working title
Discussions about the Calendar (we don’t call it Calendar because that word is derived from the Roman Kalends, dedicated to the various idols of the Roman pantheum)
The Yerushalmi[i] tells us the following about the names of the month’s / moon’s:
Rabbi Ĉanina said, The names of the months ascended with them [those who established the second commonwealth in Israel] from Babylon:
At first[ii], there was the month of אתנים, because in that month is when the patriarchs [pres. Yaakov – as Yitzĉok was born on Pesaĉ] were born, the patriarchs passed away [pres. Avrohom as Yitzĉok lived out his entire one hundred and eighty (180) years, while Avrohom passed away early], and the matriarchs [Sara[iii]] were remembered.
At first[iv], there was the month of בול, because in that month the leaves or נובל – dissolving and being absorbed into the ground, and the [surface of the] earth becomes full of בולות – lumps, which are בלול – mixed for the animals in the house[1].
At first[v], there was the month of זִו, because in that month are the ‘rays’ of the world, the plants are recognizable, and the trees are recognizable[2].
Thereafter, [the Babylonian names began to be in use], as we find in various verses [see below].
Reish Lakish said, also, the names of various angels came with them from Babylon; originally, they were unidentified [by name, but rather the description of] Serafim [was used], as it says in the verses[vi]. Thereafter they used the names of Gavri’el and Miĉa’el in the verses[vii] [Etc.].
Unfortunately, the other names of the months are not recorded in the Torah, and no other record was kept of those names that I could find. The names of the months that ‘came up with them from Babylon’ and a brief description of their meaning / etymology are as follows[3]:
In line with the verse[viii] החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים we start with the month of ניסן.
ADD LINKS TO A POST FOR EACH MONTH
ניסן
In Tanaĉ, this month is named twice. In the verse[ix] where Haman runs his lottery to decide when to exterminate the Jews בחדש הראשון הוא חדש ניסן, and in the verse[x] when Neĉemya decides he wants permission to go to Israel ויהי בחדש ניסן שנת עשרים לארתחשסתא המלך.
The month in which ניסי ניסים were performed, a reference to all the miracles performed with the exodus from Egypt, as well as Moshe sent to perform those miracles.[4]
אייר
The month of Iyar is not identified in the Torah by name. However, from Rabbinic sources, the name is noted to be an acronym for:
- אברהם, יצחק, יעקב, רחל [5] and
- the verse[xi] אני ה’ רפאך – I am G-d your healer, and
- the verse [xib] איבי ישבו יבשו רגע – my enemies will turn they will be embarressed momentarily
סיון
In Tanaĉ, this month is named only once, in the verse[xii] when Mordeĉai issues instructions by leave of the king that the Jews may defend themselves against their aggressors ויקראו ספרי המלך בעת ההיא בחדש השלישי הוא חדש סיון.
I do not yet know what the name of the month means, or its significance.
תמוז
The use of this name to identify a month in Tanaĉ is not found. The word in fact is used only once: Tamuz was the name of an idol which had wax in it. A fire would be lit under the idol and the wax would melt, dripping down eye hole openings – making it appear as if the idol were crying, as noted in the verse[xiii] והנה שם הנשים ישבות מבכות את התמוז. Thus, the name of the month is both a reference to heat – as it is in the center of the summer – and a reference to idolatry, as the heat makes people lax about the laws of modesty.
מנחם אב
While the word אב is used often throughout Tanaĉ, it is not used to identify a month. Instead, it means father. The prefix of מנחם – to comfort changes the meaning of the name of the month to ‘comfort Father’, a reference to the pending comfort in the times of Moshiaĉ, that G-d will receive for having destroyed the Base Hamikdash.
In Tanaĉ, this month is named only once, in the verse[xiv] when Neĉemya notes construction of the wall has been completed
ותשלם החומה בעשרים וחמשה לאלול
The word itself is identified as various acronyms for example:
- The verse[xv] אני לדודי ודודי לי – I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me. A reference to Tefillah in which a person seeks to connect with G-d.
- The verse[xvi] אינה לידו ושמתי לך – a reference to the study of Torah which is a refuge for all those who engage in it.
- The verse[xvii] איש לרעהו ומתנות לאביונים – a reference to the giving of Tzedaka.
- The verse[xviii] את לבבך ואת לבב – a reference to Teshuva.
- The verse[xix] [in grouped reverse order] לה’ ויאמרו לאמר אשירה – a reference to Redemption when the Jewish people will sing the tenth song of prophecy.
תשרי
While the word תשרי is used[xx] twice in Tanaĉ, it is not used to identify a month. Instead, it means sing (f). The source of the word is from the verse[xxi] ארץ אשר ה’ אלקיך דרש אתה, תמיד עיני ה’ אלקיך בה מרשית השנה ועד אחרית שנה. The word ראשית is written without the letter Aleph for various Midrashic reasons. The letters of that word were rearranged to form the name of the associated month marking the time identified in the verse, and were rearranged to be ordered in reverse Alphabetical order to represent the time for when the Jewish people work from the ground up, as it were, in accepting upon themselves G-d’s sovereignty and performing Teshuva for the past year, and resolving to serve G-d with joy in the coming year.
מר חשון
The prefix of מר – bitter, is a reference to the lack of holidays after the holiday filled month of Tishrei.
I do not yet know what the source for the word חשון is.
כסלו
In Tanaĉ, this month is named twice. In the verse[xxii] היה דבר ה’ אל זכריה בארבעה לחדש התשעי בכסלו at the start of one of Zeĉarya’s prophecies[6], where the people asked if they should fast during the coming month of Av, and G-d answers that he wasn’t the one fasting and they weren’t fasting for his benefit. Rather the need to fast arose because the people refused to listen to the prophets.
Additionally, it is found in the first verse[xxiii] of Neĉemya דברי נחמיה בן חכליה, ויהי בחדש כסליו.
The word itself is also found in the verse[xxiv] אשר יקוט כסלו, where it means his confidence, as Rashi notes it being similar to the term כסלי from verse[xxv] אם שמתי זהב כסלי – Do I place my confidence in gold.
טבת
In Tanaĉ, this month is named only once[7], in the verse[xxvi] when Ester was taken captive by the king ותלקח אסתר אל המלך אחשורוש אל בית מלכותו בחדש העשירי הוא חדש טבת. Rashi on the verse above notes: It is a cold time, שהגוף נהנה מן הגוף – when the body benefits from the body. G-d arranged the time so that she would be taken during the cold, in order that she [Ester] would be endeared to him [King Aĉashverosh]. In other words, when it is cold, people seek the warmth of other bodies under the blankets.
Perhaps therefore, this could an explanation to the source of the word טבת – where the letters ט and תּ, which sound the same, are brought together.
It’s similarity as a homonym to the words תיבה, טובה and בית cannot be ignored leading me to guess that the meaning of the word is that during this month, Jews seek the indoors due to the cold and consider winter with its long night to be good for being able to focus on their studies rather than work the fields as they have to most of the year.
שבט
The word שבט is used often in Tanaĉ to mean tribe or a stick. As the name of a month, it is found only once at the start of a prophecy from Zeĉarya, identifying the time frame for the end of the exile[8] in the verse[xxvii] ביום עשרים וארבעה לעשתי עשר חדש הוא חדש שבט.
I do not yet know what the source for the usage of the word שבט to name a month.
אדר
Of course, this month is identified in the book of Ester eight (8) times[xxviii], and also in the verse[xxix] when the building of the second Base Hamikdash was completed ושיציא ביתה דנה עד יום תלתה לירח אדר. Otherwise throughout Tanaĉ the word is used as a description of power and majesty that cloaks someone or something.
The meaning of the word is the combination of the letter Aleph, a reference to אלופו של עולם – G-d, and the word דר, rendering this a sort of acronym of the concept of G-d dwells [in this world]. Because it is in this month that the presence of G-d was first felt in a miracle that didn’t change the laws of nature, but rather worked within the natural order of things. Namely the miracle of Purim.
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In line with the deliberate effort of the Jews who ascended from Babylon, to produce an entirely new Jewish naming system for the months of the year, replete with meaning specific to the Jewish experience and understanding of the months[9], there is also the Halaĉic prohibition preventing one from associating with the names of idolatry [see negative Mitzva 32]. Therefore, using the names of the secular christian calendar should be prohibited, depending on which month is being referenced, as follows:
- January – named after the Roman god of beginnings and transitions, as in the transition from one year to the next.
- February – etymologically related to the Latin februa, which was the name of a ‘purification feast’ held during this month. The ‘Purification Feast’ is a christian holiday currently called Candlemas, celebrated in February.
- March – from the Latin word martius, names after the Roman god Mars. Also associated with the current English word ‘march’ which refers to the way that soldiers move together and is also associated with the Roman god of war.
- April – the etymology for this word is not known, however, the suggestions are that it could relate to Aphrodite…
- May – from the Old English word mæg, which means ‘have power’. Possibly related to the Roman goddess of spring Maia.
- June – from the Roman goddess Juno.
- July – named after the Roman emperor Julias Caeser. Although technically not an idol, the Romans often considered themselves god-emperors, and as noted above, worshiping a human is a form of idolatry.
- August – named after the Roman emperor Augustus Caeser.
- September – from the Latin prefix word septem, which means seven (7), as it is the seventh month from when the Romans started their calendar in March.
- October – from the Latin prefix word octo¸ which means eight (8), as it is the eighth month from when the Romans started their calendar in March.
- November – from the Latin prefix word novem¸ which means nine (9), as it is the nineth month from when the Romans started their calendar in March.
- December – from the Latin prefix word dec¸ which means ten (10), as it is the tenth month from when the Romans started their calendar in March.
Thus, the vast majority of the months either are explicitly idolatrous or reference idolatry indirectly. It should thus be forbidden to use those names to identify the months.
Indeed, even the title Calendar itself is of idolatrous origin. Technically, it is sourced from the Latin Kalendae which referred to the beginning of the month, but the beginnings of all the months were named Kalendae after a pagan holiday held in the beginning of the month after celebrating eight (8) days immediately following the winter solstice. The Romans would sacrifice their idols and arrange for games and related circus displays. The Gemara[xxx] expounds on this from a Beraissa as follows:
When Adam (the first) saw that the days were getting shorter, he said ‘woe is to me! Perhaps I corrupted the world to darkness on my account, and it is returning to chaos and nothingness – and this [the darkening of the world] is the death that was decreed from heaven.’
So, he fasted and prayed for eight (8) days until he passed the winter’s solstice of Teves [and realized the days were lengthening again] and concluded that this is the natural order [that days get shorter and longer during the year]. To celebrate, he made eight (8) days of rejoicing. The next year, he established both as annual holidays.
He established these as holidays [to give thanks to heaven], but they (the Romans and perhaps the Greeks before them) took this tradition and corrupted it for idolatry…
This is in reference to the holidays of Calenda and Saturnalia – which were later corrupted further by the christians, who were unable to convince the masses to abandon pagan practices, so instead coopted those as part of their new religion.
In stark contrast, our word for a calendar in Hebrew is a לוח, which calls to mind the tablets given to us at Mount Sinai, and the concept of Teshuva, as found in the verse[xxxi] חרושה על לוח לבם, and the verse[xxxii] כתבם על לוח לבך.
[1] Presumably as insulation prepared against the cold in the coming months.
[2] The plants and trees serve as the ‘rays’ that extend out from the planet.
[3] I should note that historians and etymologists have a different take, and identify the names of the months with Babylonian and Persian names as follows:
- Tishray – related to Tashritu, meaning beginning
- Cheshvan – related to Makashan of unknown origin
- Kislev – related to Kislimu of unknown origin
- Teves – related to Tebetu, possibly related to sinking [possibly in mud]
- Shevat – related to Shabbatu, meaning forcibly hitting [possibly the rain forcibly hitting the ground]
- Adar – related to Adarru, meaning fear or darkness
- Nissan – related to Nisanu, meaning first fruits, possibly related to the barley harvest.
- Iyar – related to Ayaru, meaning donkeys [possibly related to some type of festival]
- Sivan – related to Semanu, meaning brickmaking
- Tamuz – related to the ancient Sumerian god of vegetation
- Av – related to Abu, meaning the mound entrance to the underworld
- Elul – related to Ululu, meaning purification ceremony
However, in addition to having months associated with unknown meanings, [Cheshvan, Kislev], and other months having meanings completely disassociated with anything going on during those months [Adar, Iyar, Sivan, Av] the idea that the sages and prophets retained these names deliberately, rather than falling back on the ancient Jewish names for the months, seems ludicrous. Rather, it seems more likely that the Babylonian and Persian governments adopted the names from their Jewish citizens, many of whom were highly placed in the government.
However, upsettingly, I have not been able to find the meanings of all the names of the months in Jewish sources either.
[4] Toras Haolah 2:33 Rabbi Yoda bar Ila’i. Moshe was identified as the miracle worker – Beraishis rabba 59:5 and Yalkut Shimoni Nach 690:1. Sichos Kodesh 5730 1:630 – see berachos 57a for the double nun.
[5] What about the other matriarchs. The final letter ר actually references all the matriarchs:
- As an abbreviation – ר = רחל.
- As a spelled-out abbreviation – the letter ר is spelled-out as רֵש, which is an abbreviation for the two (2) matriarchs; רבקה ושרה.
- As a Gematria – לאה, בלהה, זלפה = the Gematria of the letter ר, two hundred (200) [(30+1+5) + (2+30+5+5) + (7+30+80+5) = 200].
[6] My birthday.
[7] There are another times that the word is used, but in a different form meaning good (f. pl.) טֺבַת. Also, in the verse [Shoftim 7:22] עד שפת אבל מחולה על טבת, the name of the place is a heteronym of טבת.
[8] Perhaps then the name of this month is hinting at the prophecy regarding the coming of Moshiaĉ in the verse [Bamidbar 24:17] וקם שבט מישראל.
[9] Of the three (3) examples we have remaining from the original names of the months, only one of them related to anything spiritual or Jewish. The other two (2) were related to agricultural experiences.
[i] Yer. Rosh Hashana 1:2
[ii] Melaĉim I 8:2
[iii] Gem. Megilla 31a
[iv] Melaĉim I 6:38
[v] Melaĉim I 6:1 & 37
[vi] Yeshayahu 6:2, 6:6
[vii] Daniel 9:21, 10:21
[viii] Shemos 12:2
[ix] Ester 3:7
[x] Neĉemya 2:1
[xi] Shemos 15:26
[xib] Tehillim 6:11
[xii] Ester 8:9
[xiii] Yeĉezkel 8:14
[xiv] Neĉemya 6:15
[xv] Shir HaShirim 6:3
[xvi] Shemos 21:13
[xvii] Ester 9:22
[xviii] Devarim 30:6
[xix] Shemos 15:1
[xx] Yeshayahu 57:9 & Shir HaShirim 4:8
[xxi] Devarim 11:12
[xxii] Zeĉarya 7:1
[xxiii] Neĉemya 1:1
[xxiv] Iyov 8:14
[xxv] Iyov 31:24
[xxvi] Ester 2:16
[xxvii] Zeĉarya 1:7
[xxviii] Ester 3:7, 3:13, 8:12, 9:1, 9:15, 9:17, 9:19, 9:21
[xxix] Ezra 6:15
[xxx] Gem. Avoda Zara 8a
[xxxi] Yirmiyahu 17:1
[xxxii] Mishlei 3:3, 7:3