Howdy folks. Sorry that I've taken so long to express my thinking on Abib. As I have alluded, I believe we should look at North America as the place where we determine, because we live here. In a large nutshell,

1.) We have only had instantaneous global communications for less than a century on this planet. Had we lived in any other era (on this continent or any other), communication with Karaites, Samaritans, or any other group which watches barley in the old Jerusalem, would not be possible at the last minute. This "last minute" call (on the day of the new moon no less), was just too late. This gives nobody around the globe time to prepare any kind of announcement that an "Abib" had been called. So, even with our global communications, it's just too late, and I do not feel the Peace of Yah.

2.) Those of Israel who live in the Southern Hemisphere are obviously on a completely different seasonal sequence. To call "Abib" from Jerusalem when it is out of season there is ludicrous, meaningless for them.

3.) The last paragraph brings to mind the reality of Yah's people being spread abroad. Indeed, as the prophet Daniel declared, His Stone Kingdom shall fill "the whole earth." Daniel 2:34-36. And as my friend Patrick pointed out, this is in keeping with what has been recorded of Yahshua's discourse with the woman at the well:

[19] The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. [20] Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. [21] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father . . . . [23] But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. [24] God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

4.) Although I do not hold anything in the New Testament as creating "new Law," there is nothing in the Torah which contradicts this statement above, and it flows with the book of Daniel. Indeed, there are no instructions in Torah to use the old Jerusalem as the gauge for Abib, nor the beginning of any month.

5.) Although I realize that the old Jerusalem is infamous as being the city where Yah placed His Name (I Kings 11:36), WE are the NEW Jerusalem upon which He has written His NEW NAME. And we are continually expanding throughout the whole earth. Revelation 3:12. This is confirmed by the words of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 49, of His People Israel:

[18] Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. [19] For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. [20] The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. [21] Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

The terms "narrow" (vs 19) and "strait" (vs. 20) are of the same root, and essentially mean that "the land of thy destruction" (Canaan - vs 19) is too "distressed." Israel was destroyed in the old Jerusalem and the land surrounding it. Nonetheless, Yah had compassion and "sow[ed] her" unto Him in the earth. (Hosea 2:23). This is what produced the mass expansion of the seed of Jacob which we were born into, hundreds of generations later, alluded to as "my children" in verse 21.

We must live where Yah has planted us. There is no Levitical priesthood, despite attempts to re-create it. It was plainly destroyed along with the Temple Sacrifice in A.D. 70. This is an event of such proportions that it is obviously Yah's doing. The book of Hebrews explains what happened in chapters 8 through 10. Again, although I do not consider the New Testament an enactment of any "new Law," we can see with our own eyes the abolishment of the Temple Sacrifice. He was never satisfied with the blood of bulls and goats. (Psalm 50:8-13; 51:16)

I do believe that the place where our ancient forefathers were buried belongs to us, and have a place of importance in the long scheme of things. But in most cases the words of the Prophets regarding the old Jerusalem were utilized because they were terms which everyone was familiar with, not to lock later generations into being forced to reckon everything from there. Only where a very SPECIFIC prophetic utterance is made with a time frame, such as Jeremiah's 70 years (Jer. 29:10), can we apply the place-names less allegorically. But generally, the words of the prophets LIVE for US NOW. They show us where we are in the judgment cycle. And give us comfort and encouragement WHERE WE LIVE.

Thus, as for me and my house, we shall start the month of Abib where the firstfruits of barley are found in the country where we live. We can see from Arizona and Texas that the proper cycle will be the next new moon, in order to have "standing grain" ready for the sickle (Deut. 16:9). Thus will we count the Feast of Weeks with truly mature first fruits. And thus will we have a 13th month.