Hebrew Calendar

So long as the earth exists... will never be suspended. Each of these six seasons has two months as we have learned: “Half of Tishri, Cheshvan, and half of Kislev [is the season for] seeding. Half of Kislev, Teves, and half of Shevat is the cold season—in Bava Metzia (Other versions: “So long as the [earth] exists” means “continuously” as in “The defilement continues with him.”) Cold. Is more severe than winter. Winter. Is the time for sowing barley and pulse which are quick to ripen. It is half of Shevat, Adar, and half of Nissan. Harvest. It is half of Nissan, Iyar, and half of Sivan. Summer. It is half of Sivan, Tamuz, and half of Av which is the time of the fig harvest and the time when they are dried in the fields which is called קַיִץ , as in: “The bread and the dried fruit for the young men to eat.” Heat. Is the end of the summer — half of Av, Elul, and half of Tishri when the world is hottest as we learned in Maseches Yoma: “The end of the summer is more severe than the summer.”

On the first on Nisan, the sons of Aaron died. On the tenth of it Miriam died and her well disappeared. On the twenty-sixth of it Joshua ben Nun died. On the twentieth of Iyyar, Eli the priest and two of his sons and the ark of God was captured. On the twenty sixth of it Samuel the prophet died. On the twenty-third of Sivan the offering of the first fruits in Jeruslem was cancelled during the days of Jereboam ben Nebat. On the twenty-fifth of it Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Hanina Deputy High Priest were killed. On the twenty-seventh of it Rabbi Hanina ben Teradion was burned to death and a Torah scroll with him. On the first of Av, Aaron the priest died. On the eighteenth of it, the eastern light was extinguished during the days of Ahaz. On the seventeenth of Elul those who slandered the land died. On the fifth of Tishri, twenty men of Israel were killed and Rabbi Akiba was imprisoned. On the seventh of it a decree was decreed against our ancestors that died by sword, hunger and plague because of the incident of the golden calf. On the seventh of Mar-Cheshvan, they blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and slaughtered his sons before his eyes. On the twenty-eighth of Kislev Jehoiakim burned the scroll that Baruch wrote dictated by Jeremiah. On the eighth of Tevet the Torah was written in Greek during the days of King Ptolemy and darkness was in the world for three days. On the ninth of it, it was not known who caused the trouble that happened on it. On the fifth of Shevat the elders who were in the days of Joshua died. On the twenty-third of it all of Israel gathered against the tribe of Benjamin on account of the concubine in Gibeah. On the seventh of Adar Moses, our Teacher, may peace be upon him, died. On the ninth of it Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai divided.