Hillel II – Calculations of Leap Year (Hebrew Calendar)
“In the fourth century, Hillel II established a fixed calendar based on mathematical and astronomical calculations. This calendar, still in use, standardized the length of months and the addition of months over the course of a 19 year cycle, so that the lunar calendar realigns with the solar years. Adar II is added in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of the cycle. The new year that began Monday, September 25, 1995 (Jewish calendar year 5756) was the 18th year of the cycle. Jewish year 5758 (beginning October 2, 1997) will be the first year of the next cycle.”
The Hillel II calendar (general) posted by NAPHTALI, 08.09.2007
The Hillel II calendar is deliberately manipulated, one will not be able to secure the correct time from it except by perhaps offsetting errors, which only rarely occur.
“Hillel II Calendar -- This is the calendar in present use in Traditional Judaism. In it the year is ostensibly divided into four cycles named Tekufoth: (1) the Tekufah of Nisan (Vernal Equinox), (2) Tammuz (Summer Solstice), (3) Tishri (Autumn Equinox), (4) Tevet, Tebeth (Winter Solstice). The nomenclature Tekufah is also affixed to the season itself The Hillel II however does not always abide by the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. The full of Nisan may occur as early as two weeks prior to the vernal (spring equinox, approximately March 20-22). This early displacement for the New moon of Nisan is acceptable, as it would prevent Shavuot from falling in the summer season (i.e. going beyond June 21st). The Hillel II is luni-solar, the years being solar and the months lunar, however it also provides for a week consisting of seven days. The Sun also determines seasons. Equatorial bands have two, rainy and dry. At higher latitudes the Sun begets Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. At polar latitudes the return is to two, always frigid and clothed in light or darkness for extended periods Because the solar year exceeds the 12 month lunar year by approximately 11 days, a thirteenth month of 30 days is intercalated in the third, sixth, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years. For practical purposes e.g. for reckoning the start of the Sabbath, the day begins at sunset, but the calendar day of 24 hours is referenced to a start time of 6 PM. The hour is divided into 1080 parts (chalaqim; this division is originally Babylonian), each part (cheleq) equaling 3.33 seconds. The cheleq is subdivided into 76 regaim. The synodic month is the mean time interval between two mean conjunctions of the Sun and Moon, when these bodies are as close as possible in the sky, which is reckoned at 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and 3.33 seconds. The conjunction is called a molad. This too is a Babylonian derivative. In the calendar month only complete days are recognized, the full month containing 30 days and the deficient or defective month 29 days. ..”
When was Judaism Introduced?
** Please note that Judaism was introduced around the same time that Hillel II came up with the leap year calculations for the Hebrew Lunar Calendar (During the 3rd-4th century).
The age of the amoraim: the making of the Talmuds (3rd–6th century)
Palestine (c. 220–c. 400)
The promulgation of the Mishna initiated the period of the amoraim (lecturers or interpreters), teachers who made the Mishna the basic text of legal exegesis. The curriculum now centered on the elucidation of the text of the standard compilation, harmonization of its decisions with extra-Mishnaic traditions recorded in other collections, and the application of its principles to new situations. Amoraic studies have been preserved in two running commentaries on the Mishna, known as the Palestinian (or Jerusalem) Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud, ... (100 of 86974 words)
The excerpt above shows that Judaism was created in the 3rd-6th centuries. Their practices surround that of the Talmud writings. The Talmud is not the same as the Torah.
The calendar in Jewish history Present knowledge of the Jewish calendar in use before the period of the Babylonian Exile is both limited and uncertain. The Bible refers to calendar matters only incidentally, and the dating of components of Mosaic Law (Torah) remains doubtful. The earliest datable source for the Hebrew calendar is the Gezer calendar, written probably in the age of Solomon, in the late 10th century bce. The inscription indicates the length of main agricultural tasks within the cycle of 12 lunations. The calendar term here is yereaḥ, which in Hebrew
Background and History The Jewish calendar is primarily lunar, with each month beginning on the new moon, when the first sliver of moon becomes visible after the dark of the moon. In ancient times, the new months used to be determined by observation. When people observed the new moon, they would notify the Sanhedrin. When the Sanhedrin heard testimony from two independent, reliable eyewitnesses that the new moon occurred on a certain date, they would declare the rosh chodesh (first of the month) and send out messengers to tell people when the month began.
The problem with strictly lunar calendars is that there are approximately 12.4 lunar months in every solar year, so a 12-month lunar calendar loses about 11 days every year and a 13-month lunar gains about 19 days every year. The months on such a calendar "drift" relative to the solar year. On a 12 month calendar, the month of Nissan, which is supposed to occur in the Spring, occurs 11 days earlier each year, eventually occurring in the Winter, the Fall, the Summer, and then the Spring again. To compensate for this drift, an extra month was occasionally added: a second month of Adar. The month of Nissan would occur 11 days earlier for two or three years, and then would jump forward 29 or 30 days, balancing out the drift.
In the fourth century, Hillel II established a fixed calendar based on mathematical and astronomical calculations. This calendar, still in use, standardized the length of months and the addition of months over the course of a 19 year cycle, so that the lunar calendar realigns with the solar years. Adar II is added in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of the cycle. The new year that began Monday, September 25, 1995 (Jewish calendar year 5756) was the 18th year of the cycle. Jewish year 5758 (beginning October 2, 1997) will be the first year of the next cycle.
In addition, Yom Kippur should not fall adjacent to a Sabbath, because this would cause difficulties in coordinating the fast with the Sabbath, and Hoshanah Rabba should not fall on Saturday because it would interfere with the holiday's observances. A day is added to the month of Heshvan or subtracted from the month of Kislev of the previous year to prevent these things from happening.
Numbering of Jewish Years The year number on the Jewish calendar represents the number of years since creation, as calculated by adding up the ages of people in the Bible back to the time of creation. However, it is important to note that this date is not necessarily supposed to represent a scientific fact. For example, many Orthodox Jews will readily acknowledge that the seven "days" of creation are not necessarily 24-hour days (indeed, a 24-hour day would be meaningless until the creation of the sun on the fourth "day").
Jews do not generally use the words "A.D." and "B.C." to refer to the years on the Gregorian calendar. "A.D." means "the year of our L-rd," and we do not believe Jesus is the L-rd. Instead, we use the abbreviations C.E. (Common or Christian Era) and B.C.E. (Before the Common Era).
Months of the Jewish Year The "first month" of the Jewish calendar is the month of Nissan, in the spring, when Passover occurs. However, the Jewish New Year is in Tishri, the seventh month, and that is when the year number is increased. This concept of different starting points for a year is not as strange as it might seem at first glance. The American "new year" starts in January, but the new "school year" starts in September, and many businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year. Similarly, the Jewish calendar has different starting points for different purposes.
The Jewish calendar has the following months with the leap year calculations:
In leap years, Adar has 30 days. In non-leap years, Adar has 29 days.
The length of Heshvan and Kislev are determined by complex calculations involving the time of day of the full moon of the following year's Tishri and the day of the week that Tishri would occur in the following year. I won't pretend to understand the mathematics involved, and I don't particularly recommend trying to figure it out. There are plenty of easily accessible computer programs that will calculate the Jewish calendar for more than a millennium to come.
Note that the number of days between Nissan and Tishri is always the same. Because of this, the time from the first major festival (Passover in Nissan) to the last major festival (Sukkot in Tishri) is always the same.
Now, this same Hillel II character is held in high regard and referenced by the so called “Jews”. See the link to Source: Judaism 101. On that page you will notice the satanic symbol known as “The Star of David”. There is a link on that page called Signs and Symbols. On that page you can see a reference to something as simple as head coverings. A portion of that text reads:
“YarmulkeCover your head so that the fear of heaven may be upon you. -Talmud Shabbat 156b R. Huna son of R. Joshua would not walk four cubits bareheaded, saying: The Shechinah [Divine Presence] is above my head. -Talmud Kiddushin 31a R. Huna son of R. Joshua said: May I be rewarded for never walking four cubits bareheaded. -Talmud Shabbat 118b
The most commonly known and recognized piece of Jewish garb is actually the one with the least religious significance. The word yarmulke (usually, but not really correctly, pronounced yammica) is Yiddish. According to Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish, it comes from a Tartar word meaning skullcap. According to some Orthodox and Chasidicrabbis I know, it comes from the Aramaic words "yerai malka" (fear of or respect for The King). The Hebrew word for this head covering is kippah (pronounced key-pah).
It is an ancient practice for Jews to cover their heads during prayer. This probably derives from the fact that in Eastern cultures, it is a sign of respect to cover the head (the custom in Western cultures is the opposite: it is a sign of respect to remove one's hat). Thus, by covering the head during prayer, one showed respect for G-d. In addition, in ancient Rome, servants were required to cover their heads while free men did not; thus, Jews covered their heads to show that they were servants of G-d. In medieval times, Jews covered their heads as a reminder that G-d is always above them.
Whatever the reason given, however, covering the head has always been regarded more as a custom rather than a commandment. Although it is a common pious practice to cover the head at all times, it is not religiously mandatory. For example, it is widely accepted that one may refrain from wearing a head covering at work if your employer requires it (for reasons of safety, uniformity, or to reduce distractions). You can take off your yarmulke for a job interview if you think it will hurt your chances of getting the job. There is an amusing article about this dilemma, The Kippah Debate, at Aish.com. “
In the Bible, 1 Corinthians 11:4 states “Every man praying or prophesying having his head covered brings shame to his Head.” We know that the man’s head is the Messiah. So, with that said, why would we follow the sect of scholars who do not honor the laws of the true living Creator (The Most High of Israel)?
They claim to be Israel, yet they do not follow His commandments. Instead, their customs takes precedence. So, this goes into my next point. Hillel II calculates a 13th month to help offset lunar calendar. This religious authority made the changes to stay in alignment with the Babylonian calendar. This right here throws up a red flag.
1. Why does man feel that he needs to help The Most High Creator of all Living things with his calendar? Is the Most High’s creation and ways not good enough for us to trust and follow, so much that a man must implement a change to fix what the Most High created? Basically, Hillel is saying there is a flaw in the calculations of the lunar calendar, so we need to implement a new month to fix it what the Most High started.
2. Why is this man trying to stay in alignment with the solar calendar? The Babylonian calendar, their ways of worship and religious practices gives honor to pagan deities, namely the Sun.
3. Why are we following a man whose religious authority is the same of those who do not honor the Most High’s commands, but gives honor to customs and traditions instead?
4. Why was the change needed in the 4th century? What took place before the 4th century? Did our forefathers falter in following the commandments of the Most High, because this leap year was not in place prior to the 4th century?
We must ask ourselves these very things, because the deception of the enemy is deep. As the Most High leads His people who are truly and diligently seeking the truth, we can begin to see that man has changed signs, seasons and appointed times to that which is against the origins of our Creator.
These same rabbinical scholars who changed the calendars and devised customary statutes for the Children of Israel to follow where also the same scholars that were challenged during the time our Messiah walked this earth in His first coming. They sought to kill our Master because He exposed truth to the people. We were to walk in accordance to our Heavenly Father’s commands, not according to man’s traditions.
What do we do to turn away from this? What is the right way to follow the calendar?
The Most High is awesome in all His ways. He is merciful and righteous and true. As we are guided in truth, we must choose to turn away from the deceptions of the enemy and apply Ahayah’s true knowledge into our lives. That is what a true servant of the Most High will do.
The Most High has created His laws and statutes that even a small child can follow. The new moon, which signifies the beginning of every new month, can be identified with a naked eye. The sky will be pitch black and the first sign of the moon having the sliver of light to the right side of the moon begins the new month. Essentially, the pitch blackness of the moon is the new moon, but with a naked eye, it is easiest to identify that it is a new moon when we spot the sliver of light on right hand side of the moon.
Now, with our ability to discerning the seasons, we can identify when the first of the year truly begins, because it will always begin in the spring when the barley is ready to soon be harvested. After all, spring is symbolic for life, as that is when life springs forward for the plants and so forth.
Notice how the scriptures always give parables to the ways of a farmer. So the month of “Abib” in Hebrew means “Barley harvest”. (Hebrew is the original language, so going back to the origins and the meaning of names is what will give us proper discernment to the truth. The translations of Hebrew to English and Latin can distort the true meaning in their translations. (So it would be wise to start training ourselves to learn Hebrew.)
Now, we have to take into account that the reference of the barley harvest would have to be relevant to the actions in our Homeland which is in Israel. So you ask yourself, “How would I know? I am not in Israel?”
This knowledge that has been presented to our people has not only occurred in the last days, but during a time in which we are in the ‘Information Age’. We can locate this information very easily. With the internet at our fingertips, it is not difficult to research and find the reports as to when the barley started in Israel.
Even with that said, the barley harvest always starts in the spring which occurs during the months of March/April. None-the-less, we can always count 12 new moons from the previous year and get an idea as to when the New Year will begin. Essentially, the barley harvest usually always falls in the months of March/April. It would be very difficult for spring to start in the winter, as many rabbinical scholars would propose in support of their leap year calculations implemented by Hillel II. The Mosth High created 12 new moons to occur and we can watch when the Barley will begin to be harvested. We work around the Most High’s creation. He is perfect in all His ways. With the Hillel II calculations, again, are we saying that the Most High flawed in His commandments and in His creation? The months and the seasons remains the same, until the destruction that comes in the last days. That is when we will see the changes in His creation.
So, as we come into this knowledge of the calendar, we must calculate based on the lunar calendar and the seasonal events which occur in our Homeland, Israel. Again, we have the internet at our fingertips to check the reports of when the barley harvest begins to support the calculations. The Most High outlined the signs and the seasons in the book of Enoch. Nowhere does it state in scriptures that there is a thirteenth month and nowhere do we find the month of Adar II being mentioned anywhere in the scriptural writings. Our Heavenly Father is righteous and true.
What did our Forefathers follow prior to the leap year calculations? What was that calendar called?
Answer: The earliest Hebrew calendar discovered was called the “Gezer Calendar”. Many archaeologists believe that this artifact was inscribed around the 10th century (1,000 BC) during King David or Solomon’s timeline. This was around well before the 3rd and 4th century of Hillel II’s timeline. This artifact can prove what the number of months were calculated during that time frame. Unfortunately, I am still learning the original Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. Once I learn the inscriptions I will be able to decipher exactly what is written around the original calendar recorded in History.
• This small limestone tablet contains a list of months according to the agricultural activities that occurred during each. The list begins at an unusual point in the yearly agricultural cycle: during the fruit harvest. It would seem to coincide with the autumnal Hebrew New Year, the subsequent Festival of the (Olive) Harvest, and/or with the autumnal equinox. Orthographic (spelling) and linguistic analyses have placed the text somewhere between Byblian (Phoenician) and Archaic Hebrew along the spectrum of ancient Canaanite languages. Good arguments can be made in either direction, so the precise identification is uncertain. If the text of the Gezer calendar were Hebrew, then its dialect predates the complete spread of the Jerusalem dialect, which later became the main Hebrew dialect. Its author is quite possibly an Israelite in light of the name of the scribe, “Aviyah,” in the margin, which means “Yah is my father” (Yah is a shortened form of “Yahweh,” the name of the Israelite God. It also might contain a pun at its end on the words “qayiz/qez,” or “summer/end” that is paralleled a couple hundred years later in the writings of the prophet Amos (8:1-2).
• Some scholars have suggested that the Gezer Calendar was a peasant’s almanac or a schoolboy’s writing exercise, in which case it could be a poem that was taught to remember the names of the months, a simple choice for a practice text. Although this interpretation fits the material of the tablet, a limestone surface that is easily scraped for reuse, and its shape, with a hole for one finger and indent for another, it implies that literacy was a widespread phenomenon at a rather early date. That objection is not strong enough to keep the writer’s learning tablet option as the primary theory, since it may have been used by a young scribe in training. An alternative suggestion is that the text was a sort of blessing tablet, placed in a local temple to be a constant reminder before Yahweh or another god to bless the crops in their seasons. Professor Ian Young, of the University of Sidney, compares the unusual language used in the Gezer Calendar to stylistically archaic passages of poetry in the Bible. He sees this connection as good proof to believe, like William F. Albright, that the text is a poem of the agricultural year and that it is written in a recognizable Hebrew poetic style.
Circumstances of Discovery and Acquisition: The tablet was discovered in 1908 during excavations at Gezer by the British archaeologist R.A.S. Macalister. He dug there from 1902 to 1909 as Director of the Palestine Exploration Fund, marking the beginning of scientific archaeology in Palestine. In an attempt to save the antiquities of Palestine from plunder and in the hope of discovering an archive, he led a brutish excavation that dug across the tel in wide trenches, dumping the refuse from one trench into the previous. Not only did he lack professional workers, but his methods did not allow for enough collection of information for reinterpretation by later archaeologists, nor for adequate exposure of strata from different parts of the site to ensure a solid stratigraphy. The Gezer Calendar proved to be the crown jewel of his efforts there.
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When do we determine the 1st month is the month of Abib? Do we reference the new moon that comes in the same month when the barley is ready to be harvested or after it is ready to be harvested?
We know from several passages that barley which is in the state of Abib has not completely ripened, but has ripened enough so that its seeds can be eaten parched in fire. Parched barley was a commonly eaten food in ancient Israel and is mentioned in numerous passages in the Hebrew Bible as either "Abib parched (Kalui) in fire" (Lev 2,14) or in the abbreviated form "parched (Kalui/ Kali)" (Lev 23,14; Jos 5,11; 1Sam 17,17; 1Sam 25,18; 2Sam 17,28; Ruth 2,14).
While still early in its development, barley has not yet produced large enough and firm enough seeds to produce food through parching. This early in its development, when the "head" has just come out of the shaft, the seeds are not substantial enough to produce any food. At a later stage, the seeds have grown in size and have filled with liquid. At this point the seeds will shrivel up when parched and will only produce empty skins. Over time the liquid is replaced with dry material and when enough dry material has amassed the seeds will be able to yield "barley parched in fire".
Abib and the Harvest
The month of the Abib is the month which commences after the barley has reached the stage of Abib. 2-3 weeks after the beginning of the month the barley has moved beyond the stage of Abib and is ready to be brought as the "wave-sheaf offering" (Hanafat HaOmer). The "wave-sheaf offering" is a sacrifice brought from the first stalks cut in the harvest and is brought on the Sunday which falls out during Passover (Hag HaMatzot). This is described in Lev 23,10-11:
"When you come to the land which I give you, and harvest its harvest, you will bring the sheaf of the beginning of your harvest to the priest. And he will wave the sheaf before YHWH so you will be accepted; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest will wave it."
From this it is clear that the barley, which was Abib at the beginning of the month, has become harvest-ready 15-21 days later (i.e by the Sunday during Passover). Therefore, the month of the Abib can not begin unless the barley has reached a stage where it will be harvest-ready 2-3 weeks later.
That the barley must be harvest-ready 2-3 weeks into the month of the Abib is also clear from Dt 16,9 which states:
"From when the sickle commences on the standing grain you will begin to count seven weeks."
From Lev 23,15 we know that the seven weeks between Passover (Hag Hamatzot) and Pentecost (Shavuot) begin on the day when the wave-sheaf offering is brought (i.e. the Sunday which falls out during Passover):
"And you shall count from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the sheaf of waving; they will be seven complete Sabbaths."
Therefore, the "sickle commences on the standing grain" on the Sunday during Passover, i.e. 2-3 weeks after the beginning of the month of the Abib. If the barley is not developed enough so that it will be ready for the sickle 2-3 weeks later, then the month of the Abib can not begin and we must wait till the following month.
It should be noted that not all the barley ripens in the Land of Israel at the same time. The wave-sheaf offering is a national sacrifice brought from the first fields to become harvest-ready. However, the first-fruit offerings brought by individual farmers can vary in ripeness anywhere from "Abib parched in fire" to fully ripe grain which may be brought "crushed" or "coarsely ground". This is what is meant in Lev 2,14:
"And when you bring a first-fruit offering to YHWH; you shall bring your first-fruit offering as Abib parched in fire or crushed Carmel" (Carmel is grain which has hardened beyond Abib to the point where it can be "crushed" or "coarsely ground").
All of the above passages have been translated directly from the Hebrew and it is worth noting that the King James translators seem to have only understood the various Hebrew agricultural terms very poorly. In Lev 2,14 they translated Carmel as "full ears" and "Abib" as "green ears" whereas in Lev 23,14 they translated Carmel as "green ears"!
The barley was identified as actually ready for harvest on March 22, 2011. The new moon of that month started March 5/6th, 2011. In February 2011, it was determined that the barley was going to be ready for harvest in March. Many Jewish scholars that go by the leap year calculations will start the new moon that is closes to the Spring Equinox, thus causing them to start their calculations a month later (13th month). If we go by the Most High’s calculations, the new year started March 5/6th of 2011.
The Firsts (Resheet) of the Barley Harvest - Photos from Israel
March 22, 2011 C.E. Ripening barley does not determine when a Hebrew Year begins, the sun and the moon do according to Genesis 1:14. The rule of the equinox always places Day 15 of Month 1 on or after the Hebrew Day of the spring equinox. Therefore in some years there will be Firsts (Resheet) of Aviv barley after the first half of Month 12, and in some years there will be Firsts (Resheet) Aviv barley after the first half of Month 1.
There were large amounts of Aviv barley in the Jordan Valley on Day 16 of Month 1 on March 22, 2011 C.E. This barley ranged between Soft Dough to Hard Dough, or 85-87 on the Zadoks Scale of cereal grain developmental stages. There is almost always some Aviv barley in Israel by the spring equinox, and the wheat harvest usually begins to be harvested in late April in Israel.
Click on the reference link listed under the title to see the pictures of the Barley harvest that was ready on March 22, 2011. There were online reports in February of 2011 that the Barley was going to be ready in the Month of March, 2011.