Jewish astrologyAstrology in Jewish antiquity (מזלות = mazzalot) is the belief that celestial bodies can influence the affairs of individuals and of entire nations upon the earth. This involves the study of the celestial bodies' respective energies based on recurring patterns that change by the hour, by the week, month, year or by several years (time categories). In each of these time categories one of the seven planetary spheres, or what are known as the seven classical planets: the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, or Mars, along with the month's current Zodiac constellation, come into play and influence the sublunary world.
TishreiTishrei (ˈtɪʃreɪ) or Tishri (ˈtɪʃriː; tīšrē or tīšrī; from Akkadian tašrītu "beginning", from šurrû "to begin") is the first month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year (which starts on 1 Nisan) in the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian. It is a month of 30 days. Tishrei usually occurs in September–October on the Gregorian calendar. In the Hebrew Bible the month is called Ethanim (אֵתָנִים – ), or simply the seventh month.
CheshvanMarcheshvan (מַרְחֶשְׁוָן, Standard , Tiberian ; from Akkadian , literally, 'eighth month'), sometimes shortened to Cheshvan (חֶשְׁוָן, Standard Tiberian ), is the second month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei), and the eighth month of the ecclesiastical year (which starts on 1 Nisan) on the Hebrew calendar. In a regular () year, Marcheshvan has 29 days, but because of the Rosh Hashanah postponement rules, in some years, an additional day is added to Marcheshvan to make the year a "full" () year.
Babylonian calendarThe Babylonian calendar was a lunisolar calendar with years consisting of 12 lunar months, each beginning when a new crescent moon was first sighted low on the western horizon at sunset, plus an intercalary month inserted as needed by decree. The calendar is based on a Sumerian (Third Dynasty of Ur) predecessor preserved in the Umma calendar of Shulgi (c. 21st century BC). The year begins in spring, and is divided into 12 months. The word for "month" was arḫu (construct state araḫ).
NisanNisan (or Nissan; נִיסָן, Standard Nīsan, Tiberian Nīsān; from 𒌗𒁈𒍠𒃻 Nisanu) in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an Akkadian language borrowing, although ultimately originates in Sumerian nisag "first fruits". In the Hebrew calendar it is the first month of the ecclesiastical year, called the "first of the months of the year" (Book of Exodus 12:1-2), "first month" (Ex 12:14), and the month of Aviv (Ex 13:4) בְּחֹ֖דֶשׁ הָאָבִֽיב ḥōḏeš hā-’āḇîḇ).
AdarAdar (אֲדָר ʾAdār; from Akkadian adaru) is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar, roughly corresponding to the month of March in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 days. The month's name, like all the others from the Hebrew calendar, was adopted during the Babylonian captivity. In the Babylonian calendar the name was Araḫ Addaru or Adār ('Month of Adar').
PurimPurim (ˈpʊərɪm; פּוּרִים , lots; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther (usually dated to the 5th century BCE). Haman was the royal vizier to the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I; Khshayarsha and Artakhsher in Old Persian, respectively).
Hebrew calendarThe Hebrew calendar (הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits (dates to commemorate the death of a relative), and daily Psalm readings, among many ceremonial uses. In Israel, it is used for religious purposes, provides a time frame for agriculture, and is an official calendar for civil holidays alongside the Gregorian calendar.
613 commandmentsAccording to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments (taryag mitzvot). This tradition is first recorded in the 3rd century CE, when Rabbi Simlai mentioned it in a sermon that is recorded in Talmud Makkot 23b. Other classical sages who hold this view include Rabbi Simeon ben Azzai and Rabbi Eleazar ben Yose the Galilean. It is quoted in Midrash Exodus Rabbah 33:7, Numbers Rabbah 13:15–16; 18:21 and Talmud Yevamot 47b.
Jewish holidaysJewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or Yamim Tovim (, or singular יום טוב Yom Tov, in transliterated Hebrew [ˈjɔːm_ˈtɔːv,_joʊm_ˈtoʊv]), are holidays observed in Judaism and by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar. They include religious, cultural and national elements, derived from three sources: biblical mitzvot ("commandments"), rabbinic mandates, and the history of Judaism and the State of Israel. Jewish holidays occur on the same dates every year in the Hebrew calendar, but the dates vary in the Gregorian.
