| Calendar: Weeks within months |
Creation Calendar
The moon determines months.
The new moon conjunction announces the day of the new moon.
Years contain twelve or thirteen months.
Illustration of average lunar phases from Jerusalem.
Timing of conjunction from Jerusalem.
Identifying the first month of the year is the subject of much debate, especially in the years that the vernal equinox falls just after a new moon. Some look at the month containing the equinox as part old year and part new year, so place the following month as the first month of the year. Others identify the first month of the year as the month beginning closest to the equinox. Yet others rely solely on the development of the barley to determine the first month.
The logical position of the first group is strong. They argue that we do not begin a new month until after the conjunction, so likewise we do not start a new year until after equinox.
Those who look to the close fit have a system that better fits the months in the seasons throughout the year. This is what the Hillel calendar does.
The Karaite system attempts to ensure that the agricultural cycle and the months coincide.
All these systems appear to be attempting to understand a "dented" calendar. If each year consisted of twelve thirty day months of 360 days at Creation, these problems would not exist. The conjunctions and the equinoxes would all fall after the final sabbath of a month and before the day of the new moon.
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