The Movement for Reform Judaism

Just as the months in the English calendar have origins about which many people today are totally unaware (Janus being a god whose had two faces, looking back and front; August being named after the Roman emperor), so the months in the Hebrew calendar have roots that are largely unknown.

Moreover, they vary greatly: some are based on Hebrew terms, others are derived from languages and cultures that influenced Jewish development at various periods. Some reflect the position of the month seasonally, others have meanings that are simply lost.

Note that although the religious new year is Rosh Hashanna in Tishri, that is the seventh month and the calendrical new year (the Hebrew January) is in fact Nisan - which contains Pesach and is thus associated both with spring-time renewal and with the beginning of the Jewish people as a nation as distinct from being a large family. There are usually 12 months in the Jewish year (there is an extra month – Adar II – in a leap year) and their meaning is as follows :

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