New Year

Jewish Calendar

There are four New Years in Jewish tradition: the New Year for governments and festivals in the spring, the New Year for tithing animals in late summer, the New Year for calendars and spiritual renewal (Rosh Hashanah) in the fall, and the New Year for trees and planting in the end of winter.

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The Four New Years in Jewish Tradition

MISHNAH

The Jewish tradition recognizes four distinct New Years, each with its own specific purpose and significance. The Mishnah details these four New Years and their respective roles in the Jewish calendar.

They are four days in the year that serve as the New Year, each for a different purpose: On the first of Nisan is the New Year for kings; it is from this date that the years of a king’s rule are counted. And the first of Nisan is also the New Year for the order of the Festivals, as it determines which is considered the first Festival of the year and which the last. On the first of Elul is the New Year for animal tithes; all the animals born prior to that date belong to the previous tithe year and are tithed as a single unit…

Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1

Creation in Nissan or Tishrei?

REFERENCE

Rav argued that the Creation of the Universe took place in the month of Tishri. This text discusses Rav’s arrangement of the verses of מלכיות, זכרונות, שופרות recited during the Musaf service on Rosh Hashanah, known as ״תקיעתא דרב״ in the Talmud.

In the controversy whether the Creation of the Universe took place in the month of Nisan, which is called the first month in the Bible, or in the month of Tishri, when the Babylonians celebrated their New Year, Rav argued for “Tishri”. It is an accepted tradition also that Rav arranged the verses of the מלכיות, זכרונות, שופרות which we recite during “Musaf” on New Year, and in the Talmud they are called ״תקיעתא דרב״.

The Jewish Spiritual Heroes, Volume III; The Amoraim of Babylon and the Babylonian Talmud, Rav; Abba Arecha 159

Decoding the Four Beginnings

GUIDES

The Torah appears to contradict itself regarding the first month of the year, but the Sages resolved this by defining four different New Years, each with its own purpose. Adin Steinsaltz, a renowned modern scholar, elucidates the distinctions between these New Years, clarifying their respective roles in Jewish tradition.

If Rosh HaShana refers to the first month of the year, however, then it should refer not to Tishrei, but to Nisan. In Nisan, prior to the exodus from Egypt, God explicitly instructed Moses: “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you” (Exodus 12:2). The Torah consistently lists months as the first, the second, etc., counting from Nisan. The Sages resolved this apparent contradiction by distinguishing between four different New Years, each on a different date, depending on what type of year is being discussed…

Introductions to the Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah, Introduction to Rosh Hashanah 2

Determining the New Year for Trees

TOSEFTA

The criteria for determining the New Year for trees, especially those that produce multiple crops per year, are crucial for understanding agricultural laws in Jewish tradition. The Tosefta, an ancient collection of Jewish oral law, provides detailed guidelines for the New Year for Trees, known as Tu BiShvat, which is essential for tithing fruits.

Any tree on which fruits formed before the fifteenth of Shevat, behold, they belong to the prior year. After the fifteenth, behold, they belong to the coming year. Rabbi Nehemiah says, in what case does this apply? As to a tree that produces two crops per year, but as to a tree that only produces one crop per year, such as olive trees and date trees and carob trees, even though their fruits formed before the fifteenth of Shevat, [they are treated] as though they did not form until after the fifteenth of Shevat.

Tosefta Sheviit 4:13

The New Year for Kings

TALMUD

The New Year for kings is important for determining the validity of documents. The Gemara discusses the necessity of a fixed date to count the years of a king's rule, as explained by Rav Ḥisda.

GEMARA: The New Year for kings; with regard to what halakha is it mentioned in the mishna? Why is it necessary to set a specific date to count the years of a king’s rule, rather than counting them from the day that he ascends to the throne? Rav Ḥisda said: It is for determining the validity of documents.

Rosh Hashanah 2a:5

The Evolution of Rosh Hashanah

HALAKHAH

The observance of Rosh Hashanah over two days has a rich historical development and specific rabbinic rulings that shape its current practice. This text explores the transition from a witness-based calendar to a fixed one and the rabbinic rulings that led to the two-day observance of Rosh Hashanah.

Eventually, the practice of sanctifying the month through witnesses was annulled, and Hillel the Second set the calendar with predetermined months and years. In the mid-fourth century, the doubt about the date was removed, and the Jews everywhere celebrated Rosh Hashanah on one day only. This was the case for several hundred years, but the Sages of Provence, followed by the major medieval rabbis – the Rif, Ramban, and Rosh – ruled that they must observe two days, because we must not stray from ancestral tradition…

From Sinai to Ethiopia, Shulhan haOrit; The Halakhah of Ethiopian Jewry, Then and Now, 4 Holidays and Festivals 13:6

The 15th of Shevat

TALMUD

The 15th of Shevat is when the New Year for trees starts. The Jerusalem Talmud discusses this date, even considering intercalary years, in relation to tithing and the age of trees.

Rebbi Jeremiah, Rebbi Ammi, in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan. Rebbi Simon in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: Everybody agrees that its New Year is the 15th of Šebaṭ. Rebbi Joḥanan asked Rebbi Jonathan: According to years or according to seasons? He said to him, according to years and even in an intercalary year.

Jerusalem Talmud Bikkurim 2:4:4

Passover and the Spring Equinox

COMMENTARY

The alignment of Passover with the spring equinox is crucial for maintaining the Jewish lunar calendar and reflecting the season of renewal. Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, a 16th-century Italian rabbi, explains the meticulous calculation by the sages to ensure Passover coincides with the spring equinox.

בחודש האביב, the reason that the Passover festival is to be observed in spring is so that it will coincide with the legislation of marking the lunar new year with the month of spring, the month of rejuvenation. Our sages have been very careful when calculating a permanent calendar to ensure that Passover never occurs before the spring equinox.

Sforno on Exodus 13:4:1

Nissan The Month of Beginnings

MIDRASH

Nissan is not just any month; it marks the beginning of months, the reign of kings, and the cycle of festivals in the Jewish calendar. The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, an early halachic midrash on Exodus, derives these significant roles of Nissan from specific biblical verses.

(Exodus 12:2) "The beginning of the months": We are hereby apprised that Nissan is the beginning for the months. And whence do we derive (the same for) the reign of kings? From (I Kings 6:1) "In the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv (Iyyar), the second month," (his reign having begun with the first month, Nissan). And whence do we derive (the same for) festivals (i.e., that one is not in transgression of delaying his vows until three consecutive festivals have passed)? From (Devarim 16:16) "… the festival of matzoth (in Nissan), and the festival of Shavuoth…

Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Pischa 2:6

From "Hageinu", Zeev Raban, 1928

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