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Jewish Calendar

Days

From the remotest time to the present the Israelites have computed the day (yôm)

from sunset to sunset, or rather from sunset to the appearance of the first three stars
which marked the beginning of a new day [Cf. Lev. 23:32; II Esd. (Nehem.) 4:21;

etc.]. Before the Babylonian Exile the time between sunrise and sunset was divided

into "morning", "midday", and "evening" (Ps. 54:18; Heb. 55:17); but during the
stay in Babylon the Hebrews adopted the division into twelve hours (Cf. John

11:9), whose duration varied with the length of the day. On an average, the first

hour corresponded to about 6 a.m.; the third hour to 9 a.m.; the end of the sixth to
noon; while at the eleventh the day was near its close. Earlier than this division of

the day by hours was that of the night into three watches: the first till midnight; the

second or middle watch (cock-crow) till 3 a.m.; and the third or morning watch till
about 6 a.m.

Weeks

Seven consecutive days form the week, or second element of the Jewish calendar.

As in our ecclesiastical calendar, the days of the Jewish week are numbered, not
named. They are called the first day, the second day, the third day, and so on to the

seventh, which last is also called "sabbath" (shábbath) a name likewise used to

designate the week itself. The sixth day, our Friday, is also known in the New
Testament, in

Josephus

, and in Rabbinical writings as "the eve of the sabbath", or

as "the day of the preparation", the paraskeué, a term still employed by the Latin

Church in connection with

Good Fridays

(Cf. Mark 15:42; Josephus, Antiquities of

the Jews, XVI, vi, 2; Talmud of Jerusalem, Treatise Pesahîm, chap. iv, I).

Months

The third and most important element in the Jewish arrangement of time is the

month. The two Hebrew words for month are yéráh, and hodésh, whose primitive
meaning, "moon", "new moon", points to the dependence of the Jewish month on

the phases of the moon. As a matter of fact, the Hebrew months have always been

lunar, and extended from one new moon to another. The beginning of the month
with the appearance of the new moon was--as it is still--of great practical

importance among the Hebrews, inasmuch as the first of every month was to be

observed as New Moon's Day, and certain feasts were affixed to the 10th, 14th, or
other days of the month. The earliest appearance of the new moon was long

ascertained by direct observation, and authoritatively settled by a commission of

the Sanhedrin, and the intelligence then made known to the Jews at large, first by
means of fire signals, and later on through special messengers. In the present day,

and for many centuries, this very primitive manner of fixing the beginning of the

month has given way to a systematic calculation of the latter's duration, and the
Jewish calendar is now constructed on the basis of a mean lunation of 29 days, 12

hours, 44 min., and 30 sec. Besides being indicated by means of numerals, the first

month, the second month, etc., the Hebrew months have been designated in the
course of Jewish history by two sets of names. Of the former set--going back

probably to Chanaanite times--only four names have survived in the Hebrew Bible.

These are: 'Abhîbh (A.V. Ex. 13:4, 23:15; Deut. 16:1), subsequently the first

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month; Zíw (III K. 6:1), subsequently the second month; 'Ethanîm (III K. 8:2),

subsequently the seventh month; and Bûl (III K. 6:38), subsequently the eighth
month. The latter set of names, certainly of Babylonian origin, began to be used

after the Exile. Of its twelve names now found in the Jewish calendar only seven

occur in the Hebrew text, but the whole twelve appear as the main divisions of the
Megillath Ta'anith (Scroll of Fasting), which in its original form is referred to a

date before the Christian Era. These twelve names are as follows:

1. Nîsan (Nehem. 2:1; Esth. 3:7)

2. 'Iyyar (not named in Scripture)
3. Sîwan (Esth. 8:9; Baruch 1:8)

4. Támmûz (Cf. A.V. Ezek. 8:14)

5. 'Abh (not named in Scripture)
6. 'Elûl (Nehem. 6:15; I Mach. 14:27)

7. Tíshrî (not named in Scripture)

8. Márhéshwan, or simply Héshwan (not named in Scripture)
9. Kíslew (Zach. 7:1; Nehem. 1:1)

10. Tebeth (Esth. 2:16)

11. Shebhat (Zach. 1:7, I Mach. 16:14)
12. 'Adar (I Esdras 6:15; Esth. 3:7, 8:12, etc.)

Years

The twelve months thus named made up the ordinary year (shanah), or next

important element in the Jewish calendar. As they were lunar months they formed a
mean year of 354 days, a year consequently shorter than the solar year by ten or

eleven days. This difference, as can be readily seen, would have, in the course of

time, completely disordered the months in relation to the seasons of the year; thus
the first month, or Nîsan, (corresponding to the end of March or the beginning of

April), in the middle of which the first ripe barley was to be presented to Yahweh

in connection with the paschal feast (Ex. 12:1 sqq., 13:3 sqq; Lev. 23:10-12), might
have fallen in the middle of winter; and some other festivals depending likewise on

the products of the seasons would also have been materially interfered with. Hence

it was soon felt--how soon cannot now be ascertained--that the difference between
the lunar and the solar years should be equalized by the intercalation of a month.

The year in which such an intercalation should be made was for a while determined

by an authoritative decision of the Sanhedrin, and ultimately fixed in a permanent
manner by astronomical calculation. In a cycle of nineteen years the third, sixth,

eighth, eleventh, fourteenth, seventeenth, and nineteenth are made leap-years with

an average length of 384 days, by the addition of a month following the twelfth
('Adar), and usually called We-'Adar (Second Adar). It is plain, therefore, that the

Jewish year has long been, and still is, a luni-solar year. The Hebrew year thus far

described is one constituted in harmony with ritual requirements, and hence it is
called the sacred Jewish year. Together with it the Jews have had from time

immemorial what may be called a common or civil year commencing in the month

of Tíshrî (corresponding generally to part of September and part of October), on or
immediately after the new moon following the autumnal equinox. The beginning of

the Hebrew civil year practically coincides with that of seed time in Palestine,

while the beginning of the sacred year corresponds to that of the harvest season in
the same country.

Eras

There now remains to consider the era, or last element of the Jewish calendar. As

might well be expected in connection with a people whose history has been so
checkered, the Hebrews have adopted various points of time from which to reckon

the succession of years. Their principal ancient eras have been:

the one which was dated from the deliverance from Egypt;

the regnal era, or computation of time from the year of accession of the

Jewish kings to the throne;

the Seleucid era, introduced after the Babylonian Exile, beginning 312 B.C.,
and used by the Jews probably till the twelfth century.

For centuries they have employed their present method of counting by anno mundi

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(A.M.). (See the table below for the yearly arrangement of the principal festival

days.)

According to the current Jewish reckoning the calendar is dated from the Creation

of the World, which is considered to have taken place 3760 years and 3 months

before the commencement of the Christian Era. To find the number of the Hebrew
year, beginning in the autumn of a given year of our common era, we have to add

3761 to the number of the latter. Thus the Jewish year beginning September, 1908,

is 5669 A.M.

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

Hebrew

Month

Sacred

Year

Civil

Year

Ordinary

Year

Leap
Year

During 20th c

first of month

occurs

between

Principal Feasts

Nîsan

(days)

March 13-

April 11

1. New Moon
14. Paschal lamb

killed

15-21. Paschal Feast

(Firstfruits of barley
offered)

'Iyyar

April 12-

May 11

1. New Moon

14. Second Passover

Sîwan

May 11-

June 9

1. New Moon
6. Pentecost

(Firstfruits

of wheat harvest

Támmûz

June 10-

July 9

1. New Moon

7. Fast. Taking of

Jeru-

salem by Titus

'Abh

July 9-

Aug. 7

1. New Moon

7. Fast. Destruction

of
the Temple

'Elûl

Aug. 8-

Sept. 6

1. New Moon

Tíshrî

Sept. 6-

Oct. 5

1-2. New Year's
Feast

10. Day of

Atonement

15-21. Feast of
Taber-

nacles. (Firstfruits of

wine and oil)

Márhéshwan

(Héshwan)

29+

Oct. 6-

Nov. 4

1. New Moon

Kíslew

30-

Nov.4-

Dec. 3

1. New Moon

25. Feast of the

Dedi-
cation of the Temple

Tebheth

Dec. 4-

Jan. 2

1. New Moon

7. Fast. Siege of

Jeru-
salem

Shebbat

Jan.2-

Jan. 31

1. New Moon

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CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Jewish Calendar

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FRANCIS E. GIGOT

Transcribed by Rick McCarty

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume III

Nihil Obstat, November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor

Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

'Âdar

Feb. 1-

March 2

1. New Moon

14, 15. Feast of
Purim

[We-'Âdar] (Inter-

calary)

(Inter-

calary)

(...)

(29)

March 3-

March 13

1. New Moon

14, 15. Feast of
Purim

----

354

----

384

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CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Jewish Calendar

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