The Jewish Calendar And Days Of The Week

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(Christian Study Topics)

Months of the Jewish Year

jewish_calendar_300x300The “first month” of the Jewish calendar is the month of Nissan, in the spring, when Passover occurs. However, the Jewish New Year is in Tishri, the seventh month, and that is when the year number is increased. This concept of different starting points for a year is not as strange as it might seem at first glance. The American “new year” starts in January, but the new “school year” starts in September, and many businesses have “fiscal years” that start at various times of the year. Similarly, the Jewish calendar has different starting points for different purposes.

The names of the months of the Jewish calendar were adopted during the time of Ezra, after the return from the Babylonian exile. The names are actually Babylonian month names, brought back to Israel by the returning exiles. Note that most of the Bible refers to months by number, not by name. Source: www.jewfaq.org

 

Hebrew English Number Length Civil Equivalent
Nissan (in Hebrew) Nissan 1 30 days March-April
Iyar (in Hebrew) Iyar 2 29 days April-May
Sivan (in Hebrew) Sivan 3 30 days May-June
Tammuz (in Hebrew) Tammuz 4 29 days June-July
Av (in Hebrew) Av 5 30 days July-August
Elul (in Hebrew) Elul 6 29 days August-September
Tishri (in Hebrew) Tishri 7 30 days September-October
Cheshvan (in Hebrew) Cheshvan 8 29 or 30 days October-November
Kislev (in Hebrew) Kislev 9 30 or 29 days November-December
Tevet (in Hebrew) Tevet 10 29 days December-January
Shevat (in Hebrew) Shevat 11 30 days January-February
Adar I (in Hebrew) Adar I (leap years only) 12 30 days February-March
Adar (in Hebrew)
Adar II (in Hebrew)
Adar
(called Adar Beit in leap years)
12
(13 in leap years)
29 days February-March

Days of the Jewish Week

Other than Shabbat, the name of the seventh day of the week, the Jewish calendar doesn’t have names for the days of the week. The days of the week are simply known as first day, second day, third day, etc. Sometimes they are referred to more fully as First Day of the Sabbath, etc.

Source: www.jewfaq.org

Hebrew Transliteration English
Yom Rishon (Hebrew) Yom Rishon First Day (Sunday)
Yom Sheini (Hebrew) Yom Sheini Second Day (Monday)
Yom Shlishi (Hebrew) Yom Shlishi Third Day (Tuesday)
Yom R'vi'i (Hebrew) Yom R’vi’i Fourth Day (Wednesday)
Yom Chamishi (Hebrew) Yom Chamishi Fifth Day (Thursday)
Yom Shishi (Hebrew) Yom Shishi Sixth Day (Friday)
Yom Shabbat (Hebrew) Yom Shabbat Sabbath Day (Saturday)

 


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