This is a lunisolar calendar, like the Chinese. It is based both on the movement of the Earth around the Sun that corresponds to a year, as in the movement of the moon to encircle the Earth which is a month.

History

It is the official calendar of Jews and Israel. It starts with the Genesis of the world that took place in the year 3760 BC (BC). The current form dates from the year 1600.

Those responsible for establishing the schedule of festivities were Sanhedrín Hebrew or Jewish Court formed by 23 judges. They made such work until the year 359 a. C. C.

The decision that leap year was being done according to the year of a particular sow seed. The ads calendar were conducted orally.

With the advent of the Roman Empire patriarch Hillel II decided that the transmission schedule will be made between the people and not orally as had been doing.

dThe patriarch was responsible for establishing mechanisms embolism or decision of the leap year, which are used at present in the Hebrew calendar.

How it works

The Hebrew calendar is composed of 12 months of 29 days each and a half. This makes a total of 354 days a year, being 11 days shorter than the lunar calendar so we have to add one day per month or one month to date in the liturgical needs of the festivities.

In this calendar, there are two different types of months. The full months that they have 30 days and the uncompleted with a duration of 29 days.

The weekday Jews are based on the days of creation as Genesis. It begins on Sunday, unlike the Gregorian calendar that makes it Monday, and ends on Saturday (Sabath) which is the holy day.

Correspondence months Hebrew and Gregorian

The names of the months and correspondence with Western or Gregorian months are as follows:

The cycle metónico

It is a multiple of approximately the years that the Sun and Moon are slow to describe its orbit. This cycle provides that the dates of the phases of the moon are repeated after 19 years. It comes from the Greek astronomer Metón and also I could call Metón cycle.

Within the cycle metónico Hebrew calendar every 2 or 3 years does one leap, which adds a new month resulting in a year of 13 months.

As if the months Jeshván Kislev and take 30 or 29 days in the years differ:

·  Completed: when the two months are about 30 days.

·  Incompletos: two months have 29 days.

·  Regulars: A month has 30 days and the other 29 days.