WORD OF THE MONTH
A weekly
feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual
aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva
of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem...
Thursday
night, Dec. 8 is just over 7 full days from the molad and time for Kiddush
L'vana for all (with the exception of Motza'ei Shabbat only people). If you
just prefer Motza'ei Shabbat, but accept that KL can be said on week nights,
then don't wait for Motza"Sh because weather conditions might work against
saying KL.
More on days of the week for
dates on the Jewish Calendar. Most dates follow the LO ADU rule of Rosh
HaShana - generalized, there are four possible days of the week for each
date, and three impossible days. This applies from the first of the Adar
right before Nisan until the 29th of Cheshvan. In that range, which covers 9
months (265 dates), there are no variables. 30 Cheshvan is a variable. Some
years have one, some years don't. 30 Cheshvan can be on SUN, TUE, THU only.
KISLEV 1-29 are the most "flexible" dates in the calendar. They each can
occur on 6 of the 7 days of the week. In other words, each has only one day
it cannot fall on.
1 Kislev, for example, cannot fall on Shabbat. It follows that 8,15,22, and
29 Kislev cannot be Shabbat either. It also follows that 2,9,16,23 cannot
fall on Sunday. Etc.
30 Kislev is different, since it exists only in some years, not all of them.
30 Kislev can fall on MON, TUE, THU, and Shabbat - not Sunday, Wednesday, or
Friday. (co- incidentally, 30 Kislev is also LO AD"U.)
1 Tevet through 30 Shvat (59 days) have their own patterns. 1 Shvat, for
example, can fall on five different days: All but THU and Shabbat. So too
for 8,15,22,29 Tevet. (Tevet has 29 days always.) 1 Shvat can't be SUN or
FRI. So too for 8,15,22,29 of Shvat. (Notice that TU BiSHVAT is one of those
dates. The other days of Tevet and Shvat work similarly.
What's left is 1-30 Adar Alef. 1 Adar Alef, for example, can be MON, WED,
THU, Shabbat. LO AG"U (same as Yom Kippur).
That's it. 265+1+29+1+59+30 = 385, the total number of Jewish dates.
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