Jewish Talmudic Calendar
Encyclopedia
The Jewish Talmudic Calendar is a lunisolar calendar
using Tishri-years
, observed by the Jewish people since the Late Antiquity
(AD 300-700). While it is based on Nisan-years
, which began from the prebiblical Babylonian times (c. 2000 BC), and the Tishri-years
was formed in the time of David
(c. 1000 BC), the full formation of the Jewish Talmudic Calendar was during the time of the writing of Talmud
(c. AD 300-600), usually attributed to Hillel II
.
or Tishri-years
, was determined by the astronomical observation of the New Moon
, and the agricultural observation of the growth of Abib (the spikes on the Barley) in late Winter and early Spring. After the second (Roman) Diaspora
, in order for the Jewish people away from the Land of Israel
to be able to observe their Spring Feasts and Fall Feasts in the same calendar, the Jewish Talmudic Calendar was formed, based on mathematical algorithms, and free from the required observations.
is 235/19 times of it, i.e. 365.2468 days. Thus is over estimates the length of the tropical year
(365.2422 days) by 0.0046 days per year, or about one day in 216 years. This error is less than the Julian years
(365.2500 days) make (0.0078 days/year, or one day in 128 years), but much more than what the Gregorian years
(365.2425 days/year) make (0.0003 days/year, or one day in 3333 years).
). A day is divided into 24 hours, each with 1080 parts (halakim). Thus each minute is composed of 18 halakim; each halakim is 6.67 seconds.
, and thirteen months in a leap year
. The New Years Day (Rosh Hashana) is Tishri 1. The months are 30 days and 29 days in turns. A regular common year is 354 days; while a regular leap year is 384 days (adding in a 30-day Adar I, and making the 29-day month Adar II).
in Jewish Talmudic Calendar, which is equivalent to the Greek Metonic Cycle
, although they do not start on the same year. The year of creation according to the Rabbinical Chronology (3761 BC) is taken as year 1 in the first Small Mahzor
. The Greek cycle begins from an arbitrarily year, usually from the beginning of the Common Era
(Anno Domini
).
If every 13 Small Mahzor
is called an Iggul, because 12 times 2 hours is a day, and 30 days are a month, in less than 30 Igguls a whole intercalary month should be removed.
is called the Golden Number
. The pattern of the leap years
will change slightly each Iggul, but the Jewish Talmudic Calendar fixd the leap years
in the year with these golden numbers
: 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19. If we mark a Leap Year
as L, the Followship Year as F, and the Other common year as O, we have
Because the Julian years are 365 and a quarter days, in every 28 years the weekday pattern will repeat. This is call the Sun Cycle. The beginning of this cycle is arbitrary.
Because every 50 years is a Jubilee year, there is a Yobel Cycle; Because every seven years is a sabbatical year, there is a seven-year Release Cycle. The placement of these cycles is controversial. Historically there are enough evidences to fix the sabbatical years in the Second Temple Period
. But it may not match with the sabbatical cycle derived from the biblical period; and there is no consensus on whether or not the Jubilee year is the fiftieth year or the latter half of the forty ninth year.
gradually so that a whole intercalary month is taken out at the end of Iggul 21; another is to adopt the synodic month to be the more accurate 29.53058868 days, thus the length of the year would be (235*13*26-1)/(19*13*26) = 365.2426 days, very close to the actual 365.2422 days of the tropical year
. The result is the "Hebrew Calendar" in the program CalMaster2000.
Lunisolar calendar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. If the solar year is defined as a tropical year then a lunisolar calendar will give an indication of the season; if it is taken as a sidereal year then the calendar will...
using Tishri-years
Tishri-years
Tishri-years is an ancient calendar system used in Israel/Judea, and the Jewish people in Diaspora. It is based on, and is a variation of, the Nisan-years....
, observed by the Jewish people since the Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
(AD 300-700). While it is based on Nisan-years
Nisan-years
Nisan-years is an ancient calendar system used around Mesopotamia. Its area of usage covers Elam, Persia, Media, Syria and Israel/Judea. Its beginning was from prehistorical era...
, which began from the prebiblical Babylonian times (c. 2000 BC), and the Tishri-years
Tishri-years
Tishri-years is an ancient calendar system used in Israel/Judea, and the Jewish people in Diaspora. It is based on, and is a variation of, the Nisan-years....
was formed in the time of David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
(c. 1000 BC), the full formation of the Jewish Talmudic Calendar was during the time of the writing of Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
(c. AD 300-600), usually attributed to Hillel II
Hillel II
Hillel II, also known simply as Hillel held the office of Nasi of the ancient Jewish Sanhedrin between 320 and 385 CE. He was the son and successor of Judah III. He was a Jewish communal and religious authority, circa 330 - 365 CE...
.
Purpose
The ancient Israelite Calendar, no matter Nisan-yearsNisan-years
Nisan-years is an ancient calendar system used around Mesopotamia. Its area of usage covers Elam, Persia, Media, Syria and Israel/Judea. Its beginning was from prehistorical era...
or Tishri-years
Tishri-years
Tishri-years is an ancient calendar system used in Israel/Judea, and the Jewish people in Diaspora. It is based on, and is a variation of, the Nisan-years....
, was determined by the astronomical observation of the New Moon
New moon
In astronomical terminology, the new moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between Earth and the Sun, and is therefore in conjunction with the Sun as seen from Earth...
, and the agricultural observation of the growth of Abib (the spikes on the Barley) in late Winter and early Spring. After the second (Roman) Diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
, in order for the Jewish people away from the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
to be able to observe their Spring Feasts and Fall Feasts in the same calendar, the Jewish Talmudic Calendar was formed, based on mathematical algorithms, and free from the required observations.
Accuracy
The Jewish Talmudic Calendar assumes that a month is uniformly of the average synodic month, taken as 29.53059 days; it also assumes that a tropical yearTropical year
A tropical year , for general purposes, is the length of time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the cycle of seasons, as seen from Earth; for example, the time from vernal equinox to vernal equinox, or from summer solstice to summer solstice...
is 235/19 times of it, i.e. 365.2468 days. Thus is over estimates the length of the tropical year
Tropical year
A tropical year , for general purposes, is the length of time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the cycle of seasons, as seen from Earth; for example, the time from vernal equinox to vernal equinox, or from summer solstice to summer solstice...
(365.2422 days) by 0.0046 days per year, or about one day in 216 years. This error is less than the Julian years
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
(365.2500 days) make (0.0078 days/year, or one day in 128 years), but much more than what the Gregorian years
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
(365.2425 days/year) make (0.0003 days/year, or one day in 3333 years).
The Day
A day is defined to begin from the previous evening, at the time of sunset, when three mediums sized stars appear. Practically it begins from 6:00 pm (18:00) Jerusalem time (16:00 Universal TimeUniversal Time
Universal Time is a time scale based on the rotation of the Earth. It is a modern continuation of Greenwich Mean Time , i.e., the mean solar time on the Prime Meridian at Greenwich, and GMT is sometimes used loosely as a synonym for UTC...
). A day is divided into 24 hours, each with 1080 parts (halakim). Thus each minute is composed of 18 halakim; each halakim is 6.67 seconds.
The Months
There are twelve months in a common yearCommon year
A common year is a common type of calendar year. It has exactly 365 days and so is not a leap year. More generally, it is a calendar year without intercalation....
, and thirteen months in a leap year
Leap year
A leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...
. The New Years Day (Rosh Hashana) is Tishri 1. The months are 30 days and 29 days in turns. A regular common year is 354 days; while a regular leap year is 384 days (adding in a 30-day Adar I, and making the 29-day month Adar II).
The Year
There are times when a common year is 353 days, or a leap year is 383 days; these are called the Defective Years. When a common year is 355 days, or a leap year is 385 days, these are called the Excessive Years. In Defective years, the regularly 30-day Kislev is made 29 days; in Excessive Years, the regularly 29-day Heshvan is made 30 days.| Month Sequence | Numbered Month | Month Name | Regular Year | Defective Year | Excessive Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seventh | Tishri | 30 days | 30 | 30 |
| 2 | Eighth | Heshvan | 29 days | 29 | 30 |
| 3 | Ninth | Kislev | 30 days | 29 | 30 |
| 4 | Tenth | Tevet | 29 days | 29 | 29 |
| 5 | Eleventh | Shevat | 30 days | 30 | 30 |
| 6 | Twelfth | Adar | 29 days | 29 | 29 |
| 7 | First | Nisan | 30 days | 30 | 30 |
| 8 | Second | Iyyar | 29 days | 29 | 29 |
| 9 | Third | Sivan | 30 days | 30 | 30 |
| 10 | Fourth | Tammuz | 29 days | 29 | 29 |
| 11 | Fifth | Av | 30 days | 30 | 30 |
| 12 | Sixth | Elul | 29 days | 29 | 29 |
The Era
Jewish Talmudic Calendar is coupled with the Rabbinical Chronology, taking Monday, (Julian) Oct 7, 3761 BC. as the date of creation, and the beginning of the Era of the World (Anno Mundi). The reference junction of the Sun and the Moon (Molad 1) on the day of creation is considered to be at 5 hours and 204 halakim, or 11:11:20 pm, in the evening of Sunday, Oct 7, 3761 BC.The Cycles
In every 19 years, the solar and lunar calendars basically synchronize, with only about 2 hours of difference. Thus each 19 years is called a Small MahzorSmall Mahzor
A Small Mahzor is a 19-year cycle in the Lunisolar calendar system used by the Jewish People. It is similar to, but slightly different in usage with, the Greek Metonic Cycle....
in Jewish Talmudic Calendar, which is equivalent to the Greek Metonic Cycle
Metonic cycle
In astronomy and calendar studies, the Metonic cycle or Enneadecaeteris is a period of very close to 19 years which is remarkable for being very nearly a common multiple of the solar year and the synodic month...
, although they do not start on the same year. The year of creation according to the Rabbinical Chronology (3761 BC) is taken as year 1 in the first Small Mahzor
Small Mahzor
A Small Mahzor is a 19-year cycle in the Lunisolar calendar system used by the Jewish People. It is similar to, but slightly different in usage with, the Greek Metonic Cycle....
. The Greek cycle begins from an arbitrarily year, usually from the beginning of the Common Era
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
(Anno Domini
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
).
If every 13 Small Mahzor
Small Mahzor
A Small Mahzor is a 19-year cycle in the Lunisolar calendar system used by the Jewish People. It is similar to, but slightly different in usage with, the Greek Metonic Cycle....
is called an Iggul, because 12 times 2 hours is a day, and 30 days are a month, in less than 30 Igguls a whole intercalary month should be removed.
The Year Patterns
The position of the years in a Small MahzorSmall Mahzor
A Small Mahzor is a 19-year cycle in the Lunisolar calendar system used by the Jewish People. It is similar to, but slightly different in usage with, the Greek Metonic Cycle....
is called the Golden Number
Golden number
Golden number may mean:* Golden number , a number assigned to a calendar year denoting its place in a Metonic cycle* Golden ratio, an irrational mathematical constant with special properties in arts and mathematics...
. The pattern of the leap years
Leap Years
Leap Years is a 2001 drama television series that aired on the Showtime cable network. The show was created by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who had created the American version of the series Queer as Folk. It followed a group of friends in New York City...
will change slightly each Iggul, but the Jewish Talmudic Calendar fixd the leap years
Leap Years
Leap Years is a 2001 drama television series that aired on the Showtime cable network. The show was created by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who had created the American version of the series Queer as Folk. It followed a group of friends in New York City...
in the year with these golden numbers
Golden numbers
A golden number is a number assigned to each year in sequence to indicate the year's position in a 19-year Metonic cycle. They are used in the computus and also in the Runic calendar. The golden number of any Julian or Gregorian calendar year can be calculated by dividing the year by 19, taking...
: 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19. If we mark a Leap Year
Leap year
A leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...
as L, the Followship Year as F, and the Other common year as O, we have
| Golden Numbers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Types | F | O | L | F | O | L | F | L | F | O | L | F | O | L | F | O | L | F | L |
Because the Julian years are 365 and a quarter days, in every 28 years the weekday pattern will repeat. This is call the Sun Cycle. The beginning of this cycle is arbitrary.
Because every 50 years is a Jubilee year, there is a Yobel Cycle; Because every seven years is a sabbatical year, there is a seven-year Release Cycle. The placement of these cycles is controversial. Historically there are enough evidences to fix the sabbatical years in the Second Temple Period
Second Temple period
The Second Temple period , in Jewish history, is the period between 530 BCE and 70 CE, when the Second Temple of Jerusalem existed. It ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Temple's destruction....
. But it may not match with the sabbatical cycle derived from the biblical period; and there is no consensus on whether or not the Jubilee year is the fiftieth year or the latter half of the forty ninth year.
Hebrew Calendar
A few suggestions were made to improve the Jewish Talmudic Calendar, in order to reduce its accumulated error for the remote past and future. One is to delay the leap yearsLeap Years
Leap Years is a 2001 drama television series that aired on the Showtime cable network. The show was created by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who had created the American version of the series Queer as Folk. It followed a group of friends in New York City...
gradually so that a whole intercalary month is taken out at the end of Iggul 21; another is to adopt the synodic month to be the more accurate 29.53058868 days, thus the length of the year would be (235*13*26-1)/(19*13*26) = 365.2426 days, very close to the actual 365.2422 days of the tropical year
Tropical year
A tropical year , for general purposes, is the length of time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the cycle of seasons, as seen from Earth; for example, the time from vernal equinox to vernal equinox, or from summer solstice to summer solstice...
. The result is the "Hebrew Calendar" in the program CalMaster2000.