Cycle of the Jewish YearThe Jewish years are counted from the creation of the world (according to calculations in the Bible), and the current year is 5769. The Jewish day begins at sunset, so that both Shabbat and the holidays begin the evening before the secular date give on this calendar.The Jewish calendar is a lunar-solar calendar, meaning that the months are tied to the phases of the moon, but that the year is linked to the solar year. Since lunar months do not fit evenly into the solar year (and the Jewish holidays are tied to particular seasons of the year), there is a need to make them fit – thus every two or three years an extra “leap-month” is added in the spring. This is why the Jewish holidays appear to fluctuate within about a three-week span in relation to the Christian/secular year. The names of the Hebrew months are ancient ones, adapted from the names of the months used in Babylonia. The Jewish year actually has four “new years,” two of which are the most important. The first month is Nisan, in the spring, which marks the agricultural new year, just before Passover, and the new year for judgment of the world occurs in the fall, at Rosh Hashanah [= “head of the year”]. Rosh Hashanah is also called “Yom ha-Din” – the Day of Judgment, when the whole world is judged for its actions and sentence is meted out for the coming year. The entire Torah (five books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy) is read over the year, a portion of the book being read every Shabbat morning. The reading begins in the fall, on Simchat Torah (“rejoicing of the Torah”) when the last chapters of Deuteronomy are finished and Genesis is begun. Therefore, each Shabbat has its own special character imparted by the Torah reading for that day. In addition to the Torah reading, there is always a reading from the Prophets (called the “Haftarah,” meaning “completion”) to accompany it, which the rabbis chose in accordance with an important theme from the Torah reading. For more information on the specific holidays, the website of the Orthodox Union provides much useful information – see http://www.ou.org/holidays/calendar#holidays. The My Jewish Learning website provides a wealth of information about all the holidays – http://myjewishlearning.com. Nisan14-21 Passover – celebration of the Exodus from Egypt; there is a Seder meal on the first two days according to the Haggadah (the “telling” – which recounts the Exodus and gives the order of the Seder ritual). The word “seder” means “order” and is applied to the meal itself. During all of Passover no leavened bread is eaten, because when the Israelites left Egypt they did not have enough time for their bread to rise (April 8-16, 2009; first seder is on the evening of April 8).15 beginning of the period of counting the Omer – a harvest offering that was formerly brought to the Temple on the second day of Passover; the counting lasts until Shavuot; the entire period has become a time of semi-mourning, when weddings do not occur and people do not cut their hair (April 9, 2009) 27 Yom Hashoah – day of remembrance of the Holocaust, marked by memorial services. This date was chosen in the 1950s by the Israeli Parliament (Knesset). (April 21, 2009) Iyyar4 Yom Ha-Zikkaron – Israeli day of remembrance of those who have fallen in war. (April 28, 2009)5 Israel Independence Day, celebrating the day on which Israel was founded in 1948. (April 29, 2009) 18 Lag B’Omer (33rd day of counting the Omer—a day of celebration when weddings may occur and when people in Israel have bonfires) (May 12, 2009) Sivan6-7 Shavuot – celebration of the giving of the Torah at Sinai (May 29-30, 2009)Tammuz17 fast day in commemoration of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. (July 9, 2009)Av9 Tisha be-Av – fast day and commemoration of the destruction of the first and second Temples (in 586 B.C.E. by the Babylonians and in 70 C.E. by the Romans). (July 30, 2009)ElulThis is a month of preparation for the Yomim Noraim (“Days of Awe,” Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur), involving introspection, considering of one’s sins, and preparing for Teshuvah (“repentance” or “returning” to God); the slichot prayers (penitential prayers) are recited. (August 21-September 18, 2009)Tishri1-2 Rosh Hashanah – the “birthday of the world,” Day of Remembrance and Day of Judgment, when Jews ask God to remember them for good and the shofar (ram’s horn) is blown many times to awaken people to repentance and transformation of their lives. (September 19-20, 2009)10 Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement – fast day, day of confessing one’s sins and asking forgiveness from other people and from God (September 28, 2009) 15-21 Sukkot – “booths” – holiday of the fall harvest, in which people build sukkot (open-roofed booths), in which they live (if the weather cooperates) and eat their meals. This is both an agricultural holiday, celebrating the fall harvest, and commemorating the Israelites wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. (Oct. 3-9, 2009) 22 Shemini Azeret – “Eighth day of assembly” – holiday marking the end of Sukkot (October 10, 2009) 23 Simchat Torah – “rejoicing with the Torah” – celebrating the end of one cycle of Torah reading and the beginning of the next (October 11, 2009) Heshvan (no holidays)Kislev25-Tevet 3Hanukkah (“rededication of the Temple”). This eight-day holiday commemorates the Maccabean Revolt of 164 B.C.E. At this time, Judea and Jerusalem were ruled by a Greek dynasty based in Syria, and under King Antiochus IV, practice of Judaism was forbidden and Jews were forced to offer sacrifices to Zeus. The Maccabees, a family of priests, led the revolt against Antiochus, took Jerusalem from the Greeks, and rededicated the Temple. Throughout the holiday, the menorah is lit, each day with one more lamp or candle. (December 22-29, 2008) Tevet1-3 Hanukkah (December 12-19, 2009)10 fast day in commemoration of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. (December 27, 2009) Shevat15 New year of the trees – often marked by a seder modeled on the Passover seder (January 30, 2010).Adar(I & II – in a leap-year, there are two Adars, and Purim is celebrated in the second Adar) 14 Purim – celebrating the rescue of the Jews in Persia from Haman’s plot to exterminate them (usually dated to sometime in the 400s B.C.E.). The story is told in the biblical book of Esther. (February 28, 2010) |