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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, September 16, 1977 23

Boris Smolar's

'Between You
. . . and Me'

Editor-in-Chief
Emeritus, JTA
(Copyright 1975, JTA, Inc.)

THE JEWISH CALENDAR: The Jewish calendar year

is reckoned from the Creation. Thus, the current new Jew-
ish year is 5,738 years since the world was created. How
does this conform with scientific studies and archeological
findings which estimate that man's origins range all the
way from 600,000 to 2,500,000 years?
Nothing is certain concerning the calendar in use dur-
ing Biblical times. But one fact is certain, and that is the
Jewish calendar was not always linked to the Creation. It
was linked to certain eras in Jewish history. For ordinary
purposes, the system of dating the time was the accession
of the reigning king. The date of the completion of the
Temple was used occasionally. Subsequently, some used
the era of the Destruction of the Temple, or the Babyloni-
an Exile.
In the post-biblical period, an era of Redemption of Is-
rael (Geulat Yisrael) was used for a time during the Mac-
cabean struggle, to make the New Year, and again some
centuries later during the Bar Kokhba rebellion. In the
time of Simon Maccabeus, contracts began to be dated,
"In the first year of Simon the Great High Priest," Jewish
coins of that period are dated according to the year of his
priesthood.
For practical purposes, however, all through the peri-
od from the Greek conquest (312 BCE) to the Moslem con-
quest, and for some time beyond (circa 650) use was made
by the Jews of the Seleucid Era which the Jews called
the Era of Contracts, probably because all documents to
be valid before the government had to be thus dated. The
Seleucid Era was abrogated by the Jews in the Middle
Ages, but remained in use among the Jews of Yemen until
recently.
NEED FOR ADJUSTMENT: The present Jewish calen-
dar-reckoning from the Creation–was probably adopted in
the middle of the Third Century. The civil reckoning, count-
ing from the calculated birth of Jesus, has been in use
among Jews since the Ninth Century.
The Jewish year, with all its outstanding periods, is
based on the lunar system. It consists of 12 months calcu-
lated according to the movement of the moon. The present
names for the months are Babylonian, since only a few bib-
lical month-names are known. In time of the Temple the
greatest significance was attached to the arrival of the
New Moon which was heralded in by the Sanhedrin in Je-
rusalem with great solemnity. Witnesses had to report the
appearance of the new moon to the Sanhedrin which an-
nounced the date by fire signals and later by messengers.
This system was open to mistakes. A constant lunar calen-
dar based on calculations of earlier practices was finally
fixed in the year 358 CE by the Patriarch Hillel II in the
name of the Beth Din of Jerusalem.
Because of the fact that the Jewish calendar--with all
the Jewish holidays--is based on the lunar system and has
not always reckoned the Jewish year from the time of the
Creation, it is difficult to understand why the Jewish year
should be linked to the creation of the world now, when it
is so important to win the educated Jewish youth to a
greater understanding of Judaism.
It would have been more natural if the Jewish year
were now chronologically reckoned from the time of Abra-
ham, the first Jew. JewiSh youth would also understand it
better if the Jewish year were reckoned from the time of
the Ten Commandments.
There are many important moments in Jewish history
with fixed dates to which the chronological Jewish year
could be linked more clearly than to the Creation.
NEW ERA NEW TIMING: It is in the interest of
strengthening Jewish feelings and Jewish continuity in our
present time that Jewish scholars--Orthodox and non-Or-
thodox--should start considering the question whether the
reckoning of the calendar year to the creation should not
be revised and adjusted to our present era as it was done
in other eras.
No person in our times is inclined to believe that the
world was created only 5,738 years ago. Such doubting
does not assist in implementing greater interest for Jewish
knowledge among Jewish youth of our generation.
Traditional Jews who also believe that the world is
much older than the 5,738 years given to the creation by
the Jewish calendar, try to interpret the discrepancy by re-
ferring to the text which says that "in God's eyes 1,000
years are like one day" ("Ki Elef Shanim B'enekhu ke-
Yom Ehad").
However, it would have been much better if the Jew-
ish year-timing would not have to be defended by poetical
quotations. "The Year of the Holocaust" or "The Year of
the Rebirth of Israel," marking the beginning of a new era
in our calendar would probably be more understood and ac-
ceptable than "The Year of Creation." Such a change
would also serve to immortalize these most important
events of our era for generations to come.

-

, .

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Zionist Commissions Attempt
to Discover Common Ground

NEW YORK (JTA) —
"Despite different trends,
there is something basic to
all Zionists. Thus it is pos-
sible to prepare a single Zi-
onist statement which
avoids banalities yet is ac-
ceptable to all factions;
something like the Ameri-
can Constitution which
serves as the basis for all
law yet does not preclude
varying interpretations."

This is how Faye Schenk,
president of the American
Zionist Federation, summed
up a week of talks between
a special delegation of the
World Zionist Organization
ideological commission and
the AZF ideological commis-
sion. Each group had spent
two years developing its
awn position paper.
The purpose of the week-
long deliberations was to
narrow the gap between the
two positions and pave the
way for a single statement
which could be presented at
the World Zionist Congress
next February in Jerusa-
lem.

upon the Jerusalem Pro-
gram of 1968, was viewed
as threefold:

To generate a sense of a
single movement within Zi-
onist ranks, to arrive at a
definitive distinction be-
tween those who are
merely pro-Israel and those
who are declared Zionists;
and finally, to present a
united front in the inter-
national campaign to pre-
serve the name of Zionism
as the positive and legiti-
mate national aspiration of
the Jewish people.

The Jew who has prayed
thoughtfully in the morning
has been reminded. among
other things, of the joy of
waking up, the boon of
being free. the blessing of

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The Israeli delegates
were Shlomo Derech and
Zvi Yaron, chairman and
secretary, respectively, of
the Israeli commission.
Heading the AZF commis-
sion was Rabbi David Pol-
ish, president of the Chi-
cago Zionist Federation and
past president of the Cen-
tral Conference of Ameri-
can Rabbis.
According to Polish, the
meetings were successful
and, pending final approval
by both commissions, the
principles which could lead
to a joint statement have
been agreed upon.

"An example of joint in-
fluence," he said, is a
clause which affirms aliya
as the ultimate goal of Zion-
ism while recognizing the
reality of Jewish existence
in the diaspora and the
need for strengthening its
well-being and viability."

Prior to returning to Is-
rael Yaron pointed out that
the last Zionist Congress
has requested the prepara-
tion of a broader ideologic-
al consensus which could
then be enlarged upon and
interpreted by the various
political parties and groups.

The purpose of this state-
ment, which would amplify

Sinai Violations

TEL AVIV (JTA)—Israel
has complained again of al-
leged Egyptian violations of
the Sinai interim accords.
Defense Minister Ezer Weiz-
man summoned the com-
mander of the United Na-
tions Emergency Force
(UNEF), Gen. Ensio Sii-
lasvuo. to charge that the
Egyptians are deploying
10.000 more troops in their
limited forces zone than al-
lowed under the 1975 agree-.
ments.
Israel says that Egypt
now has 18.000 troops in the
narrow strip east of the
Suez Canal where a max-
imum of 8.000 is permitted.
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