Understanding the Hebrew Calendar
Jonina Duker
Our Jewish ancestors’ families usually did know when they were born … in the Hebrew calendar. Just as one example, bar mitzvah dates weren’t scattershot in traditional communities. Researchers need to understand the Hebrew calendar to comprehend Jewish culture, historical sources, vital records kept by Jews, and sometimes naming choices. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously wrote “Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time… Jewish ritual … as architecture in time.....” Holidays, life-cycle celebrations, and liturgy are based on the Hebrew calendar. We will derive the basic structure of the Hebrew calendar; look at the astronomy involved; and how Jews have measured time throughout Jewish history. Come learn the basics of Hebrew days and Hebrew months; how to determine Hebrew birthdays and yahrzeit dates; Hebrew dates on tombstones; and the holiday cycle.
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