Fall Feast Basics, How Our Family Celebrates the Fall Feasts

A few years ago our family started slowing adding the observance of Yehovah’s feasts into our lives.  When we first started it was so hard to know what to do.

What are the Biblical feasts?

When are the feasts?

Where do we celebrate them?

Who should celebrate them?

How do we celebrate them?

In this post I will be giving brief information about the fall feasts and how our family observes each one.

The fall feasts are:

Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets)

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)

Sukkot (Feast of Booths)

You can read about them in:

Leviticus 23

Exodus 23

Deuteronomy 16

Numbers 29

Nehemiah 8

(There are other passages, but that should give you a good starting point.)

The Biblical calendar, sometimes called the Jewish or Hebrew Calendar, is not the same as the Gregorian/American calendar.   Most Jews use a calculated calendar called the Hillel/Rabbinical Calendar. Jewish leaders are credited with putting this calendar together thousands of  years ago before Christ.  But, many believers, Jews and Christians, also actually sight the moon each month to determine when Yehovah’s feasts will be.  Our family prefers to not get caught up in calendar debates.  The beauty of the feasts are they point us to our Creator and Redeemer.

Feast of Trumpets, Yom Teruah

This day is to be celebrated on the first day of the seventh month on God’s calendar.  Biblical days start at sundown the night before.  For our family, we begin celebrating when the sun goes down on the evening before the feast day, we will gather outside and sing and worship.   We blow the trumpets, shofars, and shout to Yehovah.  We have a fire and just enjoy fellowship together with others at our house.  This day is a day off from our regular jobs.  So my husband, Jeremy, will take time of from sundown to sundown from his job of employment.  We will just spend the day together playing games and celebrating the new month, a feast month.  The big thing about Yom Teruah, is that it is the announcement of the month of appointed times.  It is a day of joy and celebration of what is to come.  It is also a day to remind God, that we remember His promises to us.  It is a day of sounding the alarm that the next appointed time is Day of Atonement and to prepare for it.

Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur

This is NOT a feast day.  It is a day of humility.  It is ten days after Yom Teruah.  This is considered the highest holy day of the year.  We are to do no work of any kind on this day according to scripture.   It is a day we focus on our sin, repentance, and redemption.  We focus on Yeshua, and the price He paid for our sin.  It is a somber day.  Many people choose to fast and pray on this day.   We often get together with others and pray and read scripture on this day.

Sukkot (Feast of Booths)

This is the biggest feast of the year.  If you are making the switch from Catholic holidays to Feasts, this the feast that Christmas should have been.  This is the big celebration of the year.  It starts fifteen days after Yom Teruah.  The first and last days are both no work days, but you can cook and clean up after yourself, you just can’t do your job, or cause another to have to work.  This is my favorite week of the year.

On day one, you set up your Sukkah, a tent, a outdoor dwelling place.  We put up a sort of large canopy and put branches on top of it.  We decorate with fall décor, sort of like we would for Thanksgiving only outside. Then that day we will have others over and have a feast and singing and praising YHVH.  We will also stay up late fellowshipping, and we will have another fire.  Some years we go to a nearby campground and have a week long gathering with friends and family.

The rest of the week, days 2-7, we will go and do fun things like going to the apple orchard, visiting friends and relatives, even those who do not celebrate the feasts.  We will take gifts of food to them.

Then on the 8th, the GREAT DAY, my favorite day, we PARTY!!!!!!

This is a Sabbath, so no regular work.  This year we plan to have a big party with others.  With food and fun and fellowship.  We will sing and read scripture, we will dance and play game.  We will have games and prizes, and lots and lots of celebrating.  This is the day to remember that one day soon our Messiah is returning for us, His Bride.  This day is suppose to be a picture, shadow, of the eternal Kingdom.   SO go BIG!  This is the biggest day of the year.  Think wedding reception, or Quinceanera, or something like that.  For many years, my husband and I enjoyed celebrating the fourth of July.  It was a big party.  We saved all year for it.  We bought lots and lots of fireworks, we invited 50 to 100 people each year to celebrate with us.  We had food, games, prizes, fun, fellowship, worship, and more.

Now, this day, the 8th Day, the Great Day, Yehovah’s feast day, is our big party day.

Someday, soon, our Savior will return and we will feast and celebrate the fall feasts with Him.  So let’s practice and be well prepared for that day.

Happy Feasting!!!

Shalom

(Originally written in September 2016, updated October 2025)

Written by ktmom15

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