Why are there 2 Adars?

Sanguine

Thu, Jan 16 2014, 6:28 am

A discussion of Adar Bet came up in my house last night since I have 3 Adar babies. Two are Adar Bet but the one that's Adar Aleph is always the interesting one since there's always an Adar Bet but on leap years there's also Adar Aleph. Most years his birthday is after Purim - This year it's before...

One of my sons was born on a leap year (he wasn't Adar so I didn't really notice) but the year of his Bar Mitzva wasn't a leap year so double the amount of friends had Bar Mitzvas in Adar - I had noticed non-stop Bar Mitzvas and then he explained to me he was born in a leap year.

So last night we also talked about February 29th (I have a friend with that birthday)- So leap year or not makes no difference in the Gregorian Calendar - 1 extra day every 4 years? They could go 100 years before they have to worry about not having a "White x-mas" cause December is in the fall.

So here's my question - Why doesn't the Jewish calendar work out? Even the amount of leap years isn't neat like once in four yeas, it's 7 times in 19 years!! Every 2 or 3 years depending where we are in the 19 year cycle.

I know our calendar and chagim are based on the moon while the gregorian is on the sun and the seasons follow the sun so December is always in the winter minus 1/4 of a day each year.

So when Hashem created the world, why didn't he make the moon restart 12 (or whatever number) equal times in a year? Our Shalosh Regalim revolve around seasons so why did Hashem make it so complicated?

Now with computer programs you can start planning your son's Bar Mitzva at his Brit since you already know what Parsha it will be in 13 years, but Hashem had it all figured out from the beginning - So what's the point in a moon that forces us to have 2 Adars every 2 or 3 years in order to keep things straight?

Some things work out perfectly like Yom Kippur is never on a Friday or Sunday. So what was the point in making our chagim revolve around the sun/seasons while our calendar revolves around the moon? Pesach is the first month (moon) but it has to be in the spring (sun)

I'm sure there are answers to this - I'd love to hear

Sanguine

Thu, Jan 16 2014, 9:47 am

mommyshani wrote:

The way it was explained to me in seminary (correct me I'm wrong) is the Jewish calendar, unlike the Muslim or Chinese ones, is based on both the lunar and solar year, and is not purely a lunar calendar. Pesach must always be in the spring for instance.

That's what I said - The Shalosh Regalim are all tied to both the moon (dates) and sun (seasons) but why wasn't all tied together to between - 1 Tishrei = Sept 1 always. Have a month of the moon always be 30 days and there are 360 days in a year.

We all live mixed in both calendars not only because of school, but last year Rosh Hashana was September 4th - I t was still summer. This year it will be Sept 25th

mommyshani

Thu, Jan 16 2014, 9:53 am

Sanguine wrote:

I believe the answer is because they are two different systems - the secular one is solely based on the solar calendar, and is subject to being amended, as was done several hundred years ago. Until the Russian Revolution, the calendar used these was different than the rest of the world. Ours is a heavenly inspired and directed calendar, which is based on a mixture of solar and lunar cycles. Therefore it is impossible for both to coincide perfectly, as the two calendars are based on different cycles.

Sanguine

Thu, Jan 16 2014, 9:56 am

June wrote:

maybe it was set up this way to give us more time for pesach cleaning every couple of years Wink

Doesn't matter - You just start a different day (and use Hebrew dates for starting) - go to the Seder and count backwards so it's the same amount of time. It would be nice if Purim was 2 months before Pesach. It's Tu B'Shvat so I have one bedroom clean for Pesach - If it wasn't a leap year, I would have started Rosh Chodesh Shvat.

Sanguine

Thu, Jan 16 2014, 10:01 am

mommyshani wrote:

Right - but there weren't any cycles till Hashem created the moon and sun. So why didn't he just put them both on the same cycle? What's the point of having 2?

yogabird

Thu, Jan 16 2014, 10:34 am

The lunar and solar calendar have a lot of symbolic significance in jewish thought.

The sun symbolizes the value of the infinite and unchanging, and the moon the value of growth and renewal through struggle. Both of these are essential to the Jewish Story, and must converge at some point.

According to kabbalah, the divergence began on the fourth day of creation, when the sun and the moon argued, and will unite again for good with the coming of moshiach, when the light of the moon will once again be as the light of the sun.

Try this for some deeper perspective:
http://www.chabad.org/library/.....s.htm

Ima2NYM_LTR

Thu, Jan 16 2014, 11:23 am

Sanguine wrote:

I have always wondered the exact same thing! HaShem can do anything he wants. Why couldnt he make it so we didnt have to add an extra month here and there to make sure the timing worked out. Im sure he has a reason- I just wish we knew what it was.

BlueRose52

Sun, Jan 19 2014, 4:22 pm

yogabird wrote:

She's asking a philosophical question, not a scientific one.

Hmmm.... I didn't see it that way. But it reminds me of an interesting point I heard someone recently make in a shiur, regarding how one views an issue.

It used to be that when people would hear thunder and lightning, they'd look at it from a philosophical POV, "What did we do to upset the gods? Are they battling about something?" Nowadays, most people just check the weather forecast, a scientific response.

When we feel a cold coming on, we don't usually say, "What have I done to deserve this punishment?!" Rather we respond scientifically, "Uh oh, better take better care of my body."

The point is, seeing things from a scientific vs a philosophical perspective is usually just a reflection of our understanding of the matter. We tend to see things as mysterious and having some Divine machinations behind it only when we don't actually understand the mechanics of what's going on and/or it's out of our control. But when we have a thorough grasp of how it works, it just becomes natural to look at it as, "Oh, that's why it's happening. I get it. No great mystery there."

Contrast getting a cold with situations like cancer, or genetic diseases. There we tend much more to attribute a divine aspect to the disease, because we really don't yet understand those phenomena well.

Asking why are there 2 Adar's could obviously be looked at as, "Why did Hashem set things up that way?", but if you understand well the science behind our calendar system, you'll probably look at it as philosophically as you do the weather.

Of course, that doesn't preclude one from seeing in the phenomena meaningful spiritual lessons. One of my favorite Torah ideas is the idea behind why we sleep, and I still appreciate it despite the fact that we have some pretty solid scientific explanations for that.