblical Fall Feasts? Or, have you been observing them for a while? Share your tips, advice, and questions in the comments below!
Psst… Grab My FREE Journaling Through the Holy Days (Fall Feast Edition) Journal
Take your Fall Feast celebrations deeper by journaling through the Holy Days. This journal provides you with bible study-like prompts that invite you to take a deeper look at Yah’s appointed times.