Telling Time in Rabbinic Judaism: Correlating the Lunar-solar Calendar with the Lectionary Cycle

Abstract

Critical chapters of the story of Israel, commemorated as festivals, are timed to coincide with turnings in the year of nature. In Judaism, time is marked by the lunar months and the solar seasons and is endowed with sanctity when a turning in the heavens coincides with an episode in Israel’s story. Harmony thus characterizes Israel’s life on earth and God’s abode in heaven. In the words of the Qaddish, “He who makes peace in the heights may make peace for us.” The sacred calendar signalled by the sun (for seasons) and the moon (for months), coordinates Israel¹s life here on earth with the movement of the heavenly bodies. The movement of the sun and moon around the earth attests to critical episodes in the Torah’s narrative.