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12th month of the Hebrew calendar
Adar
(
Hebrew
:
?????
,
Standard
?Ad?r
; from
Akkadian
adaru
) is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the
Hebrew calendar
, roughly corresponding to the month of
March
in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 days.
Names and leap years
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]
The month's name, like all the others from the Hebrew calendar, was adopted during the
Babylonian captivity
. In the
Babylonian calendar
the name was Ara? Addaru or Ad?r ('Month of Adar').
In
leap years
, it is preceded by a 30-day
intercalary month
named
Adar Aleph
(
Hebrew
:
??? ??
,
Aleph
being the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet), also known as "Adar Rishon" (
First Adar
) or "Adar I", and it is then itself called
Adar Bet
(
Hebrew
:
??? ??
,
Bet
being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet), also known as
Adar Sheni
(
Second Adar
or "Adar II"). Occasionally instead of Adar I and Adar II, "Adar" and "Ve'Adar" are used (Ve means 'and' thus: And-Adar). Adar I and II occur during February?March on the
Gregorian calendar
.
Sources disagree as to which of the two Adar months is the "real" Adar, and which is the added leap month.
[1]
Customs
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]
During the
Second Temple
period, there was a Jewish custom to make a public proclamation on the first day of the lunar month Adar, reminding the people that they are to prepare their annual monetary offering to the Temple treasury, known as the
half-Shekel
.
[2]
Based on a line in the
Mishnah
declaring that Purim must be celebrated in Adar II in a leap year (
Megillah
1:4), Adar I is considered the "extra" month. As a result, someone born in Adar during a non leap year would celebrate their birthday in Adar II during a leap year. However, someone born during either Adar in a leap year will celebrate their birthday during Adar in a non-leap year, except that someone born on 30 Adar I will celebrate their birthday on 1 Nisan in a non-leap year because Adar in a non-leap year has only 29 days.
Holidays
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]
- 7 Adar
(
II
in leap years) ?
7th of Adar
? some fast on this day in memory of the death of Moses
- 13 Adar
(
II
in leap years) ?
Fast of Esther
? on 11 Adar when the 13th falls on
Shabbat
?
(Fast Day)
- 14 Adar
(
II
in leap years) ?
Purim
- 14 Adar I
(does not exist in non-leap years;
Karaites
celebrate in Adar II) ?
Purim Katan
- 15 Adar
(
II
in leap years) ?
Shushan Purim
? celebration of Purim in walled cities existing during the time of
Joshua
- 17 Adar
(
II
in leap years) ? Yom Adar celebration feast
[
citation needed
]
In Jewish history
[
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]
- 1 Adar
(
circa
1313
BCE
) ? Plague of Darkness, the
ninth plague
upon the
Egyptians
(
Exodus
10:23). This started on the 1st of Adar, six weeks before the
Exodus
.
[
citation needed
]
- 1 Adar
[II] (1167/4 CE) ? Death of the
Ibn Ezra
- 1 Adar
(
circa
1663) ? Death of the
Shach
- 2 Adar
(598
BCE
) ?
Jerusalem
falls to
Nebuchadnezzar
and
Jeconiah
is captured.
[3]
- 2 Adar
(1941 CE) - Death of Rabbi
Yaakov Yehezkiya Greenwald
of
Pupa
- 3 Adar
(515
BCE
) ?
Second Temple
completed
- 4 Adar
(1307) ?
Maharam
's body ransomed 14 years after his death by Alexander ben Shlomo (Susskind) Wimpfen.
- 4 Adar
(1796) ? Death of
Rabbi Leib Sarah's
, a disciple of the
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov
. One of the "hidden
tzaddikim
," Rabbi Leib spent his life wandering from place to place to raise money for the ransoming of imprisoned Jews and the support of other hidden
tzaddikim
.
- 4 Adar
[II] (1992 CE) Death of
Menachem Begin
- 5 Adar
(1st century
CE
) ?
Lulianos and Paphos
voluntarily gave themselves up to be killed, in order to save innocent Jewish lives in
Laodicea
.
[4]
- 7 Adar
(1393
BCE
) ? Birth of
Moses
- 7 Adar
(1273
BCE
) ? Death of
Moses
- 7 Adar
(1828) ? Death of Rebbe Isaac Taub of Kalov, founder of the
Kalover Hasidic dynasty
, and a student of Rabbi Leib Sarah's.
- 9 Adar
(1st century
BCE
) ? Academic dissension between
Beit Hillel
and
Beit Shammai
, erupted into a violent and destructive conflict over a vote on 18 legal matters leading to the death of 3,000 students. The day was later declared a fast day by the
Shulchan Aruch
, however, it was never observed as such.
- 11 Adar
(18th century) ? Death of Reb Eliezer Lipman (Elezer Lippe), father of the prominent Chassidic Rebbes Rabbi
Elimelech of Lizhensk
and Rabbi
Zusha of Hanipol
.
- 13 Adar
(474
BCE
) ? War between Jews and their enemies in
Persia
(
Book of Esther
, chapter 9).
- 13 Adar
(161
BCE
) ?
Yom Nicanor
? The Maccabees defeated Greek Syrian general
Nicanor
at the
Battle of Adasa
during the
Maccabean Revolt
.
- 13 Adar
(1895?1986) ? Death of Rabbi
Moshe Feinstein
- 14 Adar
(474
BCE
) ?
Purim
victory celebrated in the Persian Empire
- 15 Adar
(474
BCE
) ?
Purim
Victory Celebrated in
Shushan
- 15 Adar
(1st century
CE
) ? Jerusalem Gate Day ?
King Agrippa I
(circa 21
CE
) began construction of a gate for the wall of
Jerusalem
; the day used to be celebrated as a holiday.
- 17 Adar
(522
BCE
) ? Yom Adar ? the day the Jewish people left Persia following the Purim story
[
citation needed
]
- 18 Adar
[1953] - Death of
Josef Stalin
; brings to a stop the
Doctors' Plot
- 20 Adar
(1st century
BCE
) ?
Choni the Circle Maker
prays for rain (
Talmud
,
Taanit
23a)
- 20 Adar
(1616 CE) ? 'Purim Vinz': downfall of
Vincenz Fettmilch
and triumphant return of the Jews of Frankfurt under Imperial protection. The day was established as a community Purim for generations and to this day the Washington Heights community does not recite Tachanun on this day.
[5]
- 20 Adar
(1640) ? Death of the "
Bach
"
- 21 Adar
(Adar II, 1786) ? Death of Rabbi
Elimelech of Lizhensk
- 23 Adar
(
circa
1312
BCE
) ?
Mishkan
assembled for the first time; "Seven Days of Training" begin.
- 23 Adar
(1866) ? Death of
Yitzchak Meir Alter
, first
Rebbe
of
Ger
- 24 Adar
(1817) ? The
Blood Libel
, the accusation that Jews murdered Christian children for their blood, declared false by
Czar Alexander I
. Nevertheless, nearly a hundred years later the accusation was officially leveled against
Mendel Beilis
in
Kyiv
.
- 25 Adar
(561
BCE
) ? Death of
Nebuchadnezzar
(
Jeremiah
52:31).
- 25 Adar
(1761) ? Death of Rabbi
Abraham Gershon of Kitov
the brother-in-law and leading foe-turned-disciple of the
Baal Shem Tov
.
[6]
- 27 Adar
(561
BCE
) ? Death of
Zedekiah
in Babylonian captivity.
Meroduch
, Nebuchadnezzar's son and successor, freed him (and his nephew Jeconiah) on the 27th of Adar, but Zedekiah died that same day.
- 28 Adar
(from the 2nd century onwards) ?
Talmudic
holiday to commemorate the rescinding of a
Roman
decree against
Torah
study, ritual
circumcision
, and keeping the
Shabbat
. The decree was revoked through the efforts of Rabbi
Yehudah ben Shamu'a
and his colleagues. (
Megillat Taanit
, a
baraita
on this matter can still be found in
Ta'anit
18a and
Rosh Hashanah
19a)
- 28 Adar
(1524) ? the Jews of
Cairo
were saved from the plot of
Ahmad Pasha
, who sought revenge against the Jewish minister
Abraham de Castro
who had informed Selim II of Ahmad's plan to cede from the Ottoman Empire. To this day, Adar 28th is considered the
Purim
of Cairo, with festivities including a special
Megilah
reading.
See also
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References
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External links
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