Happy New Year 5770!To many, the date seems either way late or considerably early, and the four-digit number doesn't jive with the 2009 calendar year.But in Judaism worldwide, year 5770 of the Hebrew calendar began at sundown Friday.It's just one of a number of date and calendar differences being noted this week by observant Jews, ranging from the beginning of a new calendar year to the new-year commemoration of what is a holy religious period rather than a secular celebration of parties and fireworks."This time of year is the time when interest in the Jewish faith peaks," said Rabbi Benny Zippel of the Chabad Lubavitch of Utah.The Jewish New Year is called "Rosh Hashanah" — Hebrew for "head of the year." The Torah mandates that the new year begins on 1 Tishrei, the first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. The first 10 days of the month of Tishrei are called "the Days of Awe," leading to the 10th day of Yom Kippur, or "Day of Atonement.""Rosh Hashanah is the most auspicious time for a Jew to return to one's faith," said Rabbi Zippel, noting the 10 days are a period of personal introspection and a time for asking for — and granting — forgiveness.Rosh Hashanah activities include praying in the synagogue, refraining from work, eating festive meals with the challah bread, enjoying other symbolic foods such as apples dipped in honey and hearing the shofar, the blowing of a trumpet made from a ram's horn.The holiday can be commemorated over a two-day period, especially when 1 Tishrei falls on the seventh day of the week — Shabbat, or Sabbath — as it does this year."The shofar is the highlight of the (Rosh Hashanah) service," Rabbi Zippel said, "and the intensity and the awesomeness of the Shabbat itself supersedes and transcends the blowing of the shofar that day."While Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and other Jewish holidays fall on different dates each calendar year, they don't change dates on the Hebrew calendar.That's because of the different formats of the Gregorian calendar of the Western world and the Hebrew calendar of the Jews — the former being a solar-based calendar and the later a lunar one.Actually, the Hebrew calendar coincides with three astronomical phenomena — a day's period being one complete rotation of the Earth on its axis, a month being the rotation of the moon about the Earth (on average 29 1/2 days) and the revolution of the Earth about the sun (365 1/4 days or 12.4 lunar months).A lunar month begins when the first sliver of the moon — or crescent — is visible. Since the lunar period is 29 1/2 days long, then months on the Hebrew calendar are either 29 or 30 days.Lunar and solar periods don't match up annually, with 12.4 moons occurring during a solar cycle. So a 13th month is added to the Hebrew calendar seven times every 19 years.The 13-month calendar is called "Shanah Me'uberet" or "a pregnant year" — and provides a needed adjustment similar to the Gregorian calendar's "leap year" every fourth year.The Hebrew calendar is based on the number of years since the creation of the Earth, a total calculated by adding the ages of people and lineage referenced in the Bible and some 16 centuries ago becoming a fixed calendar based on mathematical and astronomical calculations.The calendar denotes four different "new years" — besides 1 Tishrei, 15 Shevat is the agriculturally oriented New Year for Trees, 1 Nisan is the first day of the first month of the Jewish calendar (used in designating the coming year's festival dates), and 1 Elul marks the start of a new year for the tithing of cattle.Multiple "new years" shouldn't seem so unsettling — consider the common designations of "calendar year," "school year" and "fiscal year."
- Calendar differencesSome general differences between the Western world's Gregorian calendar and Judaism's Hebrew calendar:DayGregorian: a set 24-hour period beginning at midnight
- Hebrew: begins when the sun sets, ends at the following sundown and does not have a fixed length of time
- MonthGregorian: either 30 or 31 days long, with the exception of February's typical 28 days
- Hebrew: either 29 or 30 days long, since the rotation of the moon around the Earth takes 29½ days
- YearGregorian: 365 days, with an additional day added every fourth year, since the revolution of the Earth around the sun takes 3651/4 days
- Hebrew: usually 12 months long, but since there are 12.4 lunar months in a solar cycle, a 13th month is added seven times in a 19-year cycle
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