SanghaToday Blog

It was Hillel II who created a standarised Jewish calendar and leap year. It meant that holidays could be celebrated on the same date every year for Jews.

A Jewish calendar has months that have 29 or 30 days and the years can either be composed of 12 or 13 months. Beacuse it actually takes 12.4 lunar months to complete a yearly cycle (365 and a quarter days), a year does not divide neatly into 12 months. The earliest Jews relied on seeing the new moon to judge when the beginning of the month would be. The Rosh Chodesh- or first day of the month - is always announced b the Sanhendrin. Another factor in deciding the number of months in the year has to do with the agricultural year.Adar Bet or the additional month is added on the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th year of the whole 19 years cycle for the Jews.

The Hebrew Calendar

The name for the official Israeli calendar is the Hebrew Calendar. A new month will not begin before a new moon is sighted.The months in the Jewish calendar are: Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul, Tishrei, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat and Adar. It’s because of the leap year (where an extra day is created) that enables holidays to be celebrated on the same date every year.

Festivals

Festivals in the Jewish calendar are still widely observed, and accordance with tradition is usually quite strict. The festivals reflect the cultural life of Jews in Israel, and so are the cornerstone of the Jewish calendar.

Jewish Holidays

Observance of the Jewish festivals is very important. As well as anything else, the holidays give people the chance to reflect on the passing year.These holidays promote the sense of being one with fellow believers. The Sabbath (or Shabbat) is the most important day in the Jewish week, as it commemorates God’s day of rest.The other festivals of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot and the two High Holy Days, which are Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the main festivals. Working on these days is strictly being prohibited

Each Jewish day begins on the evening before - which means festivals start earlier than the day itself.Some still follow the ancient practice of adding an extra day to their holidays while others stick to having the holiday just for a day.But usually if a holiday should fall on a May 4, the family will get together on the night of May 3 and the holiday continues until the next day.

Our customized calendar include not only the Jewish New Year date but also holidays of other Jewish days. Buy a customized calendar and you will have all the holidays for all countries and major religions worldwide.