Sukkot

Shalom!  Now that we have passed through the High Holy Days comprising Rosh Hashanah, The Ten Days of Awe, and Yom Kippur, we head into Sukkot, one of three God commanded Festivals.  Sukkot begins at sunset five days after Yom Kippur.  Because the Biblical/Jewish holidays are based on a lunar calendar, Holy Land Gifts offers a Biblical/Jewish calendar to help you track the holidays important to you.

The world runs on the Gregorian calendar but the Bible uses a lunar calendar. In the Bible, all days begin at sunset “…so there was evening and there was morning, one day.” Genesis 1:5b.  The purpose of a “week” is to tell which day is Shabbat (the Sabbath). In Hebrew the days are counted as Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Shabbat. Each month begins with the new moon. Not only in Bible times but right now, Jewish people continue to celebrate the beginning of each new month.  In Hebrew the beginning of the month is called Rosh Chodesh.  The year is determined by counting the number of years from the creation of the world and so we have just entered the Biblical year 5773 and the month of Tishri.

In order to keep the seasons in place, a Biblical/Jewish year can have either twelve or thirteen months.  The Jewish names of the months came from the Babylonians who were great astronomers.

Autumn- Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev

Winter-   Tevet, Shevat, Adar (Leap years contain Adar 1 & Adar 2)

Spring-    Nisan, Iyar, Sivan

Summer- Tamuz, Av, Elul

If you are interested in learning more about the Biblical lunar cycle as well as information on Israel and the Jewish Roots of Christianity, you will find the investment in the Holy Land Gifts Biblical/Jewish and Christian Holiday Calendar a must.