Questions tagged [calendar]
Questions about calendars. The Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar that determines the dates of Jewish festivals.
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Why do Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur occur at the beginning of the Jewish year?
Why do Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, two of the most significant Jewish holidays, occur at the beginning of the Jewish year, while in secular contexts like business and academics, final exams or ...
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Tu B’Av as the Start of the Grape Harvest
I frequently see references on the internet to Tu B’Av marking the start of the grape harvest.
One example from Jewish Virtual Library is below. [1]
My question is, what is the source for this?
Is it ...
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Rarest calendar year
There are many variables in a jewish calendar year, so for the purpose of my question, I'm asking for the rarest confluence of "days of the week" with significant calendar dates (to ...
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Program to find likelihood of potential calendrical occurrences
Someone asked me over kiddush about the frequency of the following scenario:
Shabbat Rosh Chodesh
In a leap year
On Adar II
In such a case, R"CH would also be Shekalim, so that might be faster ...
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"Riot Act" Haftarah for Kedoshim -- When Will We Read it Again?
As discussed previously, while we avoid it whenever possible, this year (5784 / 2024) most Ashkenazim will read the actual Haftarah for Kedoshim: Yechezkel Ch. 22, "Inform the bloody city of all ...
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Where did Samson Raphael Hirsch write "the catechism of the Jew is his calendar"?
There are lots of articles and books that say "Samson Raphael Hirsch famously wrote 'the catechism of the Jew is his calendar'" - but what is the mareh makom?
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Two festival days in diaspora [duplicate]
Is having to observe two festival
days in the diaspora a minhag or takkanah? Is it still binding today?
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How did Nissan stay in the spring before the exodus?
B”H
Nowadays, since the exodus, we have the Beis Din occasionally add a leap month to keep Nissan in Chodosh haaviv, or at least rely on the set calendar.
What did people do in the beginning of ...
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Four Gates - ארבעה שערים
The Tur OH 428 describes a system for finding the year's calendar based only on (a) the molad of this year's Tishrei, and (b) knowing which of last year, this year, and next year are regular or leap ...
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Is there a Hebrew Calendar discussion place? [closed]
Well, is there? I mean a Torah-observant place, if possible, where they discuss the math and the system behind the current calendar, original sources, perhaps the history involved in it as well (the ...
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Which days the holidays occur on
Has anyone put together a list of how often each event in the Jewish calendar occurs on a given day of the week?
For instance, Yom Kippur happens X% on Shabbat, Y% on Monday, Z% on Wednesday, etc.?
I ...
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In Israel, is there an official body or the only officially recognized body that calculates the Hebrew calendar [duplicate]
In Israel, is there an official body or the only officially recognized body that calculates the Hebrew calendar that establishes the conversion relationship between the Hebrew calendar and the ...
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Why has Tisha b'Av begun on Saturday night so often recently?
I write this in summer of 2023 (5783). This year Tisha b'Av begins on a Wednesday night. However, in looking back over recent years, I notice that the observance of Tisha b'Av began on a Saturday ...
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When did R’ Hillel make the calendar?
I noticed that the Sefer HaChinukh (§4) attributes the calendar to Rabbi Hillel II, whom the mechaber says was the son of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi. I have never before encountered the idea that Rabbi ...
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Is there a Hebrew Calendar backdated to 500 B.C. or earlier, in an importable format like CSV or JSON?
I'm putting together a program that will allow many different calendars to be correlated via Julian Day so that world events, personal notes, or even scriptural passages can be associated with ...
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Why does the Mishna refer to Sunday as "after Shabbat"?
The Mishna in Megilla 1:2 uses varying terminology to refer to days of the week:
מְגִילָּה נִקְרֵאת בְּאַחַד עָשָׂר, בִּשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר,
כֵּיצַד. חָל לִהְיוֹת יוֹם אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר בַּשֵּׁנִי, ...
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Why is a 3 day Yom Tov permissible, but Shabbos and Yom Kippur cannot be on adjacent days?
If Rosh Hashana were to fall on Wednesday or Friday, then that would result in Yom Kippur being on Friday or Sunday. The calendar was designed to avoid this happening since the sages deemed having ...
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Do the Arabs count to the moon, too?
The Talmud famously says (in a Baraita on Sukkah 29a) that the Jewish people calculate our calendar by the moon (lunar calendar), and the Nations of the World use the sun (solar calendar). How is this ...
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Bracha on Kiddush Hachodesh
Did the beit din make a bracha each month on the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh in the times of the Sanhedrin? If yes, what was the language of the bracha?
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Significance of Torah day starting at sunset, vs secular day starting at sunrise
This is a very general question, and I hope for some general answers. However, in order to focus it, I would like to specify one point.
In the secular world, the day starts with "waking up" ...
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Are there any opinions of a deadline for Moshiach later than the year 6000?
As discussed on this question, there are Talmudic opinions (e.g. in Rosh Hashana 31a and Sanhedrin 97a) that Moshiach must be here by the year 6000 AM (whether stated explicitly about Moshiach or ...
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July 4th in relation to the Jewish calendar
I was wondering if anyone has any sources that discuss the fact that July 4th, 1776 was 17 Tamuz 5536. Is there any correlation between the Declaration of Independence and the Destruction of Jerusalem?...
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Concurrent calender or timing of Passover in the time of the late 2nd temple
I have read in secondary literature that the calendar or the regulations, in particular on the celebration of Pesach found in the rolls of Qumran differ from the Rabbinic tradition that is observed ...
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Does a formalized date system exist for Judaism?
I am a software engineer and currently thinking about dates/times. In programming, all dates are in the Gregorian calendar system, and things start to break down when you get to dealing with CE/BCE. ...
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Making my own Jewish calendar with paper and pencil
I would like to make my own Jewish calendar on paper with pencil ( using the help of programming for the more difficult calculations, ofcourse). How and where do I begin.
Who makes the annual Jewish ...
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Could the Jewish Calendar be changed because of climate change?
It seems that certain parts of the Jewish calendar are based on specific observations.
I found this on Wikipedia, about the old observational methods to adding leap months and it made me wonder if ...
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Why is there no Ta'anit Esther Katan?
In a leap year, Purim is marked in the second Adar. In the first Adar, the 14th is noted as Purim Katan and the day after, as Shushan Purim Katan. The implications are limited (basically) to slight ...
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Is the TorahCalc Molad Calculator accurate?
I have been making an excel spreadsheet that calculates molads. I started from the Molad for Tishrei in Year 1 Anno Mundi. Based on various websites (including TorahCalc), the Molad was on Tuesday at ...
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When was the first Jewish leap year?
What number year within the 19-year cycle was the year of Yetziyat Mitzrayim -- if that was the mechanism used in the midbar to keep Pesach in the Spring
and alternatively, if the cycle wasn't what ...
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Longest interval between readings of haftarah for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh
When Rosh Chodesh falls on Shabbat, a special haftarah (Isaiah 66) is read.
However, in our fixed calendar certain months can never have Rosh Chodesh fall on Shabbat (Kislev, Sivan). For certain other ...
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What is my Zodiac sign? [closed]
I was born on the 25 of Tishrei 1981 at approx. 5:30 PM. According to most secular astrologers I am considered to be a Libra/Scorpio cusp sun sign (Oct. 19-25). Tishrei is considered the month of ...
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How and why does a Jubilee year cause Rosh Hashanah to take place on the 10th day of the month?
How and why does a Jubilee year cause Rosh Hashanah to take place on the 10th day of the month?
Ezekiel 40:1 reads "on Rosh Hashanah, on the tenth of the month". Rashi asks and answers, &...
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How does one write Hebrew dates in short?
I'm trying to write down some of my friends' Hebrew birthdates, and because there's a bunch of them, I'm doing it in short. So 8 Tishrei 5763 would convert to 1/8/63 or ח׳ א׳ תשס״ג. (I think; I'm not ...
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Looking for the source that connects the days of the week to the sefirot
I found a picture of it, but I absolutely cannot find the title. I remember reading about certain months correlating to din, some rachamim, the rest judgment is pending. So, I'm hoping this book has ...
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Zodiac of Adar I
The zodiac sign of the month Adar in a non-leap year is Pisces (Dagim). But what kind of Adar I, which is in a leap year? Two months cannot have the same zodiac sign.
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When did the Cutheans undermine the lighting of signal fires to announce the new moon?
Back when the months of the Jewish calendar were determined by observations of the new crescent moon, eyewitnesses would bring their testimony to the rabbinical court in Jerusalem, and the court would ...
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Climate and growing season in Iron Age Israel and Judah [closed]
Jan A Wagenaar, Origin and Transformation of the Ancient Israelite Festival Calendar, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2005, proposes that the Feast of Unleavened Bread was originally in the month of ...
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Is there somewhere I can find a list of just Rosh Chodesh for the year in Gregorian with one and two-day RC?
It would be convenient if I could find a list of RC for the year, such as
5781 2020/2021:
Rosh Chodesh Sh'vat 1/14 Th
Rosh Chodesh Adar 2/12-13 F S
...
But this is what I've found:
https://...
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Date/Week of Creation off by a day?
Question: If we believe that Sunday is Yom Rishon of Creation, then what do we do with the given date of Creation being Monday, October 7, 3761 B.C.E. according to our current calendar? Are there ...
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Sources for Rav Saddia Goan on set days for Pesach
Rashi in Pesachim 58b mentions and rejects an opinion that in the days of the Tannaim the rules for which day of the week Pesach and (Rosh Hashana) can fall out, לא בד"ו פסח, were already in ...
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What is the relation between the month Nisan and the spring equinox?
I'm searching for the relation between Nisan and the spring equinox according to Scripture.
I know of the texts Genesis 1:14, Exodus 12:2-3, Leviticus 23:15 and Deuteronomy 16:1.
I find multiple ...
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Finding the daf for a day in history [duplicate]
Is there any online app (or simple process of calculation) that can indicate which daf was studied for any calendar day in Daf Yomi history?
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What is the original source for Yahrtzeit customs?
There are various customs and even halachot associated with yahrtzeits, such as saying kaddish, getting called to Torah, lighting candles, fasting, serving as a prayer leader, giving charity, ...
user17319
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The New Year in Tishrei?
Why does this Gregorian to Hebrew calendar converter show Elul 29 as the first day of the new Jewish year? I have not ticked the "After Sunset" box.
It converts September 8, 2018, to Elul 28,...
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Why aren't the two days of Rosh Hashannah structured as every other Rosh Hodesh? [duplicate]
I don't recall the exact location Rambam's Mishneh Torah, but he discusses that during the time of Sanhedrin, if witnesses came before sundown of the 30th day, then that day was considered Rosh Hodesh,...
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What is the א"ת ב"ש ג"ר calendar mnemonic?
The Gemara Arakhin 9b discusses certain rules of the calendar. Specifically, it mentions that Rosh Hashana will always be on the same day of the week as the day of the Omer (the 2nd day of Pesach), or ...
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Confuse about the date
From this website, I get:
14th of Nisan, 3793 = Fri, 1 April 0033
To make easier, assumed that the sunset is always exactly on 6.00 pm.
So, 14th of Nisan duration is from 6.01 pm to 6.00 pm
and 1 ...
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Apparent contradiction if Elul was made full when necessary
The Gemara Rosh Hashanah 19b 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 Chinana bar Kahana say that Rav said: ...
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How to determine Sabbath day in the Jewish calendar?
I'm trying hard to understand it by reading the internet, but still I fail to elaborate what is in my mind as I am still unable to understand it.
First, I would like to propose the things I know about ...
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Could the Hebrew calendar calculations have been know since the time of Moses?
Many years ago, I read (non-Jewish source, without explicit external references) that the calendar calculations have actually been in effect since Moses, but were kept in secret for many centuries.
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