Jews use the abbreviations C.E. (Common or Christian Era) and B.C.E. (Before the
Common Era), as do scholars today. In reference to the civil calendar, A.D. refers to “the year of our Lord and B.C. to Before Christ. The Biblical calendar also uses the abbreviation A.M. (Anno
Mundi) meaning Year of the World (Hebrew Calendar. par 4).
The "first month" of the Jewish calendar is the Spring month of Nissan, when Passover occurs. However, the Jewish New Year is Tishri, the seventh month, and that is when the year number is increased. We see the concept of different starting points for a year in American thinking/culture: "the New Year" starts in January, but the new "school year" starts in September, …show more content…
Similarly, the Jewish calendar has different starting points for different purposes ( Judaism 101. Jewish Calendar. par
13).
The names of the months of the Jewish calendar were adopted during the time of Ezra, after the return from the Babylonian exile. The names are actually Babylonian month names, brought
16 …show more content…
The Bible refers to months by number, not by name (Judaism
101 par 14).
The Sabbath is known as the Shabbat, the seventh day of the week. The Jewish calendar doesn't have names for the days of the week. The days of the week are simply known as the first day, second day, third day, etc. Sometimes they are referred to more fully as First Day of the
Sabbath, etc. ( Judaism 101 par 17).
In the fourth century the “church” told the Jewish people they could no longer determine the biblical calendar on pain of death. So Hillel II, (320-385AD), the chief of the