Okay, so I’ve been wondering… what’s with the year 5784? For the Gregorian calendar, we know it is 2023 because we are counting forward from the supposed year Jesus was born. But how did the Jewish calendar come up with this year?
A quick reminder. The Jewish calendar is more lunar-based while the Gregorian calendar is solar However, unlike purely lunar calendars, it is adjusted to balance the cycles of the moon and the sun to ensure festivals remain in their prescribed. So really it’s a luni-solar calendar. This is important for festivals like Passover, which is a spring holiday. To achieve this, the Jewish calendar employs a 19-year cycle, during which 12 years are common years (having 12 lunar months) and 7 are leap years (having an additional month). This complex system ensures that the lunar calendar does not drift too far from the solar year and the seasons. Really, it is a marvel of ancient astronomy, mathematics, and theology. (read BLOG POST for more on this)
The Jewish calendar year count starts from what is believed to be the year of the creation of the world, as derived from biblical chronology. This event—when the world was created—is referred to in Hebrew as “Molad Tohu.” This “new moon of chaos” or the “birth of the new moon” is the begging for numbering years. This date is not based on any historical evidence or archaeological findings but is a religious belief rooted in the interpretation of Torah.
In around 160 C.E. by Rabbi Jose ben Halafta, wrote a chronology from the creation of the world, the Molad Tohu, to the Bar Kochba Revolt called the “Seder Olam Rabbah” which translates as the “Great Order of the World.” In case you’re wondering, because I was, the Bar Kochba Revolt, also known as the Second Jewish-Roman War, was a major uprising by the Jews of Judea Province against the Roman Empire. It took place between 132 and 135 C.E. and was the last of three major Jewish revolts against Roman rule, following the First Jewish-Roman War (66-73 C.E.) and the Kitos War (115-117 C.E.).
In the SOR, Rabbi Jose ben Halafta developed the concept of “Shnat HaOlam” (Year of the World) or in latin “Anno Mundi.” “Anno Mundi” (abbreviated as “A.M.”) refers to the system of counting years from the traditional date of the creation of the world according to biblical chronology. By tracing the genealogies, lifespans, and significant events outlined in the Torah, Rabbi Jose ben Halafta calculated a timeline from the point of creation. I find this interesting since the life spans in Genesis (B’reishit, “In the Beginning” in Hebrew) are quite long. Adam lived 930 years, Methuselah (the oldest) 969, and Noah 950 years. After the flood, lifespans began to decrease: Shem lived 600 years, Abraham 175, Isaac 180, and Jacob 147 years (Moses only lived 120 years (Deuteronomy – D’varim, “Words” in Hebrew). But I digress down a different rabbit hole.
Back to the Jewish calendar. Enter Rabbi Maimonides, who is also known as the Rambam. He was a prominent 12th-century Jewish philosopher and scholar. While the SOR had provided a chronology up to the Bar Kochba Revolt, there was some inconsistency and confusion among Jewish communities regarding the precise counting of the given dates. The Rambam sought to bring clarity and uniformity to this situation. Drawing upon the chronology outlined in the SOR, he established a definitive numbering system for the Hebrew calendar. His systematic approach solidified the Anno Mundi dating method and ensured a consistent and unified way for Jews to count years based on the SOR’s timeline.
So that’s how it’s the year 5784. We are counting from the “new moon of chaos” or the beginning of creation to today. In Genesis, we all know the famous words, in the beginning, what many of you may not know is the Hebrew says, in the beginnings – plural. It makes me wonder which beginning we are counting from. The torah intimates at a 6000-year cycle (or six millennium), which means we are due for the birth of a new moon in a couple of centuries, but that discussion is for another day.
