Shavous - unique in the Torah Holidays

Only one day (and no Chol haMoed)

No specific mitzvah for everyone (like matzah, Sukkah, Lulav)
No set date calendar date (only 50 days after Pesach)
Rabbis connect to Matan Torah, but not mentioned in the Chumash S
havous Only keep second day in Galus due to Lo Plug (no difference)
occurs 50 days after first day of Pesach (15th of Nissan) and encounters two new months (Iyar and
Sivan). And thus, three possible sets exist for the length of Nisan and Iyar: both months were 29 days (
‫ ;)חסר‬or both were 30 days (‫ ;)מלא‬or, one was 29 days and the other was 30 days.
The Jewish calendar is both lunar and solar. A new month begins when the moon is new, but
must be full days, not partial. Thus, every month is either
29 or 30 days long.
The Molad Period
The Torah establishes that months were
The occurrence of the new moon, called the
determined by the Sanhedrin (and was not a fixed
Molad, is determined by the lunar cycle.
calander). Two witnesses who had spotted the new moon
made their way to the Sanhedrin to testify. If the The Rabbis determined this cycle to be 29
testimony was given and, upon cross-examination, days, 12 hours, and 793 parts. This exact
accepted on the 30th day, then the Sanhedrin would same value, in hexasegimal notation, is also
announce that the new month was "sanctified," meaning found in Claudius Ptolemy's Almagest [4:2]
that the month just ended was 29 days and the new month published about 150 CE.
would begin. If the testimony was not processed on that The traditional time of the Molad cycle is
day --- or even if the witnesses came too late, or were slower by about 1 day in every 15,304
disqualified on a technicality (such as lacking credibility years than the presently accepted time of
due to their being unrepentant criminals) --- then the new the mean lunar conjunction.
month would begin the next day, and the prior month was
30 days long.

Based on this information, figure out the dates in Sivan, that according to the Torah, the holiday
of Shavous can occur:

1. Nissan is 29 days and Iyar is 29 days: Shavous occurs on which day of Sivan _________

2. Nissan is 29 days and Iyar is 30 days: Shavous occurs on which day of Sivan _________

3. Nissan is 30 days and Iyar is 29 days: Shavous occurs on which day of Sivan _________

4. Nissan is 30 days and Iyar is 30 days: Shavous occurs on which day of Sivan _________

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 NOTES FOR TEACHER OR PARENT

Age group – 12 years and up

Objective of this lesson:
Appreciate math in the Parsha
Introduction to concepts within the Torah calendar systems & concerning Shavous

ANSWER SHEET

5. Nissan is 29 days and Iyar is 29 days: Shavous occurs on which day of Sivan ___7th___

6. Nissan is 29 days and Iyar is 30 days: Shavous occurs on which day of Sivan ___6th___

7. Nissan is 30 days and Iyar is 29 days: Shavous occurs on which day of Sivan ___6th___

8. Nissan is 30 days and Iyar is 30 days: Shavous occurs on which day of Sivan ___5th___

Therefore, Shavous and the day the Torah was given (in the year 2448) do not have to be the same

The Torah calendar system involves a cooperative effort between God and man. God provides the raw data,
but only the human agents can declare the new month or the extra month. Even on Rosh Hashana, the Day
of Judgment, God does not convene the Heavenly Court until the earthly Sanhedrin proclaims it to be Rosh
Hashana.

When the Sanhedrin declared the new month, they needed to inform the people, some of whom lived in the
Diaspora. At first, this was done by waving a torch from the top of the Temple, signaling other torchbearers
positioned on strategically-chosen mountains. In the course of one night, even the communities in far-away
Babylon would be informed of the advent of the new month.

This method had to be abandoned, however, when sectarians would light the torches on the wrong night in
order to undermine the authority of the Sanhedrin. Instead , the Sanhedrin began sending messengers to
run from town to town with the news of the advent of the new month. Thus, Diaspora communities might
have to wait well past the middle of the month to find out the exact date, although there was only a one-day
variance (remember that a month could only be 29 or 30 days long). If a holiday fell during that month,
these Diaspora communities would observe two festival days to be sure. This applied to Pessach, Shavuot
and Sukkot. Rosh Hashana had always been observed as two days, even in Israel, because it falls on the first
of the month of Tishrei; even Jews in Israel could not be informed in time. The Yom Kippur fast was
observed as one day, even in the Diaspora; because of the difficulty of fasting for two days without
interruption, the Rabbis ruled that they could rely on the observation that Elul had always been 29 days as
far back as the days of Ezra.

The Sanhedrin also decided when it was necessary to add a month in order to ensure that Pesach would be
in the spring. In the month of Adar, at the end of the winter, they would send out inspectors to check the
progress of the wheat crop. They could also calculate whether the vernal equinox would come before or after
the 16th of the next month. If it was determined that it was too early for Pesach, then the month after Adar
would be Adar II; Purim is observed in Adar II and Nisan would be the next month.

The Sanhedrin stopped being active in the early part of the 4th Century CE, when religious persecution forced
it to disband. The rabbis of the time created the fixed calendar which we use today. All the months’ lengths
are now predetermined.

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