The Calendar HaShem Gave The World
By Rabbi Shlomo Nachman © December 29, 2010 (last updated April 09, 2015)


HaShem's Day

Day of the Week

Pagan Days

Yom Rishon First DaySunday: Day to worship Sol Invictus (sun gods)
Yom Sheini Second Day Monday: Day to worship the Moon (moon gods)
Yom Shlishi Third DayTuesday: Day to worship Tiew (Mars)
Yom R'vi'i Fourth Day Wednesday: Day to worship Wodan (Mercury)
Yom Chamishi Fifth Day Thursday: Day to worship Thor (Jupiter)
Yom Shishi Sixth Day Friday: Day to worship Fria (Venus)
Yom Shabbat Sabbath DaySaturday: Day of Saturn:

(Scroll down for the months)

Sunday:

Monday:

Teusday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

Saturday:

Yom Tov: The Three Pilgrimage Festivals: Passover, Sukkot and Shavuot.

HaShem's Months Month Number Month Length Pagan Months
Nissan 1 30 days March-April: Months to honor of Mars and Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty and sexuality.
Iyar 2 29 days April-May: Months to honor Aphrodite and Maia, Italic goddess of spring
Sivan 3 30 days May-June: Months to honor Maia and Juno, Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods
Tammuz 4 29 days June-July: Months to honor Juno and Julius Caesar
Av 5 30 days July-August: Months to honor Julius and Augustus Caesar
Elul 6 29 days August-September: Months to honor Augustus Caesar / Septem: seventh
Tishri 7 30 days September-October: September: seventh and Octor: eighth
Cheshvan 8 29 or 30 days October-November: Octo: eighth and Novem: ninth
Kislev 9 30 or 29 days November-December: Novem: nine and Decem: ten
Tevet 10 29 days December-January: Decem: ten and Janus, Roman god of beginnings
Shevat 11 30 days January-February: Months to honor Janus and Februus, an old-Italian god
Adar I (leap years only) 12 30 days February-March: Months to honor Februus and Mars, Roman god of war
Adar (called Adar Beit in leap years) 12 (13 in leap years) 29 days February-March: Months to honor Februus and Mars, Roman god of war

Like the days of the week, other than Shabbat, The Hebrew months don't have names in the Tanach. They have numbers, counting from the month of Nissan, which is described as "the first month" at Exodus 12:2.

I Kings 6:2 refers to the month of Iyar as the "month of Ziv." The word "ziv" is an adjective and means "radiance." Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov explains that it is called "radiance" because in this month the sun is in full radiance. Similarly, the Jewish people came into full "radiance" in this month, for they were made ready to receive the Torah during this month.

I Kings 6:38 refers to the month of Cheshvan as "the month Bul," related to the word "baleh" which means, "withers," and the word "bolelin" which means "mixed." It is described in this fashion since the grass withers in this month, and the grain is mixed for the household livestock. The Radak explains that the word "bul" is related to "yevul" which means produce, since plowing and planting begins in this month.

Other names we use today are Babylonian in origin. They were adapted by the Jews some time during the Babylonian Exile, circa 400 CE. Ironically, the month of Tammuz is the name of an idol which appeared (via optical illusion) as if it was crying. This was achieved by putting soft lead into its eyes, and by kindling a small fire inside, which would melt the lead. This explains the reference in Ezekiel 8:14: "There were women sitting, causing the Tammuz to cry."

There are other opinions about the name of this month. Rashi says that the name Tammuz is an Aramaic word meaning "heat," since it is a hot summer month.

Another interesting note: Tammuz-17 was the name of the Iraqi nuclear reactor destroyed by Israel in 1981. It was so named because the 17th of Tammuz is the day that Jerusalem was sieged prior to the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, and Saddam Hussein was known to fancy himself as the heir to Nebuchadnezzar's fallen dynasty.

Even though the names of the months are linguistically speaking Babylonian, they were adopted by the Jews with the understanding that they were Divinely inspired names. They are laden with kabbalistic nuances. Based on this, the Sages expounded the names of the months - e.g. Elul is an acronym for "ani ledodi vedodi li" (I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me”), and Nisan is the month of "nissim" (miracles).

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