The Jewish Calendar [76] reckons the day from evening to evening, in
accordance with the order observed in the verse, “And it was evening
and it was morning, one day” (Gen. i. 5). The evening begins after
sunset, at the moment when stars become visible under normal conditions
of the atmosphere: at צאת הכוכבים “the coming forth of the stars,”
scil., of at least three stars of middle size.
The day is divided into evening, morning, and afternoon. With each of
these periods is connected an appropriate prayer or service, viz.,
Maarib or Evening-prayer, Shacharith or Morning-prayer, and Minchah or
Afternoon-prayer.
Seven days form a week. The days of the week are described in the Bible
and the Talmud simply as the first day, the second day, &c. Only the
seventh day has a second name, Yom ha-shabbath or shabbath, “the day of
rest,” or “the rest.” In post-Biblical literature the sixth day is
called Erebh shabbath or Ma’ale shabbatha, “the eve of Sabbath,” or
“the coming in of Sabbath.” The evening following Sabbath is named
Motseë shabbath, “the departure of Sabbath.” Similarly the day
preceding a Festival and the evening following it are called Erev
yom-tobh and Motseë yom-tobh, “the eve of the Festival.” and “the
departure of the Festival.”
Four weeks and one or two days make one month, חדש or ירח. The
length of the month is determined by the duration of one revolution of
the moon round the earth. Such revolution is completed in twenty-nine
days and a half. [77] As, however, the calendar mouth does not commence
in the middle of the day, but at the beginning of the evening, it was
necessary to add half a day to one month, and to take off half a day
from the next. The months have therefore alternately twenty-nine and
thirty days.
The months are named according to their order, the first month, the
second, &c.; the first being the first month in the spring. Other
names, implying agricultural and climatic relations, were likewise in
use, and the following four of them have been preserved in the Bible:
the first month is called Abib, “ears of corn;” the second Ziv,
“beauty;” the seventh Ethanim, “hardy fruit;” and the eighth, Bul,
“rain.” [78] Since the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile,
names of foreign origin have been in use, viz., Nisan, Iyar, Sivan,
Tammuz, Abh, Elul, Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tebheth, Shebhat and Adar.
[79] Roughly speaking, these months correspond to April, May, June,
July, August, September, October, November, December, January,
February, and March.
The year is either an ordinary year or a leap-year, the former
consisting of twelve, the latter of thirteen months. The extra month is
called Adar-sheni, “the second Adar,” and is added between Adar and
Nisan. It serves to adjust from time to time the lunar to the solar
year; [80] for there is between the lunar year—that is, the time of
twelve revolutions of the moon round the earth—and the solar year, or
the time of one revolution of the earth round the sun, a difference of
about eleven days, the one consisting of about 354⅓, the other of about
365¼ days. In nineteen years the difference amounts to about seven
months. We have therefore seven leap-years in every cycle (מחזור) of
nineteen years, viz., the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th.
Neither the ordinary years nor the leap-years have a uniform duration;
the former fluctuate between 353, 354, and 355 days; the latter between
383, 384, and 385 days. The following is the cause of this variety:
There are certain days in the week which are never made the beginning
of the new year (the 1st of Tishri). Whenever the astronomical
beginning of the year happens to be on one of these days, a day is
added to one year, and taken from the next. The addition in the former
case is made in the month of Cheshvan, and the curtailing in the latter
case in the month of Kislev. The length of the months is therefore as
follows:—Nisan, 30; Iyar, 29; Sivan, 30; Tammuz, 29; Abh, 30; Elul, 29;
Tishri, 30; Cheshvan, 29 or 30; Kislev, 30 or 29; Tebheth, 29; Shebhat,
30; Adar, 29, in leap-year 30; Adar-sheni (in leap-year), 29 days.
The first day of the month is called New-moon-day חדש [81] or ראש
חדש, “beginning of the month.” In those months which have thirty days,
the thirtieth day is likewise kept as Rosh-chodesh.
The beginning of the astronomical month is the moment of the
conjunction of sun and moon, [82] when the moon is exactly between the
earth and the sun. Nothing is then visible of the moon. Six hours at
least later a very small portion of the moon can, under favourable
conditions, be seen, and the day on which this takes place is the first
of the calendar month.
At first, from the earliest days down to Hillel II. (about 360 C.E.),
Rosh-chodesh was determined by direct observation. The highest court,
the great Sanhedrin, examined the witnesses who had noticed the
reappearance of the moon, and accordingly determined the first day of
the month by the solemn declaration, Mekuddash, “sanctified;” that is,
the day is to be kept as Rosh-chodesh. These proceedings took place on
the thirtieth day of the month. If witnesses presented themselves who
testified to the appearance of the new moon, and after due examination
their statement was found to be correct, the same day was proclaimed as
Rosh-chodesh, and the preceding month had twenty-nine days; if no
witnesses presented themselves, or the witnesses could not sustain
their evidence, the day was added to the expiring month, and the day
following was the first of the next month. The decision of the
Sanhedrin concerned only the thirtieth day of the month. As soon as
their decision was arrived at, Jewish congregations located within a
certain distance were informed by signal or by trustworthy messengers
which day had been fixed as the first of the new month. The decrees of
the Sanhedrin, the highest religious council of the nation, were
accepted by all Jewish congregations as law, and the Festivals were
celebrated in accordance with the New Moon thus appointed. There were,
however, Jewish congregations in distant parts that could not be
reached by the messengers in due time, and these were in doubt
concerning the day on which a Festival had to be celebrated. Being
anxious not to miss the day kept as a Festival on the authority of the
Sanhedrin by their brethren at the religious centre of the nation, the
Jews abroad observed two days as Holy-days instead of one; only the
Fast of the Day of Atonement had no additional day, because, being a
fast-day, the majority of the people were unable to abstain from food
for two consecutive days. New-year, on the other hand, was, as a rule,
everywhere observed two days, even in places near the seat of the
Sanhedrin, and sometimes even in the very place where the Sanhedrin
met, on account of the uncertainty whether the 30th of Elul or the day
following would be fixed by the Sanhedrin as Rosh ha-shanah. Though,
with regard to the most holy Festival, the uncertainty of the day
admitted of no remedy, this circumstance did not prevent our pious
ancestors from applying a remedy where it could be done.
It was not ignorance that led Jews outside Palestine to observe two
Holy-days instead of one. A rough calculation of the time in which the
various phenomena of the moon are to be noticed is not difficult, and
could be made by many Rabbis and laymen long before Hillel II. framed
the permanent Calendar. Nevertheless, two days were kept, because it
was impossible to calculate or anticipate all the accidental
circumstances that might cause the Sanhedrin to defer the fixing of
Rosh-chodesh for the next day.
Nor was it a decree of the Sanhedrin, or of a Rabbinical assembly, that
ordered the observance of יום טוב שני, “a second day of the
Festival.” This was done by the voluntary act of the nation, and their
resolution was confirmed by continued usage. It was the outcome of
genuine piety, of the earnest desire to be at one with the central
authority of the nation. The observance of יום טוב שני is so old that
no trace of its actual introduction can be discovered in the Talmud;
wherever mention is made of it, it is represented as an institution
already in existence. It may already have existed in the days of the
prophets, and traces of the celebration of a second day of Rosh-chodesh
may be recognised in the first book of Samuel (i. xx. 27).
This practice, which sprang from true fear and love of God, was
spontaneously adopted by all the Jews outside Palestine, continued by
generation after generation for more than two thousand years, and has,
as a minhag of long standing, become law. It is not a precept commanded
in the Written Law, or decreed in the Oral Law; it is only a minhag
“practice,” but a minhag that must be cherished and respected as a
national institution. There may come a time when the institution of
יום טוב שני will be abolished; this can, however, only be done by the
national will, confirmed by a Sanhedrin which will be recognised by the
whole nation as the only religious authority. Until then it is
incumbent upon us to adhere firmly to the observance of the second days
of the Festivals.