Lunar Calendar Observance?

[The Thadman]

Is there anyone else out there who follows the Lunar Calendar?

For us, today (April 7th) is approximately the 19th of Adar Sheni, so Passover is still a ways away (The 1st of March actually).

Shlomo,
-Steve-o

 

[visionary]

Teach me about the different types of calendars?

 

[Henaynei]

Is there anyone else out there who follows the Lunar Calendar?

For us, today (April 7th) is approximately the 19th of Adar Sheni, so Passover is still a ways away (The 1st of March actually).

Shlomo,
-Steve-o

Do you mean the 1st of May??

I admit that we are still following the rabbinic calendar in most things....... I thought the barley WAS aviv already this year, no?? I also admit that I deleted the karaite email mistakenly and did not go to the site to retrieve it

 

[The Thadman]

Teach me about the different types of calendars?

There is one "Standard" Jewish calendar made by Hillel in the 3rd Century. It is based off of counting days instead of lunar cycles and has a 19 year leap cycle, where 7 of the 19 years have additional months. This is what most people consider the Jewish Calendar today.

Next there are several versions of a Lunar Calendar, which is based upon the first crescent of new moons to determine the start and ends of months, and leap years can differ depending on what system is employed. Some actually check the ripening of barley in Jerusalem, some use different 19 year leap cycles. The one that I currently adhere to uses the Pre-Hillel leap cycle, which shifts all Leap Months back by one year, which is probably closest to the cycle that Jesus used.

Shlomo,
-Steve-o

 

[The Thadman]

Do you mean the 1st of May??

I admit that we are still following the rabbinic calendar in most things....... I thought the barley WAS aviv already this year, no?? I also admit that I deleted the karaite email mistakenly and did not go to the site to retrieve it

Sorry you are correct, May

I long to switch over to the Barley-based cycle, which I plan to do next year after some thorough research. I'm not sure if it would work for us here in America if we were to observe the Jerusalem Abib, so in switching over I'd personally want to stick to the local Abib. This puts all of the festivals into their proper seasonal places. Additionally, there is no command to observe the Abib -in Jerusalem-, just the "Month of the Abib, the ripening of the barley."

Shlomo,
-Steve-o

 

[Henaynei]

Sorry you are correct, May

I long to switch over to the Barley-based cycle, which I plan to do next year after some thorough research. I'm not sure if it would work for us here in America if we were to observe the Jerusalem Abib, so in switching over I'd personally want to stick to the local Abib. This puts all of the festivals into their proper seasonal places. Additionally, there is no command to observe the Abib -in Jerusalem-, just the "Month of the Abib, the ripening of the barley."

Shlomo,
-Steve-o

Ahhh, but the center of the entire Law is Jeursalem, or at least Israel - the greater body of Torah can not be kept outside of Israel, without a Temple and without a priesthood.

L-rd quickly return and restore Your people, Your Land and Your Law!!

 

[EchadHashem]

Ahhh, but the center of the entire Law is Jeursalem, or at least Israel - the greater body of Torah can not be kept outside of Israel, without a Temple and without a priesthood.

Is this actually true? Help me out here. Which can we keep? Certainly we keep Shabbat. And we keep it according to local reports of sunset etc. How are we to see the Torah in the diaspora? Are there any instructions in the Tanach?

Shalom.

 

[Henaynei]

Is this actually true? Help me out here. Which can we keep? Certainly we keep Shabbat. And we keep it according to local reports of sunset etc. How are we to see the Torah in the diaspora? Are there any instructions in the Tanach?

Shalom.

Shalom, what I meant is that the center of G-d's universe and calendar is Jerusalem.

Originally, the new moon report was passed by signal fires. Once two righteous persons had brought a report of the sighting of the new moon to the Sanhedrin they commanded the signal fires to be lit and this way the report of when the new month started was passed throughout the Land. Once we were forced into the Diaspora signal fires would no longer work, for even in the best case scenario it could take a week for the message to reach distant lands. This is what instigated the creation of the mathmatical calendar which kinda coincided with the improved technology of an improved understanding of matmatics and the solar system - making the mathmatical calendar possible.

Now, in our day we see the resurrection to the signal fire technology. There is a group of people in Jerusalem who have taken on the task of sighting and reporting the occurance of the new moon. So, where, you ask, is the signal fire?? Why, the internet, of course!! I get the New Moon report via email every month as soon as the sighting has been verified by 2 or more witnesses. I also get the Aviv report in the spring - this is how it is determined if this will be a leap year - if the Barley is aviv (a particular stage in the ripening) by the New moon report for the month of Aviv then it is not a leap year and we have only one month of Adar (aka Aviv). If, however, the barley has not reached Aviv by that new moon we have Adar I and Adar II, followed by Nissan, the month of Pesakh.

Here is one site that is informative about the Jewish calendar. I have several more if you are wanting more information.

 

[EchadHashem]

I have several more if you are wanting more information.

More, Please , More

I am very interested in this subject. This page alone will take time to digest. One thing that interests me though...for some reason I thought the Tanach specified that the calendar should have the exodus as year 1. Is this true? I don't think creation should be year 1 according to the Tanach. hmmmmm....I'll have to track down the passage.

I think one of my questions remains though. If we keep Shabbat according to the local observation of sunset, why would we not keep the rest of the feasts acccording to local observations?

Shalom.

 

[Henaynei]

More, Please , More

I am very interested in this subject. This page alone will take time to digest. One thing that interests me though...for some reason I thought the Tanach specified that the calendar should have the exodus as year 1. Is this true? I don't think creation should be year 1 according to the Tanach. hmmmmm....I'll have to track down the passage.

I think one of my questions remains though. If we keep Shabbat according to the local observation of sunset, why would we not keep the rest of the feasts acccording to local observations?

Shalom.

No, it says to have Nissan, the month of the Exodus, as the first month. As you read and digest that paper you will find that there are actually 4 "firsts" of the year

Welcome to Judaism!! Even the year has more than two opinions!!!

 

[Henaynei]

I think one of my questions remains though. If we keep Shabbat according to the local observation of sunset, why would we not keep the rest of the feasts acccording to local observations?

Shalom.

Well, because we CAN, in our own countries, reasonably keep the months as a favorable approximation to the seasons/months in the Land, starting the month within a single rotation of the earth from it's start in Israel. However, it would be a source of great confusion if we tried to keep the same "day" times as in Israel, around the world.

It is worth note that where such issue does come into question, the times in Israel remain the rule of thumb. For example when Ilan Ramon flew in the shuttle, May his name be remembered in honor, the question came up on how to keep the timing of the prayers and Shabbat in orbit. The answer was disarmingly simple - but you can guess --- The Rabbis determined that he should keep the times of Jerusalem when in space.