Jewish Calendar

The Jewish Calendar

The Jewish calendar was arranged around the different religious festivals which were commanded in the law of Moses. Each of these was linked to various stages in the agricultural year. This chart lists each of the months of the Jewish year and the western equivalent, together with the agricultural seasons and Jewish festivals.

	Month		Season	Special Days	Festival
1	Nisan (Abib) start of religious year	March – April	Flax harvest Spring rains	14th       Passover (Ex 12, Lev 23:5) 15-21st  Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:6) 21st        Passover – last day (Lev 23:8)	1   2
2	Iyyar	April – May	Barley harvest Dry season starts	14th       Later Passover (Num 9:11)
3	Sivan	May – June	Early figs ripen	6th         Pentecost (Weeks, Harvest)                  (Lev 23:15, Deut 16:9) (7 weeks after Passover)	3
4	Tammuz	June – July	Grape harvest
5	Ab	July – Aug	Early olive harvest Summer wheat
6	Elul	Aug – Sept	Dates Summer figs
7	Tishri start of civil year	Sept – Oct	First rains (former rains)	1st        Trumpets (Lev 23:24) 10th      Day of Atonement                   (Lev 16:29, 23:27) 15-21st Tabernacles (Booths) (Ingathering) (Lev 23:34, Deut 16:13) 21st       Tabernacles – last day	4 5   6     7
8	Marchesvan	Oct – Nov	Late olive harvest Winter figs Ploughing
9	Kislev	Nov – Dec	Sowing	25th       Feast of Light (Hanukkah) (1 Macc 4:52,59) (Dedication of the temple)
10	Tebeth	Dec – Jan	Rains and snow (latter rains)
11	Shebat	Jan – Feb	Almond blossom
12	Adar	Feb – March	Citrus fruit harvest	14th        Feast of Purim (Esther 9:16)
13	Ve-Adar (leap month)			Once every three years

* “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will chose: at the festival of unleavened bread, at the festival of weeks, and at the festival of booths” (Deut 16:16, also Ex 23:14-17)