Catholic Encyclopedia Jewish Calendar

background image

Click here to support this site and buy the

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA on CD-ROM

Buy with Credit Card

|

Buy using PayPal

|

More Info...

Search

Home

Encyclopedia

Summa

Fathers

Library

Bible

Shop

Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > C > Jewish Calendar

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Visit CatholicCulture.org

GET THE CATHOLIC

ENCYCLOPEDIA ON CD-

ROM

z

Classic 1914 edition

-- the same version

seen on our website

z

Contains more than

11,600 articles

z

Printer-friendly

format for each article

z

Works on Mac,

Windows and Unix

z

Only $29.95 (plus

S&H)

CLICK HERE to buy

with Visa,

MasterCard,

American Express,

Discover

CLICK HERE to buy

using PayPal

CLICK HERE for more

information

Buy Now

Catholic for a

Reason III -

Scripture and the

Mystery of the

Mass

$15.95

Buy Now

|

Read More

Sponsored by The
Catholic Company
in

conjunction with New
Advent
. All proceeds

benefit the New Advent
website!

Subscribe to

VISIT THE CATHOLIC COMPANY FOR CATHOLIC BOOKS AND GIFTS

Jewish Calendar

Days

From the remotest time to the present the Israelites have computed the day (yôm)

from sunset to sunset, or rather from sunset to the appearance of the first three stars
which marked the beginning of a new day [Cf. Lev. 23:32; II Esd. (Nehem.) 4:21;

etc.]. Before the Babylonian Exile the time between sunrise and sunset was divided

into "morning", "midday", and "evening" (Ps. 54:18; Heb. 55:17); but during the
stay in Babylon the Hebrews adopted the division into twelve hours (Cf. John

11:9), whose duration varied with the length of the day. On an average, the first

hour corresponded to about 6 a.m.; the third hour to 9 a.m.; the end of the sixth to
noon; while at the eleventh the day was near its close. Earlier than this division of

the day by hours was that of the night into three watches: the first till midnight; the

second or middle watch (cock-crow) till 3 a.m.; and the third or morning watch till
about 6 a.m.

Weeks

Seven consecutive days form the week, or second element of the Jewish calendar.

As in our ecclesiastical calendar, the days of the Jewish week are numbered, not
named. They are called the first day, the second day, the third day, and so on to the

seventh, which last is also called "sabbath" (shábbath) a name likewise used to

designate the week itself. The sixth day, our Friday, is also known in the New
Testament, in

Josephus

, and in Rabbinical writings as "the eve of the sabbath", or

as "the day of the preparation", the paraskeué, a term still employed by the Latin

Church in connection with

Good Fridays

(Cf. Mark 15:42; Josephus, Antiquities of

the Jews, XVI, vi, 2; Talmud of Jerusalem, Treatise Pesahîm, chap. iv, I).

Months

The third and most important element in the Jewish arrangement of time is the

month. The two Hebrew words for month are yéráh, and hodésh, whose primitive
meaning, "moon", "new moon", points to the dependence of the Jewish month on

the phases of the moon. As a matter of fact, the Hebrew months have always been

lunar, and extended from one new moon to another. The beginning of the month
with the appearance of the new moon was--as it is still--of great practical

importance among the Hebrews, inasmuch as the first of every month was to be

observed as New Moon's Day, and certain feasts were affixed to the 10th, 14th, or
other days of the month. The earliest appearance of the new moon was long

ascertained by direct observation, and authoritatively settled by a commission of

the Sanhedrin, and the intelligence then made known to the Jews at large, first by
means of fire signals, and later on through special messengers. In the present day,

and for many centuries, this very primitive manner of fixing the beginning of the

month has given way to a systematic calculation of the latter's duration, and the
Jewish calendar is now constructed on the basis of a mean lunation of 29 days, 12

hours, 44 min., and 30 sec. Besides being indicated by means of numerals, the first

month, the second month, etc., the Hebrew months have been designated in the
course of Jewish history by two sets of names. Of the former set--going back

probably to Chanaanite times--only four names have survived in the Hebrew Bible.

These are: 'Abhîbh (A.V. Ex. 13:4, 23:15; Deut. 16:1), subsequently the first

Devout Catholic singles called to

marriage. Visit

Ave Maria Singles

Get free magazines, catalogs

and more from

Free for Catholics

Ads by Google

Learn Hebrew at
Home

A Dynamic
Resource to an
Ancient Place and
a Biblical Language

LearnHebrewIsrael.com

Jewish Calendar

Jewish Holidays,
Calendar, complete
holiday guides.

www.aish.com

Biblical Hebrew
software

Reading, writing,
Audio dictionary
Instant translation
of all Words

www.dokomedia.com

Everything
Passover

The Ultimate
Jewish Site's Guide
To Passover, With
Helpful Resources

www.machers.com

If an ad appears here

that contradicts

Catholic teachings,

please click here to

notify the webmaster.

Página 1 de 4

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Jewish Calendar

29/06/2004

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03166a.htm

background image

our

FREE

Catholic

newsletter

Your e-mail

Subscribe

month; Zíw (III K. 6:1), subsequently the second month; 'Ethanîm (III K. 8:2),

subsequently the seventh month; and Bûl (III K. 6:38), subsequently the eighth
month. The latter set of names, certainly of Babylonian origin, began to be used

after the Exile. Of its twelve names now found in the Jewish calendar only seven

occur in the Hebrew text, but the whole twelve appear as the main divisions of the
Megillath Ta'anith (Scroll of Fasting), which in its original form is referred to a

date before the Christian Era. These twelve names are as follows:

1. Nîsan (Nehem. 2:1; Esth. 3:7)

2. 'Iyyar (not named in Scripture)
3. Sîwan (Esth. 8:9; Baruch 1:8)

4. Támmûz (Cf. A.V. Ezek. 8:14)

5. 'Abh (not named in Scripture)
6. 'Elûl (Nehem. 6:15; I Mach. 14:27)

7. Tíshrî (not named in Scripture)

8. Márhéshwan, or simply Héshwan (not named in Scripture)
9. Kíslew (Zach. 7:1; Nehem. 1:1)

10. Tebeth (Esth. 2:16)

11. Shebhat (Zach. 1:7, I Mach. 16:14)
12. 'Adar (I Esdras 6:15; Esth. 3:7, 8:12, etc.)

Years

The twelve months thus named made up the ordinary year (shanah), or next

important element in the Jewish calendar. As they were lunar months they formed a
mean year of 354 days, a year consequently shorter than the solar year by ten or

eleven days. This difference, as can be readily seen, would have, in the course of

time, completely disordered the months in relation to the seasons of the year; thus
the first month, or Nîsan, (corresponding to the end of March or the beginning of

April), in the middle of which the first ripe barley was to be presented to Yahweh

in connection with the paschal feast (Ex. 12:1 sqq., 13:3 sqq; Lev. 23:10-12), might
have fallen in the middle of winter; and some other festivals depending likewise on

the products of the seasons would also have been materially interfered with. Hence

it was soon felt--how soon cannot now be ascertained--that the difference between
the lunar and the solar years should be equalized by the intercalation of a month.

The year in which such an intercalation should be made was for a while determined

by an authoritative decision of the Sanhedrin, and ultimately fixed in a permanent
manner by astronomical calculation. In a cycle of nineteen years the third, sixth,

eighth, eleventh, fourteenth, seventeenth, and nineteenth are made leap-years with

an average length of 384 days, by the addition of a month following the twelfth
('Adar), and usually called We-'Adar (Second Adar). It is plain, therefore, that the

Jewish year has long been, and still is, a luni-solar year. The Hebrew year thus far

described is one constituted in harmony with ritual requirements, and hence it is
called the sacred Jewish year. Together with it the Jews have had from time

immemorial what may be called a common or civil year commencing in the month

of Tíshrî (corresponding generally to part of September and part of October), on or
immediately after the new moon following the autumnal equinox. The beginning of

the Hebrew civil year practically coincides with that of seed time in Palestine,

while the beginning of the sacred year corresponds to that of the harvest season in
the same country.

Eras

There now remains to consider the era, or last element of the Jewish calendar. As

might well be expected in connection with a people whose history has been so
checkered, the Hebrews have adopted various points of time from which to reckon

the succession of years. Their principal ancient eras have been:

z

the one which was dated from the deliverance from Egypt;

z

the regnal era, or computation of time from the year of accession of the

Jewish kings to the throne;

z

the Seleucid era, introduced after the Babylonian Exile, beginning 312 B.C.,
and used by the Jews probably till the twelfth century.

For centuries they have employed their present method of counting by anno mundi

Página 2 de 4

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Jewish Calendar

29/06/2004

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03166a.htm

background image

(A.M.). (See the table below for the yearly arrangement of the principal festival

days.)

According to the current Jewish reckoning the calendar is dated from the Creation

of the World, which is considered to have taken place 3760 years and 3 months

before the commencement of the Christian Era. To find the number of the Hebrew
year, beginning in the autumn of a given year of our common era, we have to add

3761 to the number of the latter. Thus the Jewish year beginning September, 1908,

is 5669 A.M.

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

Hebrew

Month

Sacred

Year

Civil

Year

Ordinary

Year

Leap
Year

During 20th c

first of month

occurs

between

Principal Feasts

Nîsan

1

7

30

(days)

30

March 13-

April 11

1. New Moon
14. Paschal lamb

killed

15-21. Paschal Feast

(Firstfruits of barley
offered)

'Iyyar

2

8

29

29

April 12-

May 11

1. New Moon

14. Second Passover

Sîwan

3

9

30

30

May 11-

June 9

1. New Moon
6. Pentecost

(Firstfruits

of wheat harvest

Támmûz

4

10

29

29

June 10-

July 9

1. New Moon

7. Fast. Taking of

Jeru-

salem by Titus

'Abh

5

11

30

30

July 9-

Aug. 7

1. New Moon

7. Fast. Destruction

of
the Temple

'Elûl

6

12

29

29

Aug. 8-

Sept. 6

1. New Moon

Tíshrî

7

1

30

30

Sept. 6-

Oct. 5

1-2. New Year's
Feast

10. Day of

Atonement

15-21. Feast of
Taber-

nacles. (Firstfruits of


wine and oil)

Márhéshwan

(Héshwan)

8

2

29+

29+

Oct. 6-

Nov. 4

1. New Moon

Kíslew

9

3

30-

30-

Nov.4-

Dec. 3

1. New Moon

25. Feast of the

Dedi-
cation of the Temple

Tebheth

10

4

29

29

Dec. 4-

Jan. 2

1. New Moon

7. Fast. Siege of

Jeru-
salem

Shebbat

11

5

30

30

Jan.2-

Jan. 31

1. New Moon

Página 3 de 4

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Jewish Calendar

29/06/2004

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03166a.htm

background image

FRANCIS E. GIGOT

Transcribed by Rick McCarty

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume III

Copyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company

Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight

Nihil Obstat, November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor

Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

'Âdar

12

6

29

29

Feb. 1-

March 2

1. New Moon

14, 15. Feast of
Purim

[We-'Âdar] (Inter-

calary)

(Inter-

calary)

(...)

(29)

March 3-

March 13

1. New Moon

14, 15. Feast of
Purim

----

354

----

384

Sponsored by The Catholic Company in conjunction with New Advent. All proceeds benefit the New Advent

website!

Da Vinci Hoax

$15.95

Buy Now

|

Read More

Kids Explore

Americas Catholic

Heritage

$9.95

Buy Now

|

Read More

The Essential

Handbook Set

$75.00

Buy Now

|

Read More

Vatican II - The

Real Story 2 CDs /

Tapes

$0.00

Buy Now

|

Read More

Baptismal Silver
Picture Frame

$12.95

Buy Now

|

Read More

Jesus With Children
(Vogel)

$0.00

Buy Now

|

Read More

Christ Bearing the
Cross (Palmezzano)

$0.00

Buy Now

|

Read More

San Damiano
Pedestal Cross

$0.00

Buy Now

|

Read More

Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. All rights reserved. Updated 15 September 2003.

Praise Jesus Christ in His Angels and in His Saints.

New Advent is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Click here to support this site and buy the

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA on CD-ROM

Buy with Credit Card

|

Buy using PayPal

|

More Info...

Página 4 de 4

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Jewish Calendar

29/06/2004

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03166a.htm


Wyszukiwarka

Podobne podstrony:
Catholic Encyclopedia Definition of 'Illuminati'
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol 16 [Supplement]
2013 09 2014 09 Jewish Calendar 5774
27F034d CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING montajefinal (2)
Calendar
Encyclopedia Biblica Vol 2 Jerusalem Job (book)
Encyclopedia Biblica Vol 2 En Rimmon Esau
calendar sticker page
Encyclopedia Biblica Vol 1 Bat Beth Basi
P90X Calendar (alternate)
Leaf and Apple Calendar Numbers
Encyclopedia Biblica Vol 2 Inscriptions Isle
Encyclopedia Wing Tsun Vol 2
Bauckham Jewish World around the New Testament
0347 0420, Hieronymus, Divina Bibliotheca 57 Beati Judae Epistola Catholica, MLT
VIC cipher Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asylum P90x Calendar
BIBLIOGRAPHY #6 Ignatius & the Catholic Reformation(1)

więcej podobnych podstron