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REFRESHING
as an Autumn Breeze
The world today revels in the clean cut of the draftman's
line. The simple, unconcealed beauty of contrasting light
and shadow has come into its own.
Yet certain virtues, tried by the years, fit into this era
of glistening chromium with practiced ease. Whatever
the setting, the individual's comfort is dependent on
ways that transcend the bounds of ages.
The Atlanta Biltmore, its atmosphere as refreshing and
stimulating as an autumn breeze, recognizes the uni
versal appreciation of courtesy and hospitality. Time
has not dimmed their value . . . but the standards of
service at the Biltmore have given them added meaning
and prestige.
One Service for All — The Best
BILTMORE
"TMI south's supreme motel**
was that the year is to be a solar
one, that is based on the sun, but
the months are lunar ones, that is
based on the movement of the
moon. Hence, the year consists of
365 days, 12 hours and 49 minutes.
That is the period it takes the earth
to make a complete cycle about the
sun. The lunar or moon month is
the circuit that the moon travels
around the earth, from one new
moon to the next new moon. This
cycle consists of 29 days, 12 hours
and 44 minutes.
In calculating it will be found
that by adding up the lunar months
to make a lunar year it will be
found that the latter consists of
354 days, 8 hours and 48 minutes,
or about eleven days less than the
solar or sun year. Naturally, some
thing had to be done to compensate
for the loss which would cause the
festivals to fall behind. In ten
years, for example, Rosh Hasha-
nah, the Jewish New Year, would
slip back more than 100 days and
would have to be observed some
time in May or June.
This problem always existed but
the Sanhedrin got around it by
proclaiming an extra month every
few years and thus the holidays
continued to fall at the proper sea
sons. When Hillel II established
his special calendar table he also
formulated a rule which stated that
every nineteen years there are to
be seven leap years, with each year
having a whole extra month. The
extra month of leap year, inciden
tally, was added to the month of
Adar and is called Adar Sheni or
Second Adar.
Hillel also realized that for prac
tical purposes each month ought to
be made up of a definite number of
complete days. Thus, the calendar
table which he established calls for
the following arrangement: five
months have 30 days each, five
months have 29 days, and two
months vary from year to year.
Upon checking a Luach or Hebrew
calendar it will be noted that the
months of Nisan, Sivan, Av, Tishri
and Shevat consist of 30 days each;
Iyar, Tamuz, Ellul, Tevet and Adar
have 29 days each, and Heshvan
and Kislev may have 29 or 30 days
each.
A word is in order about the
names of the Jewish months. In the
Bible, except in its later books, the
months are not named but are re
ferred to by number. It is evident
that names were given to the He
brew* months when the Jews were
taken to Babylonia after the de
struction of the first Temple. The
names of the Babylonian months
are almost identical with those of
the current Hebrew calendar.
While the names of the secular
calendar months are in honor of
ancient pagan deities, the Hebrew
months describe the seasons of the
calendar year. Hence, Nisan, tht
month during which Passover fall
evidently means flower, for it oc
curs at the season when Palestine
flora are in full bloom Elul mean
gathering, occurring at the begin
ning of the Palestine fruit harvest
Kislev, the month in which Cha
nukah falls, means the season of
mud and rain. It comes during the
Palestine rainy season. Iyar means
blossom; Sivan, splendor; Tamuz.
parched earth; Adar, beauty.
It is to be noted that the Jewish
calendar is based on Anno Mundi.
referring to the traditional year of
the creation of the world. All other
peoples have based their calendars
on some event in their national his
tory. The Jews, however, wish to
associate their calendar w*ith the
history of thte world, hence, it may
be said that the New Year 5,709
refers to the date of written history
of mankind. Since the written his
tory of mankind is no more than
G,000 years old, the Jewish calcu
lation is fairly accurate.
It is interesting to observe that up
to the year 533, the Christians fol
lowed the Jewish mode of calcula
tion, going back to Anno Mundi.
They refused to follow the Greek
and Roman methods of reckoning
dates because they were connected
with pagan rites which the early
Christians sought to avoid. The
setting of the Christian New Year
on January 1, a pagan festival, was
later justified by Christianity as the
day of the circumcision of Jesus.
The current secular calendar year
presumably goes back to the birth
of Jesus, although many scholars
insist that the year one corresponds
to the second or fourth year of
Jesus’ life.
The Jewish people who live so
closely with their Christian neigh
bors have universally adopted the
Christian calendar, but in religious
matters, the Hebrew calendar is
retained.
Up until three or four genera
tions ago the Jewish calendar was
used consistently by Jews not only
in calculating religious dates but in
their daily affairs. Jewish business
men and shopkeepers kept records
according to the Hebrew Luach.
Many Jews are still cognizant of
their birthdays according to the
Hebrew calendar, and the Bar
Mitzvah date of a lad is based on
the Luach.
Primarily, the Hebrew calendar
or Luach contiunes to be a guide
for the observance of Jewish holi
days and festivals, and in marking
the yahrzeit or death anniversary
of relatives. The cake of custom
encrusting Jewish life has pre
served and protected it. And thanks
to the thick layers of custom, Jew
ish life underneath has remained
intact. In fair weather and in foul,
the Jewish holidays and periodic
observances in communal and per
sonal Jewish life, thanks to the He
brew Luach, are still the best way
and means of preserving Jewish
life for generations to come.
(Copright, 1949, J.T.A., Inc.)
(18)
The Southern Israelite