The Jewish or Hebrew calendar

A lunisolar calendar

The Hebrew calendar is also called the Jewish calendar. It is a lunisolar calendar used today for religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. A lunisolar calendar combines the lunar cycle (based on phases of the moon) with the solar year (based on the Earth's orbit around the sun). It aims to track both the monthly cycles of the moon and the yearly cycles of the seasons. The Hebrew calendar determines the dates of Jewish holidays and festivals and other rituals such as celebrating the new moon, and the schedule of the weekly reading of the Torah portions. In Israel, it is used for religious purposes, provides a time frame for agriculture, and is an official calendar for civil holidays alongside the Gregorian calendar.

Like other lunisolar calendars, the Hebrew calendar consists of months of 29 or 30 days. These begin and end at approximately the time of the new moon. The 12 Hebrew months comprise a total of just 354 days, so an extra month – Adar Shayni or Adar Two – is added every 2 or 3 years so that the long-term average year length closely approximates the actual length of the 365 day solar year.

More information: https://blogs.loc.gov/international-collections/2019/08/stargazing-yiddish-theater-and-hebrew-calendars-come-together-in-the-library-of-congress/

A Volvelle
Volvelle: An instrument with Hebrew writing for calculating when new months would begin. Volvelles are rotating wheels that could be used to calculate the calendar for many years ahead. This particularly fine example comes from a “Sefer Evronot” printed in 1722, in Offenbach. Unlike many other illustrations of its kind, this volvelle has survived the centuries intact. [Library of Congress]

Gregorian month alignment

The diagram below shows the approximate alignment of the 12 Hebrew lunar months against the 12 Gregorian months. It also shows the approximate timings of the various Jewish Festivals.

Jewish Calendar with comparison between calendars

Festivals

Information about all the Jewish Festivals from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to Purim and Pesach.

Festivals