Questions tagged [calendar]
Questions about calendars. The Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar that determines the dates of Jewish festivals.
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Will the day of the final salvation be celebrated every year in the days of the Moshiach?
Following "what-berachos-should-be-made-when-moshiach-comes", I wondered, for all the great events that G-d did to us we set (in the Torah or Rabbinically) a yearly festive - celebrating the date - ...
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Colours for months
According inner.org, each month of the year has a corresponding colour to it. This does not seem to be in Sefer Yetzirah. What is the source for this and what is the significance with regards to each ...
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The date of Amalek fighting Moses and Israel in the wilderness [duplicate]
וַיָּבֹא עֲמָלֵק וַיִּלָּחֶם עִם־יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּרְפִידִם׃
Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. (Ex 17:8)
When exactly was it, what day was chosen to fight the Israelites and why that ...
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Is there a limit to the number of consecutive leap years?
The Rambam in Hilchot Kiddush Hachodesh 4:5 (Thanks @DonielF) states that Sanhedrin was allowed to declare a leap year not just based on "seasonal alignment' (I.e. 16 Nissan should be after the spring ...
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What exactly do we celebrate on Purim - the 14th of Adar?
In the Purim timeline, we can see a series of beneficial events:
the King couldn't sleep and remembered Mordechai (the turn of the story)
Hanging of Haman with his sons and Appointing of Mordechai ...
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Why are agricultural requests based on holiday timing?
There are a few changes to the amida which reflect the changes in the seasons -- we add (or change to) mashiv haru'ach umorid hagashem (or geshem) at Shmini Atzeret (and back at Pesach) and switch TO ...
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Are anniversaries celebrated in Adar I or Adar II?
For those who celebrate anniversaries, or for calculating the end of Shanah Rishonah, if a couple gets married in Adar of a non-leap-year, when is the anniversary celebrated in a leap year? Is it in ...
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Longest Jewish year
This year, 5779, is the longest possible year on the Jewish calendar. Not only is it a leap year, but Cheshvan and Kislev both have 30 days, for a total of 385 days. How often does that happen?
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Is there any situation when the haftarah of Tetzaveh might be read during a non-leap year?
This past Shabbat, we read the haftarah of Tetzaveh. If I have calculated correctly, I don't think there is any situation where this haftarah would be read during a non-leap year. I think that ...
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Why do we have Adar I & Adar II- why don't we give the additional month a new name?
Building off the question of why Adar is chosen as the month to be doubled, why in a leap year do we have an Adar I and Adar II?
Why wasn't the additional month given a brand new name?
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Jewish and Gregorian year's last digit
I've noticed that outside of the period between Rosh ha-Shana and 31 of December (included) the last digit of the current year in both systems is always the same, e.g. 5779 - 2019
What are the ...
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Why does the date for the prayer for rain change from one century to the next?
My due diligence:
Praying for rain in the Diaspora
How to calculate 60 days from tekufat tishri for any given year?
On which evening should we start saying “V'tein tal u'matar li'vrachah”?
I see ...
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On which evening should we start saying “V'tein tal u'matar li'vrachah”? (The ArtScroll siddur disagrees with The Book of Our Heritage.) [duplicate]
If a Jew lives outside of Israel, they should start saying "וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה" ("And give dew and rain for a blessing") during evening prayers on a certain evening in December.
Various ...
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Is there a difference between ירחים and חדשים?
As a word meaning "months," the word חדשים is used in Ber. 38:24 and then multiple locations after Sh'mot 12:2.
יְרָחִים appears in Sh'mot 2:2, then (possibly) in Dev 33:14 and twice in Iyov.
When ...
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What does “in the month of Nissan” mean for postexilic Jews?
In Nehemiah 2:1 we read:
"And it came to pass in the month of Nissan, in the twentieth year of
King Artaxerxes..."
What did the Jews in the postexilic era mean when they only mentioned the ...
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System of counting months in Noach
Going through Noach with the help of Rashi, there are 3 different systems of counting months.
From (Tishrei|Nisan) 1 2 3
From (Kisleiv|Sivan) when the rain stopped
From (Cheshvan|Iyar) when the rain ...
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Why the Second day of Rosh Hashanah isn't בל תוסיף? [duplicate]
Rosh-Hashanah is clearly one day from the Torah.
As it falls on the first day of the month, in the days of keeping the Real New Moon, there's no way of informing the other places outside Jerusalem, so ...
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Has Elul Been Made Full Since the Time of Ezra?
In the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah (19b) it says:
והאמר רבי חיננא בר כהנא א"ר מימות עזרא ואילך לא מצינו אלול מעובר
לא מצינו דלא איצטריך הא איצטריך מעברינן ליה
Didn’t Rabbi Chinnana bar Kahana ...
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Date of the Akeida?
Are there sources in our tradition which discuss the Hebrew date of Akeidas Yitzchak? The fact that we read the Akeida on Rosh Hashana or, properly, every day suggests to me that the "real" date is ...
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How do religious Orthodox Jews reconcile their calendar with the Darwinian theory of evolution? [duplicate]
This is a genuine question. I'm curious because I read somewhere that even the most religious Orthodox Jews accept the Darwinian theory of evolution, and that even they don't believe dinosaurs lived ...
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Does week starting on monday reflect in Sabbath? [duplicate]
Some countries do adopt weeks starting in Monday, whereas the weekend (Saturday followed by Sunday) is at the end of the week, making Sunday the seventh day.
In Brazil, where I am from, weeks start ...
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Changing the day of Shabbos?
There are many arguments for calendar reform, one of which argues that we should set up the calendar so that every date always falls on the same day (Invariable Calendar) .
If this Invariable ...
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Why doesn't our decrease of joy extend beyond Tish'a B'Av?
Citing from here
There is a famous Mishnah that is cited towards the end of Masechet
Ta’anit (4:6) that states:
“Mishenichnas Av, Mema’atin Besimcha”
“When the month of Av arrives, we ...
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1answer
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Does Kaddish for a Yahrzeit follow the day or the date?
Assuming a community where all who are eligible to say kaddish say it together:
The anniversary of a relative's passing is on the 16th of Av which happens to fall out on Shabbat, which begins at 7:59....
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What is the significance of the fact that every month that has a Biblical holiday in it is a 30-day month?
Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos are all in Tishrei, which has 30 days.
Pesach is in Nissan, which has 30 days.
Shavuos is in Sivan, which has 30 days.
What is the significance of this fact,...
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Tisha b Av calendar confusion
I don’t understand the calendar this holiday:
iOS says today is 10 Av
hebcal.com says 10 Av as well
but:
google says Tisha b Av is today
chabad.org says Tisha b Av is today (https://www.chabad.org/...
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Personality traits of being born on certain weekdays
A few years ago I was reading that there are some teachings on the weekdays and their "personality" and also how it influences the person born on one of them.
Could anyone help me to find more ...
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Was Yom Kippur ever on a Sunday?
As per this answer, since the fixing of the calendar (let's say, at the time of the gemara), Yom Kippur does not fall on a Saturday night.
Leon Wieseltier, in his book "Kaddish" (page 102) tells of ...
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What is the source for Hillel’s having included an expiration date in the calendar?
It’s often said that when Hillel instituted the current calendar, he set an “expiration date” of 6000 AM; at that point the calendar would be invalid. Since Mashiach presumably will come by then (as ...
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Can you have a new year w/o a halachic Rosh Hashana? [duplicate]
Rabbi Breitowitz raised this point (listen for approx 2-3 min from here, the point starts at 22:30m) Since the Jewish calendar was not sanctified (with a Rosh Hashana) beyond the year 5999, is it even ...
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Salutations or greetings for the various Jewish holidays
Is it right to, and is there a particular salutation for most of the major holidays in the Jewish calendar?
I have a couple of new friends who celebrate their Jewish faith, I was wondering if there ...
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Is there a book that lists major Jewish events that occurred on each day (Judaic calendar)?
A few months ago, I attended a shul on Shabbat that had a list of "notable" historic events that occurred on each Judaic date that was to occur in the following week. (E.g., if the week following was ...
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Why is there never a break between parshiot Parah and Hachodesh?
I think Talmud Megillah mentions the various arrangements for the 4 parshiot. This year, and next, we find a break between Sheqalim and Zachor as well as a 2nd one between Zachor and Parah. I ...
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1answer
463 views
Must the first day of Nisan follow spring equinox
Looking for clarification on how ancient timekeepers set the day of Passover. I understand that it would begin on the 14th of first month of new year. I’m not clear if the new moon that starts the ...
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Is there a pattern to whether a year is full/regular/deficient? Is there an online source that lists them?
There is a pattern for leap years that follows a 19 year cycle. Is there a similar pattern for whether a year is shleimah/kesidran/chaserah? (i.e. some function that takes the year and returns the ...
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Names of mazalot in Judaism
Yesterday we discussed that during Zayin Adar we eat fish due to the constellation of Adar. Rambam lists these mazalot, and uses them extensively when discussing calendar calculations. They are also ...
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Purim and Pesach in the same month
This year, Purim and Pesach occur in the same Gregorian month.
Has this occurred previously? If so, when?
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Why Counting Months (first, second) is not a Mitzvah from Torah? [duplicate]
This is not a duplicate, the other question asks about adopting the Babylonian calendar system, please remove the notice.
The original names for Hebrew months, as they appear in Torah - are just ...
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1answer
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Known birthdays
In the season of my birthday, I was wondering:
Which figures, from Tanach and Sha"s, do we know the exact birthday of? I am aware of Moshe's birthday being identified as the 7th of Adar. Which other ...
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Which Brachas are said only once a year?
I am looking for a list of Berachos/blessings that are recited a maximum of once per year.
Which blessings (from prayer, Jewish rituals, or otherwise, by men or women) are recited only once per year?...
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Questions about the 7000-year shmita cycles
The (currently) top rated answer to this other question says that:
R' Aryeh Kaplan z'l teaches as follows:
R' Nehunia ben Hakana brings in Sefer Temuna that there are larger
shmita cycles of ...
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1answer
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Where do we see the months corresponding to the Shvatim?
I saw in Pri Tzaddik of R' Tzadok that it's written in sefer of the Arizal that the months are keneged (corresponding) to the Shvatim (tribes), according to how they were encamped in the Midbar (...
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1answer
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Av HaRachamim on Shabbat Isru Chag Pesach in Israel?
This year (5778) the 22rd of Nisan falls on Shabbat. In Israel this day is Isru Chag Pesach (as opposed to the diaspora, where it is Acharon Shel Pesach).
Does one say Av HaRachamim?
On the one hand,...
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Which verse is correct? Genesis 1:14 or Leviticus 23:27? [duplicate]
Genesis 1:14 says that all Appointed Times (מועדים) are determined by the Sun and the Moon Phases. For example, all Holy Meetings (מקרא קדש) in the 1st or 7th months fall on moon phases.
However, ...
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Where do we first see Cheshvan (as opposed to Marcheshvan)?
The correct name for the eighth month of the Hebrew calendar is Marcheshvan. (See here and here.) This is how the name of the month appears throughout the Talmud (to the best of my knowledge) see e.g. ...
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Looking for a web site that displays list of specific dates that Jewish holidays occurred
I am looking for a web site that can shows some statistics such as the last time that the 1st day of Chanukah was on Friday, or even a list of when such occurrences were in the past several centuries, ...
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Is the year “5778” that will come into effect on 1 Tishrei (tomorrow), six months early or six months late? [closed]
Is the world at least six months older or younger than 5,778 Years?
Is the year "5778" that will come into effect on 1 Tishrei (tomorrow), six months early or six months late, knowing that the New ...
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1answer
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(How) is Chai Elul observed in Chassidic communities?
I have a wall calendar (source forgotten) that, as is typical for Jewish calendars, marks the parshiyot for each Shabbat. Next week, instead of giving the name of the parsha (Ki Tavo) it says "Chai ...
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1answer
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How to calculate exact Gregorian dates of the past Jewish festivals?
I'm reading a book by a Christian author which purports to illuminate some miraculous coincidence between blood moon tetrads and Jewish festivals. One thing that he does without any explanation is ...
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1answer
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Is the Samaritan Sabbath Year Concurrent with the Shmita?
Samaritan literature claim they observe a Sabbatical Year, and presumably a cycle of sevens in their calendar. However it is difficult to find actual years that this was practiced. The only concrete ...
