I split off from my two escorts who wanted to hold back at the perimeter where a more solemn assembly of firemen and police held court.
As we became more urban, the Jewish community lost sight of the vital connection between the New Year, the Day of Atonement, personal accountability and the prayer for rain that concludes the sacred days of Tishrei, on Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day of solemn assembly.
FAO Ecuador organized an open-air fair and a race, with participants including the First Lady and various ministers, as well as a solemn assembly inaugurating a plaque in recognition of the country's commitment to food security.
On Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly, the concluding festival of Sukkot, Jewish tradition inserts a prayer for rain as we add the phrase "Who causes the wind to blow and rain to fall" to daily prayer.
"I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not be appeased by your solemn assemblies," he told the Israelites.
A pre-eminent sociologist of religion, he has been undercutting conventional assumptions since "The Noise of Solemn Assemblies," his 1961 book, cast a cold eye on the postwar religious revival still in full bloom.
His attacks against superficial pretenses to worship have become proverbial: "I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies" (chapter 5, verse 21).
After a series of warnings of punishment, Amos proclaimed the coming of the day of Yahweh, which is "darkness, and not light". His attacks against superficial pretenses to worship have become proverbial: "I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies" (chapter 5, verse 21).
Amos, for instance, declares that the Lord despises all of Israel's solemn assemblies and religious sacrifices -- regarding which there are numerous laws and regulations -- because of its neglect for the poor (Amos 5 21-24).
Over the clamor of our Sunday morning merry-making, God continues speaking through the prophet Amos: "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.... Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
In other words, the people God is most annoyed with are the people who've always considered themselves the heroes of the story, the ones whom God should be grateful to have on the team -- the ones who throw holy festivals, who gather in solemn assemblies, who offer up all the right sacrifices, who sing beautiful songs -- all to God.
