Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar. Esther 3:7 NASB
Adar – Here’s my April Fool’s trick. What time of the year do I get to do everything twice? If you know the answer, you get a prize (wait until the end to see what it is).
Today is the twenty-second of the second month of Adar in the year 5776. Twenty-eight days ago it was also the twenty-second day of Adar. How is this possible? Ah, this biblical calendar year has an extra month of Adar. Adar 1 and Adar 2. Isn’t that nice? Whatever you didn’t get done in the previous month of Adar you can do in this month of Adar. Whatever mistakes you made in the previous Adar you can correct in this Adar. This is the “do-over” month of the year 5776. Too bad we don’t have these double months every year. Oh, but there are only a few days left in Adar 2 (Adar Beit) so you better get going!
This odd phenomenon is actually the result of imposing an artificial framework on celestial design. I am sure that you realize that our clock time is not the way things really work. Clock time is an invention of human engineering, specifically of the need to control behavior across geographical distance. If you think about it, you soon realize that as you move either East or West, no temporal point on the topography is actually the same time yesterday as it is today or will be tomorrow. When we impose our regimen on the celestial mechanics of God, we end up with things like Leap Years (a mathematical make up day) and extra Adar months. But if we simply stopped being so tied to the technology of human invention, life would just continue according to the cycles of the moon, Shabbat and plant growth. Makes you wonder if you will have to meet a plane schedule in the ‘olam ha’ba, doesn’t it?
“The intercalculation of the month (whether a thirteenth day is to be added) or the year (whether a thirteenth month is to be added) is decided by a Court of three.”[1] That statement alone should help you realize how odd calendars, days and hours really are. Do you suppose Adam had to use human inventions in order to determine what day of the week it was, or how many days there were in a “Garden” month? Month? What is that when you live in the presence of the Almighty? There are a lot of common assumptions about our world that just don’t apply to biblical texts, and temporal counting other than Shabbat seems to be one of these. Thinking of Paradise and the restoration of the planet to God’s original design might involve giving up the way we count time. How do you think that would change your world? Can you even imagine a world without a clock of any kind?
Oh, the prize (if you knew the answer). Today you get the day off! But since it is an artificial day designed only to make up for odd calculations about orbits, I am granting you a mental hypothetical day off. Now get back to work!
Topical Index: calendar, Adar, Esther 3:7
[1] Abraham Cohen, Everyman’s Talmud, p. 304.
Isaiah 66:22, 23 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I shall make, shall remain before me, sayeth the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, sayeth the LORD.”
Apparently, the only thing time is really good for in eternity is to get folks together!
Does anyone on earth now have a new moon potluck or anything? Just wondering…
Actually, yes. Rosh Chodesh is celebrated in many Jewish and messianic fellowships with a meal together and the reading of a siddur.
Skip ,I was wondering which calendar Isreal used during King Davids reign?
Have they always used the moon as there marker?
What Time is It Now?
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity (Redux)
It’s all relative.
The crush of the clock. Yes, life does get in the way of living! Ahh! But there will come a Day! And what a day, glorious Day that will be! Today, (and in this temporal and transient world) – “ain’t nobody got time for that!” (whatever THAT happens to be!) Life is indeed (or seems to be) a blur. A whirlwind of frantic activity. Sometimes it’s a game of “hurry up and wait!”
I like the way this particular verse starts.. But.. (Bible “buts” are always HUGE!)
[But] do not forget this one thing, dear friends: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” (2 Peter 3.8) Without getting deeper into it that we already are – “chronos” time and “kairos” time! But my absolute favorite is? “when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the LORD.” The One who is now here and always available.
Does anybody really know what time it is? I don’t. Does anybody really care? That sounds like it would make a good song!!! Sorry, that’s my spiritual input for the day. 🙂
Someone once asked the late Yankee great Yogi Berra what time is was, and he answered, “You mean right now?”.
I think it interesting/comical that up until less than a year ago, I thought the thirteenth month was a biblical thing. Then it dawned on me that is a man-made concept.
Here is an excellent article by a Hebrew scholar Nehemiah Gordon about the biblical calendar: http://www.nehemiaswall.com/aviv-barley-in-the-biblical-calendar
Enjoy! I have been richly blessed by his teaching.
Doble, Doble, Arduo Trabajo y Problema
En el mes primero, que es el mes de Nisán, el año doce del rey Asuero, se echó el Pur, es decir la suerte, delante de Amán para cada día y cada mes hasta el mes doce, que es el mes de Adar. Ester 3:7
Adar – Aquí está mi broma del día de bromas de Abril. Si sabes la respuesta tendrás un premio (espera hasta el final para ver cuál es).
Hoy es el 22 del segundo mes de Adar del año 5776. Hace Veintiocho días también fue el 22 de Adar. ¿Cómo es posible? Ah, este año el calendario bíblico tiene un mes adicional. Adar 1 y Adar 2. ¿No es eso bueno? Cualquier cosa que no lograste hacer el anterior mes de Adar se puede hacer en este mes de Adar. Independientemente de los errores realizados en el Adar anterior se puede corregir en este Adar. Este es el mes de “re-hacer” del año 5776. Es una pena que no tenemos estos dobles meses cada año. ¡Oh, pero sólo hay unos pocos días para que termine Adar 2 (Adar Bet) así que es mejor ponerse en marcha!
Este extraño fenómeno es en realidad el resultado de la imposición de un marco artificial en el diseño celeste. Estoy seguro de que ya te habrás dado cuenta de que nuestra hora reloj no es la manera que funcionan las cosas realmente. La hora del reloj es una invención de la ingeniería humana, específicamente de la necesidad de controlar el comportamiento a través de la distancia geográfica. Si piensas detenidamente en ello, uno se da cuenta que al movernos ya sea este o el oeste, ningún punto de la topografía es en realidad la misma hora de ayer como lo es hoy o será mañana. Cuando imponemos nuestro régimen a la mecánica celeste de Dios, nos encontramos con cosas como los años bisiestos (un día de recuperación matemática) y meses adicionales de Adar. Pero si simplemente dejaremos de estar tan ligados a la tecnología de invención humana, la vida simplemente continuaría de acuerdo a los ciclos de la luna, Shabat y el crecimiento de las plantas. Te hace preguntarte si hay que cumplir con un horario de vuelo en el ‘Olam haba (mundo venidero), ¿no es así?
“El cálculo para determinar si hay que agregar un decimotercer mes y cuándo hacerlo es decidido por una corte de tres.” [1] Esa premisa por sí sola debería mostrarte cuán extraños son los calendarios, días y horas en realidad. ¿Supones que Adán tuvo que usar invenciones humanas para determinar que día de la semana era, o cuantos días habían en el mes del “huerto”? ¿Mes? ¿Qué es eso cuando vives en la presencia del Todopoderoso? Hay muchas suposiciones comunes acerca de nuestro mundo que simplemente no se aplican a los textos Bíblicos, y el conteo del tiempo, a excepción de Shabat, parece ser una de ellas. El pensar sobre el paraíso y la restauración del planeta al diseño original de Dios puede que involucre el renunciar la manera en que contamos el tiempo. ¿Cómo crees que eso cambiaría tu mundo? ¿Eres capaz de imaginar un mundo sin ningún tipo de reloj?
Oh, el premio (si sabias la respuesta.) ¡Hoy tienes el día libre! Pero ya que es un día artificial diseñado solo para compensar calculaciones extrañas acerca de las órbitas, te estoy dando un día libre hipotético. ¡Vuelve a trabajar!
[1] Abraham Cohen, Everyman’s Talmud, p. 304.
“This is the “do-over” month of the year 5776. Too bad we don’t have these double months every year.” LOL
Calendar topic is very fascinating!
“In the first month” –
רִאשׁוֹן riʼshôwn, first, in place, time or rank
חֹדֶשׁ chôdesh, kho’-desh; the new moon;
“But if we simply stopped being so tied to the technology of human invention, life would just continue according to the cycles of the moon, Shabbat and plant growth ” Amein!
“This odd phenomenon is actually the result of imposing an artificial framework on celestial design”! Exactly so! Such insights. Exciting!
Did ABBA set us a calendar in Exo 12 :
“Verse 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.”
12:2 הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים רִאשֹׁון הוּא לָכֶם לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָֽה׃
רֹאשׁ rosh- head, chief, top , beginning , captain, first…
A 13th month (definitely man-engineered) leading to the Biblical Rosh haShanah was added because aviv / matured barley was not found to ascertain the start of New Year, leading to Pesach/Passover.
“There are a lot of common assumptions about our world that just don’t apply to biblical texts”! A big YES, to that.
A world without a clock would be BLISSFUL, Skip.
In the First Book of Enoch, Chapters 72-78, one can read the author’s description of the lunar and solar movements as revealed to him by an angel. I have never taken the time to investigate the accuracy of the description based upon science, or the astronomical claims of other authors at the time. If Enoch’s observations are true, though, it may explain how the Israelites observed biblical new moons, Shabbats, and Holy Days prior to the implementation of the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the subsequent necessity for Jewish time changes.