This article is in the Fall Feast Issue 20 of Torah Sisters Magazine. Click here to get it in print. Click here to get it in pdf.
By Amy Kay Guenther
While the Fall moedim will be only a few specific days, it can be good to start building anticipation and excitement in the days and even weeks leading up to the Holy Days. It’s permitted to celebrate the entire Fall Feast season, so long as you are sure to observe the actual days, too.
Rest assured, I know that Yom Kippur is not a day of feasting and celebrating, but for the purposes of this article, I’m lumping it in with the Fall Feasts in a general sense.
So, how can you build anticipation and excitement in your home as the days approach? I will give you some ideas. Some will work for singles, families with young children, older children, and couples. Not all ideas will help all of you, but browse the list and see if some of them might apply to your life.
Below are activities you can do in the weeks and days before the Fall Feasts.
Make gifts. This is a good season to give gifts to people you appreciate, such as your piano teacher, postal carrier, librarian, and so on.
Bake cookies. Similar to homemade gifts, you could bake cookies to give to special people. This would fill your home with the delicious smells of baking treats. You could put the cookies in cute bags or fall-themed tins for giving.
Decorate! Fill your home, or at least your main living spaces (kitchen and living room, likely), with white lights, Scripture posters, bunting, and Fall-themed decorations. Making them yourself adds more anticipation, but you can also shop the dollar and hobby stores.
Play music. Start a playlist of songs that you can use every Fall Feast season. Add your family’s favorites, but also consider songs about Yeshua’s birth, his second coming, Heaven, and so on. Play this playlist every year at this time while you make the gifts, bake the cookies, and decorate.
Do a big service project. As a congregation or a family, plan a big day of doing good for others. You could fix up a widow’s home, do the landscaping at a food bank, or do repairs for a foster family. Make it a big deal kind of service project that requires financial giving for supplies, planning ahead, cooperation, and a good day’s work together. If you’re single, team up with other singles in your congregation. Do this before the feasts actually arrive.
Have special food. In the days leading up to the feast, you can bake cookies and other special treats for yourself and your family.
Talk and learn about the Feasts. Study the Word and learn more about the Feasts. Talk about them with your congregation and family. Watch videos about the Fall moedim.
Use activities for children. Activity books and printables from Bible Pathway Adventures and other websites can engage your children in learning and having fun before the Feasts even arrive.
Do crafts. Surf the internet for Autumn-themed craft ideas. You can even use lots of Thanksgiving crafts for the Fall Feasts. Do them to decorate, as gifts, or just for fun. You’ll also find ideas in the back issues of this magazine.
Countdown. Because you are likely still new to the Feasts and when they are, it can be helpful to have a visual countdown in your home. You could print a calendar month or two to put on your refrigerator, mark the moedim, and visually cross off the days as the Feasts near.
Make lists. I’m a little geeky, but when I’m excited about an event, I make lists. For the Fall Feasts, you could have lists for shopping, camping, packing, favorite Feast songs, people you want to gather with, decorating ideas, people you want to send a greeting card orf gift to, and so on. Post your lists where you and your family can see them, add to them, and be reminded of the upcoming joyous time!
Notice the harvest. In our culture, we are so removed from the agricultural aspects of the Fall Feasts. We should concentrate and notice the harvest and blessing aspects of the Fall Feasts and talk about them with our children. You can discuss the moedim when you see a combine harvesting a field, when the fall produce is abundant in the stores, when you see roadside stands bursting with produce, and certainly as you harvest or preserve your own fruit. Use all of these everyday events to be excited about this special time celebrating the Father’s provision.
Notice the real harvest. Don’t forget to notice and discuss the spiritual harvest of souls that is happening! Look at the number of Torah fellowships on the testeverything.net map. Discuss and thank the Father that there are more like-minded believers in your area this year than last year. Watch testimonies of our Jewish brothers and sisters coming to Yeshua on the One for Israel YouTube channel.
Count the blessings. Write down all the blessings in your life since last Sukkot. If you have a family, do it in a place in your home where everyone can see and add to the list, or have family members write blessings on paper and put them in a jar on the counter. During the feast, set aside time to read and praise Him for these blessings.
Feed the poor. Part of the Feasts is taking care of the poor. Give money to the needy, but you could also plan a food drive and deliver the food before the Feasts come. You can give to a food bank or maybe diapers and supplies to an organization that fights to save unborn babies.
Read Scripture. If you or your family has been slacking in the time you spend in the Word, today is the time to change that. Read Scripture aloud each day as a family. You could do a book of the Bible or select passages about the Feasts. There is power when the Word is read aloud. Tell your family it’s part of your Feast preparations, but maybe it will become a habit!
Look forward to Yeshua’s return. Yeshua is the reason for the Fall Feast Season! This is a great time of year to study, talk about, and look forward to His return, mourn the coming judgment, and rejoice in the Kingdom to come! When you do the good works for others listed above, tell them you’re doing it in the name of Yeshua!