Word of the Month

Word of the Month - Nitzavim Vayeilech

If we “benched” Rosh Chodesh Tishrei, this Shabbat would be Shabbat M’vorchim. But we don’t. We can say (along with other reasons given) Rosh HaShana eclipses the Rosh Chodesh aspect of 1 Tishrei, and that RH’s coming is purposely kept a little quieter than we might have expected.
What is ironic is that Tishrei’s molad is the only one of the year that isn’t announced in public, though it is far more “important” to the calendar than any other molad. Every molad is used to calculate the time range for Kiddush L’vana, Tishrei included, of course.
But Tishrei’s molad is used to fix the calendar as to when Rosh HaShana is and how long Cheshvan and Kislev, the two variable months will me.

Here’s how 5770 is “fixed” without peeking at a calendar. (Or here’s how the calendar people do it)
5770 divided by 19 is 303 remainder 13. This means that 5770 is the 13th year of the 304th Lunar Cycle since Creation. Based on the fixed pattern of 12-month and 13-month years, 5770 is a SHANA P’SHUTA, i.e. one Adar, 12 months.
The molad of Tishrei 5770 (based on our traditional method of calculation) is Shabbat morning, 10h 47m 7p. By the main rule for fixing RH, RH 5770 begins on Shabbat.
The molad of Tishrei 5771 will be Wednesday evening. RH is therefore fixed to begin on Thursday.
From Shabbat, 1 Tishrei 5770 until Thursday, 1 Tishrei 5771 in a 12 month year, there are 355 days - one more than the “normal” situation. The extra day, so to speak, is 30 Cheshvan. Kislev keeps its “regular” 30 days - in this case, the year is called SHALEIM, complete or full.
And that’s it: 5770 is a PEI SHIN ZAYIN year. PEI for P’shuta (12 months). SHIN for SHALEIM. And ZAYIN is Shabbat, the first day of the year. This is one of 14 different year-types. The second most common one, by the way, with a frequency of 13.7%. Some code the year ZAYIN SHIN GIMMEL, where GIMMEL is the first day of Pesach, Tuesday.

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