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 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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How to Reconcile if/when the Jewish Day Was to Begin at Sunset?
Question:
Are there any historical documents that detail the differences in opinions on when the "Jewish Day" began? (Perhaps between Sadducee and Pharisee/Rabbinic definitions, etc).
What the ...
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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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Sources for how many days of holidays are there per year?
Specifically, I am looking for a traditional source like the Baal Haturim. I overheard that a number that I don't remember, but basically like 49 days out of the year are holy days. Is there a mesorah ...
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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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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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Why use Babylonian calendar instead of our own?
Why did the Hebrews not create their own calendar system instead of copying the pagan Babylonians'?
I find it interesting that they use a pagan calendar which often honours pagan gods. Why is this ...
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Why can we do Tashlich until Hoshana Rabba
One of the reasons to do Tashlich, according to Chabad.org is: "Another reason for saying Tashlich next to a river is because Rosh Hashanah is the day when we coronate G‑d as King of the Universe. ...
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What are the Jewish months exactly?
I am aware that the names of the months are derived almost directly from the Babylonian calendar and that the Chumash itself never mentions a month by name and instead refers to it by number. Later on ...
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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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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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Why does the Torah give us exact dates for the flood?
This question asks why the flood didn't end on the 18th of Cheshvan (one year after the start). My question is more basic: why does the torah give us precise dates here at all? Bereishit 7:11 tells ...
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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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When do we read Shir ha-Shirim if the 1st day of Pesach is Shabbat? [duplicate]
According to the OU:
On "Shabbat Chol HaMoed," the Shabbat that occurs during the Intermediate Days of the Holiday, or on the Seventh Day of that Holiday when Shabbat coincides with that ...
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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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When is the next shmita year (as of 5772)?
When is the next shmita year? Is there disagreement about which year? If so, which Jewish sects or traditions believe the shmita is in which years? If you specify years since creation, please also ...
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All explicit dates in Tanakh
What are all the dates mentioned in Tanakh?
This question seeks all dates that are explicitly mentioned in the verses. No chronological extrapolation or exposition allowed here.
The date could be ...
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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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Where can I find a chart of the Mishna Yomit (daily Mishna learning)?
Where can I find a chart of the Mishna Yomit (daily Mishna learning) - either online or offline?
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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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Which event is more infrequent?
This year, we have a couple of infrequent events, and I'm trying to figure out which is less frequent, considering a 19 year cycle (which, I think, is the best time unit to use). Some of the data ...
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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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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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Why is Rosh Chodesh sometimes TWO days?
Why for certain months of the year do we celebrate the festival of Rosh Chodesh for two days while on other Roshei Chadashim we have one day of Rosh Chodesh?
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Idolatrous origin of the name TAMMUZ
The Gemmorah in Jerusalem Rosh Hashana 6a
explains the process of adopting the Babylonian names on Months instead of Biblical ones.
דא"ר חנינה שמות חדשים עלו בידם מבבל
R'Hanina said: the names ...
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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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S'feika D'yoma in Niddah
There are several types of vestos (patterns in menstrual cycles) that a woman is able to aquire. One such vesses is the vesses hachodesh, which relies on the day of the (Jewish) month. So for instance,...
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When was the last time when we had 4 consecutive leap years when Matot and Masei were read separately?
I noticed that the only times that parshat Matot and Mas'ei are read separately outside Israel is during a leap year when the first day of the previous Rosh Hashannah occurred on Thursday. This would ...
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Jewish calendar and the measured time of a year
I'm aware that the Hebrew calendar is lunar based, normally consisting of 12 lunar months and 354.37 days. I'm aware that, to keep the 3 festivals in sync with the seasons, an extra month is added ...
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Is it ok to celebrate New Year's Eve?
Is it ok to celebrate New Year's Eve? Which (Orthodox, not Modox or non-Orthodox) rabbinical authority was against it and which one was in favor of it (if such opinions exist)?
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Is a secular New Year tree considered OK?
This question presupposes that celebrating secular New Year's Eve in the first place is OK. I looked here: " Is it ok to celebrate New Years Eve? " and the answers seemed not fully resolved, ...
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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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First-Temple-Era names of the Hebrew months?
The Chumash refers to the months simply as "the first", "the second", and so on. Today we know them by their Babylonian names (Nisan, Iyar ...) Occasionally the Prophets from the First-Temple Era use ...
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Is there any research available for the original 'Hebrew' 3rd & 5th month names?
I'm looking at a question that was posted here 7 years ago about the original name of the months.
First-Temple-Era names of the Hebrew months?
There is mention of a possible month called, "Tzach."...
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Why were Mishmarot a concern in the Qumran calendar?
I'm researching various sources regarding the Qumran calendar. I don't understand why there was a concern for incorporating the 24 priestly "watches" (mishmarot) (Refer to I Chronicles 4 for ...
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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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Gezer Calendar and Lunar calendar
Do the paleo-Hebrew inscriptions of the Gezer calendar, dated around the 10th century BCE, suggest that at one time the ancient Israelites used a strictly lunar calendar?
The calendar is written ...
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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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When does a day start/end in the far North/South?
As I understand it, a day in the Jewish calendar is from sunset to sunset. How is this handled if you are living so far north or south that you have long periods of daylight or darkness?
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What is the Sod HaIbbur and what is so secret about it?
What is the Sod HaIbbur (secret of impregnation)? I have seen it discussed in many places including the Pirkeu D'Rebbi Eliezer (8th chapter?) in reference to the intercalation for the lunar months of ...
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Calendar Rules before Hillel HaSheini
In today's calendar (that is, the one established in 4119 by Hillel the Amora), months alternate between 30 days and 29 days, generally speaking. However, because of the "Arba Dechiyos" (lo adu Rosh, ...
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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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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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Creation of State of Israel and birth of Abraham - 1948
According to the Jewish calendar, Abraham was born on the year 1948.
The state of Israel was declared in 1948 according to the secular calendar.
Is there any significance to this or is it just ...
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