Jewish Calendar
The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar.
Jewish Year תשפ״א 5781 Holidays (2020 - 2021)
All Jewish holidays begin at sundown of the night before.
The date of Simchat Torah is showing the date of the holiday in Israel. Outside of Israel the holiday is celebrated on the following day.
The Jewish years are counted from creation.
In the list below, "BCE" stands for "Before Common Era" and "CE" refers to "Common Era" on the Gregorian (Civil) calendar.
Saturday, September 19 - September 20, 2020 - Tishrei 1-2
The Jewish New Year celebrates the beginning of ten days of repentance before Yom Kippur.
Monday, September 28, 2020 - Tishrei 10
Day of atonement
Saturday, October 3, 2020 - Tishrei 15
Commemorates the temporary settlements of Jewish people in the desert after the exodus from Egypt.
Sunday, October 11, 2020 - Tishrei 22
Marks the end of the Torah's annual reading.
Monday, November 16, 2020
International Day for Tolerance.
Friday, December 11, 2020 - Kislev 25
The Macabees victory over Antiochus the Greek king and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the year 165 BCE (3597).
Friday, February 26, 2021 - Adar 14
Celebrates the cancellation of the decree against the Jewish people by Haman in ancient Persia in 425 BCE (3404).
Sunday, March 28, 2021 - Nisan 15
Celebration of the Exodus of the Jewish people from ancient Egypt in 1313 BCE (2448).
Thursay, April 8, 2021 - Nisan 26 (early)
Memorial Day for the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi regime in Germany between 1933-1945.
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 - Iyar 2 (early)
Memorial for all the fallen soldiers of the Israeli army (more than 22,000) and victims of terrorism (more than 1,600).
Thursday, April 15, 2021 - Iyar 3 (early)
Celebrates the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948. Israel is 73 years old in 2021!
Friday, April 30, 2021 - Iyar 18
Commemorating a break in the mourning period for the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva who died, some by plague and some in the rebellion against the Roman Empire in 120 CE.
Monday, May 10, 2021 - Iyar 28
Jerusalem celebrates the liberation and unification during the Six-Day War 1967.
Monday, May 17, 2021 - Sivan 6
Bringing the first harvest to the Temple to remember the giving of the Torah and the Ten Commandments 7 weeks after the Exodus from Egypt at Mount Sinai in 1312 BCE (2449).
Sunday, July 18, 2021 - Av 9
Fast to observe the destruction of the first temple by Babylonians in 586 BCE and second temple by the Romans in 70 CE (3830). Spain's Expulsion of Jews in 1492.
Saturday, July 24, 2021 - Av 15
In modern-day Israel, it is celebrated as a holiday of love.
The Jewish Months
There is a discrepancy of 11 days between the lunar and the solar year, to align the different calendars, a lunar month is added every two or three years, for a total of 7 times per 19 years.
The Jewish calendar months are:
1. Tishrei (30 days, Sep - Oct)
2. Cheshvan (29 or 30 days, Oct - Nov)
3. Kislev (29 or 30
days, Nov - Dec)
4. Tevet (29 days, Dec - Jan)
5. Shevat (30 days, Jan - Feb)
6a.
Adar 1 (30 days, Feb - Mar) In a leap year this additional month is added.
6b. Adar 2 (29 days Feb -
Mar)
7. Nisan (30 days, Mar - Apr)
8. Iyar (29 days, Apr - May)
9. Sivan (30 days,
May - Jun)
10. Tammuz (29 days, Jun - Jul)
11. Av (30 days, Jul - Aug)
12. Elul (29
days, Aug - Sep)
Days of the Week in Hebrew
The names for the days of the week are the ordinal numbers within the week, with the seventh day called Shabbat (in Hebrew: rest).
Yom Rishon - first day - Sunday
Yom Sheni - second day - Monday
Yom Shlishi - third day -
Tuesday
Yom Revi'i - fourth day - Wednesday
Yom Hamishi - fifth day - Thursday
Yom
Shishi - sixth day - Friday
Yom Shabbat - Saturday