How many months are there in a year? 12! Well, not always – this year the Hebrew calendar is having 13 months. Why is that?
The Hebrew or Jewish calendar is lunisolar: a day is based on the rotation of the Earth about its axis; a month is based on the revolution of the moon about the Earth; and a year is based on the revolution of the Earth about the sun. On average, the moon revolves around the Earth approximately 29.5 days and the Earth revolves around the sun approximately 365.25 days. That’s leaves us with a 12-month lunar year that is 11 days shorter than the solar year.
Why is the solar year so important to the Jewish calendar? The Jewish holidays are strongly related to seasons. Passover (פֶּסַח, pesax) must occur in the spring as it is referred to in the Torah as the Festival of Spring (חַג הָאָבִיב, xag ha’aviv). If the calendar is based solely on the moon, the holidays will not correlate with the right seasons.
Therefore, an additional 13th month is added to the Jewish calendar every few years. The added month is called Adar Alef (first Adar) and is added just before the month of Adar (called Adar Bet – second Adar in a leap year). Adar Bet is added seven times every nineteen years (in years 3, 6, 11, 14, 17, and 19). The leap year is fuller or longer than a regular 12-month year, therefore it is called שָׁנָה מְעֻבֶּרֶת (shana me’uberet) meaning literally a “pregnant year” – like a pregnant woman carrying inside her - a baby.
And why was the extra month chosen to be Adar? Originally, the Hebrew calendar began in Nissan, the month of the Passover holiday. The last month of the year was Adar. Therefore, it was decided to add a month to the final month of the year.
Adar Alef of the year תשע"א (5771) is about to begin on Saturday February 5th 2011 delaying the Adar holidays (Purim) to Adar Bet. Let us hope that this “pregnant” year is fertile, happy and peaceful.
להתראות!
Lehitra'ot!
שִׁירָה כֹּהֵן-רֶגֶב Shira Cohen-Regev
The eTeacherHebrew Team
Hebrew Words
יוֹם
Part of Speech: noun, masculine Transcription: yomyomyom Translation: daydaydayfkkf
חֹדֶשׁחֹדֶשׁ
Part of Speech: noun, masculine Transcription: xodeshxodesh Translation: month Origin: The word חֹדֶשׁ is derived from the word חדש (xadash, new) as the moon is being “renewed” every month.
שָׁנָהשָׁנָה
Part of Speech: noun, feminine Transcription: shana Translation: yearyear
שָׁנָה מְעֻבֶּרֶת
Transcription: shana me'uberet Translation: leap year
Origin: Shana Me’uberet literally means a pregnant year- it carries an extra month like a pregnant woman who carries a baby.
יָרֵחַ
Part of Speech: noun, masculine Transcription: yare'ax Translation: moon
יָרֵחַ מָלֵא
Transcription: yare'ax male Translation: full moon
שֶׁמֶשׁ, חַמָּה
Part of Speech: noun, feminine Transcription: yomyomshemesh, xama Translation: sun
The Hebrew Months
The months of the Jewish calendar are referred to mostly by number in the Bible, but were also given names almost identical to the names for the Babylonian months. Here is the list of the Hebrew months.
Transliteration
Hebrew
tishrey
marxeshvan/xeshvan
kislev
tevet
shvat
adar alef
adar/adar bet
nisan
iyar
sivan
tamuz
av
elul
תִּשׁרִי
מַרְחֶשְׁוָן/חֶשְׁוָן
כִּסְלֵו
טֵבֵת
שְׁבָט
אֲדָר א׳
אֲדָר / אֲדָר ב׳
נִיסָן
אִיָּר
סִיוָן
תַּמּוּז
אָב
אֱלוּל
Hebrew Song
Twelve Months
שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר יְרָחִים
Lyrics and Music: Naomi Shemer
מִלִּים וְלַחַן: נָעֳמִי שֶׁמֶר
Translation
Transliteration
On Tishrey the palm tree gave
Nice brownish fruit
On Chesvan the first rain fell
And danced on my roof
On Kislev a daffodil popped out
On Tevet it hailed
And on Shvat the sun broke forth
For one day.
A name of a settlement in the land of Judah: "And ascended up on the south side unto Kadesh-barnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar" (Joshua 15, 3). In the modern pronunciation of Hebrew, the name "אַדָּר" sounds like the name of the sixth Jewish month: "אֲדָר".
History:
Addar was one of Benjamin's offspring.
Citation:
"And the sons of Bela were Addar, and Gera, and Abihud." 1 Chronicles 8, 3
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