What is wrong with the Jewish calendar? Why are more and more Christians questioning whether the common calculated Jewish calendar is the correct calendar for God’s true Church?  Does the Jewish reckoning conflict with God’s rules for the calendar?  If so, how is that commonly accepted calendar contrary to the commands of the Holy Bible? 

As we set about to resolve these questions, it is helpful as an introduction to glimpse briefly into the history of the Jewish calendar, which is sometimes  described by various terms, including the “Hillel II Calendar,” the “calculated Rabbinical calendar,” and the “Hebrew calendar.”

A Brief Historical Glimpse

It is generally accepted that certain elements of the calculated Jewish calendar, commonly in use today, were codified in approximately 358 C. E. by the nasi (president of the Jewish Sanhedrin), Hillel II.[1]

“After the crushing of the revolt of the Jews … in 351-352 C.E. … new decrees were issued [by the Romans] against the internal authority of the [Jewish] communities, and also against the observance of Judaism.  The Roman government aspired to limit the privileges of the nasi and the freedom of action of the Sanhedrin in Tiberius.”[2]

The Encyclopaedia Judaica maintains that it was “because of the serious condition of the communities of Erez Israel and the deterioration of the Galilean center” that Hillel II conceded to the Roman government.  Whatever his actual motivations, history recounts that “Hillel II agreed in principle to limit the authority of the nasi and his functions in connection with the proclamation of the New Moon, the fixing of the festivals, and the intercalation of the year.  He thereupon published Sod ha-Ibbur (“The Secret of Intercalation”) and Kevi’uta de-Yarha (“The Fixing of the New Month”).”[3]

While stating that “it is not unreasonable to attribute to Hillel II the fixing of the regular order of intercalations,” Judaica concedes that "Hillel II’s full share in the present fixed calendar is doubtful.”[4]

The Encyclopaedia goes on to observe that “there is, on the other hand, unimpeachable evidence from the works of writers with expert knowledge of the calendar that the present ordo intercalationis [sequence of leap years] and epochal molad [see below] were not yet intrinsic parts of the calendar of Hillel II, these being seen still side by side with other styles of the ordo intercalationis and the molad as late as the eleventh century [CE].”[5]

Concurring, noted scholar Dr. Julian Obermann, Sterling Professor of Semitic Languages at Yale University, writes: 

“The plain fact is that, as seen by recent scholars, the system of the fixed calendar was not developed until fully three to four centuries after the close of the talmudic period, about A.D. 485.  Hence, there is nothing to be found in the writings of that period concerning the refined value of the solar year… Nor can anything be found in the Talmud about such weighty calendaric matters as the regulated succession of full and defective months within the year, the “four postponements” of New Year’s Day, the 19-year cycle, or the number and succession of intercalated years in this or any other cycle.  Above all, there is nothing known in the old sources about the First conjunction, the First spring equinox, let alone a First cycle, as starting points of calendaric computations.”[6]

Judaica adds: “Also the four dehiyyot [rules of postponement] developed gradually,” noting that the general acceptance of one of the four rules “is not earlier than the tenth century” – a rule which would have been “likely to have affected” another of the postponement rules.  However, “by the tenth century [CE] the Jewish calendar was exactly the same as today.”[7]

The Jewish Calendar of Today

In the simplest possible terms, what are the elements of the common calculated Jewish calendar which is in use today?  We will quote significantly from the Encyclopaedia Judaica, as well as from other respected sources:

The Chronology of the “Jewish Era”

Within the developed world, most consider that we have recently entered the 21^st century.  However, the year 2000 AD roughly paralleled the common Jewish calendar year 5760.  This Jewish numeration of the year is based upon an assumed date for the creation of man:

“All calendaric computations were now made to go back to the year of Creation, so that it is this year (3761 B.C.) from which all “given” data were to be taken.”[8]

“…the epochal molad…artificially go[es] back to the beginning of the Era of the Creation  and…places its epoch in the autumn…”[9]

Unfortunately, the Seder Olam [Order of the World], the 2nd century Jewish chronology from which the Jewish calendar's assumed creation date is derived, is noticeably and documentably flawed. Even within the orthodox Jewish community, scholars concede that in depicting the Persian period, the Seder Olam truncates what "is universally accepted by historians today" to have been a 207 year span (539 – 332 BC), to a mere 52 years.[10]

Similarly, Judaica admits that “a large error emerges in the Seder Olam author’s calculations of the Persian period,” remarking that “a number of attempts have been made to reconcile the Seder Olam with accepted historical data.”[11]

Whether this erroneous truncation of the Persian period may have been due to an innocent lack of access to historical/archeological data, rather than to a deliberate misguided effort to distort history for theological advantage, remains a matter of current debate. 

The Jewish Calendar's Day

“For ritual purposes, e.g., in reckoning the times fixed for prayers or the commencement and termination of the Sabbath, the day is deemed to begin at sunset or at the end of twilight ….”[12]

“But in the reckonings of the molad, the day is the equatorial day of 24 hours of unvarying length and is deemed to commence at 6 p.m., probably in terms of local Jerusalem time.”[13]

The Jewish Calendar's Week

Each week consists of seven days.  “Days of the week are designated by number, with only the seventh day, Sabbath, having a specific name.”[14]

The Jewish Calendar's Month

Although no one can be entirely certain, most authorities agree that the molad [Hebrew for “birth”] in the common Jewish calendar of today is intended to approximate the invisible lunar conjunction.  Hence, most modern Jews consider in broad terms that “a month is the period of time between one conjunction of the moon with the sun and the next.”[15]

However, it is very important to recognize that the progression of the moladim does not usually coincide exactly with the lunar conjunction, (nor with any phase of the moon).  There are two elements of this disparity:

• The calculated molad is based upon a constant period of time, approximating a mean average of the lunation; however, the duration of the actual lunation varies from month to month. 
  
  For instance, in the Jewish calendar, the period of time from one molad to the next molad is always 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3½ seconds.[16]  However, as we learned in Part Two of this series, in actuality, a given lunation can be as short as 29 days, 6 hours and 35 minutes, or as long as 29 days, 19 hours and 55 minutes.[17]

• Even as an average of the lunation, the calculated period between the Jewish calendar's moladim is slightly more than 29.53059 days, a bit longer than the astronomical mean average lunation of slightly less than 29.53059 days.  “Hence, the difference between the period of the molad and the astronomical period is about 0.456425 seconds per lunar month.”  This disparity continues to cause a very gradual drift of the molad away from the astronomical mean lunar conjunction, increasing about one hour in every 638 years.[18] 

Here above, we have seen that because the molad is an average of the lunar conjunction, it is not precise.  Thus the molad can occur on any of: the day before the conjunction, the day of the conjunction, or the day after the conjunction. 

Accordingly, without regard to the variability of the moon, “in the [Jewish] calendar…. the months Nisan, Sivan, Av, Tishri, Shevat and (in a leap year) Adar I are always male [“full” months, containing 30 days]; Iyyar, Tammuz, Elul, Tevet, and Adar (Adar II in a leap year) always haser [“defective” months, containing 29 days], while Heshvan and Kislev vary.”[19] 

Further, we have seen that even as an average, the common Jewish calendar’s molad is inexact, and does not precisely coincide with the astronomical mean conjunction.  Indeed, “there is a constantly widening gap between the time of the molad and the time of the astronomical mean conjunction.”[20] 

The Jewish Calendar's Postponements 

Before we proceed naively to assume that any given month of the common calculated Jewish calendar actually begins on the day of its molad, it is imperative to introduce the matter of the four dehiyyot, commonly referred to as “rules of postponement.” 

Acknowledging that “Tishri 1…is rarely the day of the molad,”  the Encyclopaedia Judaica mentions that “there are four obstacles or considerations, called dehiyyot, in fixing the first day of the month (rosh chodesh) [of Tishri].  Each dehiyyah defers Rosh Ha-Shanah by a day, and combined dehiyyot may cause a postponement of two days…”[21] 

U.S. Naval Observatory astronomer Doggett summarizes the four dehiyyot [postponements] as follows: 

• (a)  If the Tishri molad falls on day 1 [Sunday], 4 [Wednesday], or 6 [Friday], then Tishri 1 is postponed one day.
• (b)  If the Tishri molad occurs at or after 18 hours (i.e., noon), then Tishri 1 is postponed one day.  If this causes Tishri 1 to fall on day 1, 4, or 6, then Tishri 1 is postponed an additional day to satisfy dehiyyah (a).
• (c)  If the Tishri molad of an ordinary year (i.e., of twelve months) falls on day 3 [Tuesday] at or after 9 hours, 204 halakim [at or after about 3:11 a.m.], then Tishri 1 is postponed two days to day 5, thereby satisfying dehiyyah (a).
• (d)  If the first molad [the Tishri molad] following a leap year falls on day 2 [Monday] at or after 15 hours, 589 halakim  [at or after about 9:32 a.m.], then Tishri 1 is postponed one day to day 3 [Tuesday].[22] 

Since the calculated Jewish calendar is fixed according to a pre-established pattern, the dates during the remainder of each year are dependent upon whatever dates have been established for Tishri 1 of the current and immediately subsequent year. 

Various explanations for the postponements have been offered by Jewish leaders at various times.   Writing in the 12^th century CE, Maimonides, the renowned medieval Jewish Rabbanite authority also known as the Rambam, proclaimed “if the [molad] occurs in one of these four instances [Rosh HaShana] is not established on the day of the [molad], but rather on the day that follows, or on the day following that, as explained.”[23] 

However, in contrast to the erudite quality of much of his work, aspects of Maimonides’ explanation for the four postponements were both fanciful and contrived.  Maimonides posed:  “Why is [Rosh HaShana] not established [on the day of the molad] when it falls on Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday?  Because these calculations determine the conjunction of the sun and moon only according to their mean [rate of] progress, and do not [necessarily] reflect the true position [of the sun and moon in the celestial sphere], as explained.  Therefore, they instituted that [on] one day [Rosh HaShana] would be established and on the following day it would be postponed, so that they would ascertain the day when the true conjunction takes place…. This same principle, that the calculations are based on the mean rate of progress, is also the motivating factor for the other [of the] four reasons for the postponement.”[24] 

Of course, Maimonides’ suggestion as to the “motivating factor” for the postponements is nonsensical.  As students of astronomy are well aware, the true lunar conjunction is not confined to any particular days of the week.[25] 

Nonetheless, we find Eliyahu Touger, a modern Jewish scholar of some repute, suggesting: “In defense of the Rambam’s position, it must be noted that both earlier (Rabbenu Chanan’el) and subsequent (the P’nei Yehoshua) Talmudic commentaries understood the reasons given by the Talmud as being merely the external dimension for the calendar’s adjustment, while the inner meaning is associated with the actual position of the sun and the moon in the heavenly sphere.”[26] 

Yet the facts force Touger to the admission that “even according to this perspective, there is, however, a difficulty with the Rambam’s statements.  Although it is correct that the true positions of the sun and the moon often differ from the position determined by calculating their mean movement, the concept of postponing the celebration of Rosh HaShanah on these three days appears arbitrary and without any obvious connection to the movement of these bodies in the celestial sphere.”[27] 

Touger also points out that, differing from Maimonides’ rationale for the postponements, “the Talmud states that if Rosh Hashanah falls on either Wednesday or Friday, Yom Kippur will fall on either Friday or Sunday, and thus there would be two consecutive days, Yom Kippur and the Sabbath, when it would be forbidden to bury the dead.  In the Talmudic era, this could have caused a corpse to deteriorate, detracting from its honor and respect.”[28] 

“Alternatively, the Sages [sic] state that if Rosh Hashanah fell on any of these three days, there would be two successive days when it would be forbidden to pick fresh vegetables, and the people would be unable to celebrate the festivals or the Sabbath properly.”[29] 

Here again, we find inconsistent excuses for calendaric postponement.  Although the Talmudic "Sages" (at Rosh HaShana 20a) were purporting to prevent the perceived  “emergency” of  “the case of a festival which comes just before or just after Sabbath,” [30] the reality is that the common Jewish calendar continues to allow  such cases with regard to two of the annual festivals – Shavuot (Pentecost) and the Days of Unleavened Bread (its 7^th day)! 

For example, according to the common Jewish calendar: 

·        Shavuot (Pentecost) is routinely allowed to adjoin the Saturday Sabbath. 

For those who observe a Sunday Pentecost, yet retain the common calculated Jewish calendar, this irony is profound – because every observance of Pentecost adjoins the weekly Sabbath! 

However, even  for the majority of Jews who observe Shavuot on the 6^th of Sivan, the observance of Pentecost adjoining the Sabbath, on either Friday or Sunday, is quite common.  A sequence of a few years  to illustrate this incidence shows that in 1998, the 6^th of Sivan observance was on Sunday, May 31; in 1999, the observance was on Friday, May 21; in 2000, the observance was on Friday, June 9; in 2002, the observance was on Friday, May 17. 

·        The Last Holy Day of Unleavened Bread is routinely allowed to fall on Friday, adjoining the Saturday Sabbath.  As recently as 1998, Nisan 21 (the Last Day of Unleavened Bread) was observed on Friday, April 17^th, immediately adjoining the Saturday Sabbath. 

Going on, Touger enlarges, “Sukkah 43a gives another reason why Rosh Hashanah is not held on Sunday: were this to be the case, Hoshana Rabbah, the seventh day of Sukkot, would fall on the Sabbath.  In such an instance, restrictions were placed on the willow ritual in the Temple.  (See Hilchot Shofar, Sukkah V’Lulav 7:21-22)  To avoid such an instance, the Sages [sic] structured the calendar so that Rosh Hashanah never falls on Sunday.”[31] 

Here we should take note of the fact that the very existence of formulated restrictions for the willow ritual on the Sabbath speaks of a time without postponements.  (If the postponements had always been in place, Hoshana Rabbah, the seventh day of Sukkot, would never have fallen on the Sabbath, so restrictions for this occurrence would never have been needed or implemented.)  Although we find the concept of “forbidden days” mentioned in the Talmud, segments of the Mishnah definitively establish the absence of that rule of postponement during the Second Temple period, which includes the time of Christ. 

Another of the several Mishnaic examples establishing the absence of the “forbidden days” rule of postponement, pertains to the offering of the wave omer (or sheaf):  During the Second Temple period, the Jews reaped and processed the wave omer on the 16^th of Abib, the day immediately following the first day of Unleavened Bread.   However, an effect of the postponement rules of the common calculated Jewish calendar is to prevent the 15^th of Abib – the first day of Unleavened Bread – from occurring on any Friday.  Thus, using the common calculated Jewish calendar of today, the 16^th of Abib can never fall on the weekly Sabbath.  Yet in Menachoth 63b, the Mishnah documents discussion of procedures for processing the wave omer on the weekly Sabbath.[32] 

The Jewish Calendar's Year 

The year, according to the common Jewish calendar, more often than not, consists of 12 months. The ordinary year contains 353, 354, or 355 days and the leap (intercalary) year contains 383, 384, or 385 days.  The months are ordered as follows:[33]