THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Jewish Leap Year Focuses on Calendar By ARYEH NEWMAN JERUSALEM — How many of us know that the current Jewish year is a leap year and this means not an extra day in Feb- ruary, but an extra Feb- ruary? We have now entered the leap month which is called Adar Rishon — the first Adar — and we shall have to wait a whole month to Adar Sheni — the _second Adar — for Purim this year. It may all sound so odd, geared as we are to the rhythm of another calendar, but in reality the ')rew calendar is a mas- -, piece of logic and exac- titude beautifully suited to human and specifically Jewish needs. The first step in the mak- ing of the Jewish people was the adoption of a calendar. On the eve of the Exodus, Moses was told (Exodus 12,2): "This moon shall mark for you the beginning of months." The ancient Israelites could not be satisfied with an exclusively lunar calen- dar like the nomads of the Arabian deserts and even the present Moslem calen- dar. Twelve moons only make 354 days nine hours, some 11 days shorter than the solar year. God had or- dered that the Passover and Tabernacles be celebrated not merely on the 15th day of the month at the full moon, but in the spring and autumn respectively. These feasts would move back- wards by 11 days every year, eventually occurring in the winter and- summer respectively. To correct this, an extra or leap month was inserted every two to three years. This decision was determined usually by the state of the crops and livestock, but occa- sionally by political con- siderations. If the Passover was approach- ing but such signs of spring in Palestine as calving and lambing, the drying up of the rain- soaked earth were still not evident, an extra month was inserted. The decision was taken by the people's supreme reli- gious authority in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin, which likewise proclaimed the beginning of each month, after two reliable witnesses had declared they had seen the new moon. The rabbis determined the be- ginning of the astronomical month, i.e. the Molad or con- junction, when the moon passes between the earth and sun and is completely invisible and witnesses were sent out to watch for the crescent to emerge. If two witnesses were forthcoming by the 29th day of the month, the 30th was proclaimed Rosh Hodesh, if not till the 30th (since luna- tion is 29 1/2 days), then the 31st was proclaimed Rosh Hodesh, some months thus being 30 days, others 29. But care was taken to ensure that no more than eight months were full and no less than four were defec- tive. Babylonian Jewry, the largest and most important Jewish community outside Palestine, was informed of the date of Rosh Hodesh by means of a series of pyres lighted on the hilltops, and when this was no longer feasible, special emissaries were sent out month by month. But since distant communities could not be reached in time, two holy days were observed by them to ensure they did not viol- ate the sanctity of the festi- val as determined in Jerusalem. For the only doubt was whether the previous month had been fixed at 29 or 30 days. Since the New year fell on the first of the month it happened that the same doubt arose even in Palestine and Jerusalem itself, so that the New Year was universally ob- served as two days. Hillel II, one of the last Patriarchs, finalized the Jewish calendar (359 CE), publishing the various arithmetic formulae for de- termining intercalation, the full and defective months and dating of the 8MM—Super 8 MM-16MM & 35MM FAST SERVICE PROFESSIONALLY DONE DEAL DIRECT DUPLICATING AVAILABLE 10% DISCOUNT WITH THIS AD VIDEO TRANSFER '81. SALES 21170 Bridge Rd., Smithfield THE ALL NEW 1981 JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Jerusalem magistrate's court last week extended for another 15 days the deten- tion of the three Muadi brothers suspected of the murder of Bedouin MK Sheikh Hamad Abu Rabia. Abu Rabia was murdered two weeks ago in front of a Jerusalem hotel. The three sons of his ri- val, Druze Sheikh Jaber Muadi, were detained by police the same night. The police said in court that they had sufficient evidence tying the brothers to the murder — including their confessions, and the recon- struction of the actual mur- der. Manischewitz PASSOVER RECIPE GUIDE --- . • f Israel: 7:30 P. m . Past - Present - t o ' Promise 8:20 p.m. Rabbi Loss Introduction to Judaism* ---- ..-. - ,.... )....`0,7-..., .4,<■• .;:k > • > )•=fr ■ ....`,..,..i,..K.X , ..t.:‘'...\'',.t.T.••:% .C. , ..X4, . 4. .............e. ......... ........,..,.....T t *1 w.,..,........,.. • ,.. '"` •..2:4 ,-.:::,;. , , * ?, r, - 4.?.. ic , •• ■ • 1 •.›.,... ...?., .i,...k.;c "^". • — .,.., • .... Room 203 Advanced Yiddish ... 4 City Jews and • the New Testament . ... Blocks Removed on Sharon Plan Talkers are not good doers. 354-5440 HOURS:, 9-5 p,: rn. MON. THRU FRI. MEETING AT TEMPLE BETH EL, TELEGRAPH AT 14 MILE ROAD, BIRMINGHAM Room 202 9:20 p.m. to 10:10 p.m. VIDEO TAPE Wednesday or Friday so'. that Hoshana Rabba should not occur on the Sabbath when the custom of beating the willow twigs would be forbidden, Yom Kippur on Friday or Sunday, the jux- taposition of two such sup- remely holy days, when all work and even cooking is forbidden, giving rise to acute problems of food prep- aration and preservation and burial. Court Extends Mauch Detention JERUSALEM (JTA) — The coalition majority struck from the Knesset agenda last week six opposi- tion motions against a plan by Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon to offer private housing companies prime building land in Jerusalem and other cities if they will build residential units for more settlers on the West Bank. Replying to the motions, Sharon confirmed that' he was negotiating the deal with several private con- tractors and that the Israel Lands Authority, which is subordinate to him, is examining the legal ramifi- cations of the proposal. 23 _ TRANSFER YOUR FILMS TO: COLLEGE OF JEWISH STUDIES METROPOLITAN DETROIT FEDERATION OF REFORM SYNAGOGUES SPRING 1981 8:25 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. main feasts. In every cycle of 19 years there are seven leap years (in the third, sixth, eighth, 11th, 14, 17th and 19th years). The adher- ence to this cycle ensured that the Passover would never fall before the begin- ning of spring, i.e. the ver- nal equinox. The calendar also in- cludes an automatic ad- justment ensuring the New Year — Rosh Hashana — would not fall on a Sunday, Friday, February 6, 1981 Rabbi Weiss and Mrs. Kramer Patterns of Prayer Rabbi Weiss Rabbi Steinger • Mrs. Abramson Synagogue • Past - Present - Rabbi Steinger Future and Rabbi Schwartz Mrs. Kramer When Children Ask R Jewish Living with Style Rabbi Steinger Rabbinic Responses to Modern Jewish Problems** Mrs. Syme "Rabbinic Responses to Modern Jewish Prob- lems" will be taught by Mrs. Syme at Temple Beth El on THURSDAY AFTERNOONS from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. beginning on Februa February 19, 1981.** REGISTRATION: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY-11, 1981, 7:30 P.M. CLASSES MEET: FEBRUARY 18, 25 • MARCH 4, 11, 18, 25 • APRIL 1, 8, 15, 29 • MAY 6, 13