To all my Jewish brothers and sister
Shanah Tovah!
If you know anybody who is Jewish, now it's the time to wish them a good (new) year. That's what the greeting above means in Hebrew.
This year's Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts at sunset on September 6 and continues through the nightfall of September 8.
Unlike civil days, Jewish days run from sunset to sunset. That's why Rosh Hashanah starts in the evening and not at midnight like holidays based on the Gregorian calendar, which is a solar calendar.
The Jewish calendar is lunisolar. That is, it's a lunar calendar — the new moon marks the beginning of a new month — yet it also includes a few rules to sync it with the solar year and the seasons.
A Jewish year can either have 353, 354, or 355 days. Some years, however, have an extra month; thus, those years may have 383, 384, or 385 days. The number of days varies because some holidays cannot fall on certain days of the week.
That's why Jewish holidays fall on different dates each year based on the Gregorian calendar. Rosh Hashanah, for instance, may happen anywhere between early September and early October.
Rosh Hashanah is followed by a number of holidays throughout the following weeks:
Tzom Gedaliah (September 9)
Yom Kippur (September 15–16)
Sukkot (September 20–27)
Shmini Atzeret (September 28)
Simchat Torah (September 29)
Therefore, there will be no activity in this blog until October.
I will be available to work on most days in September, except on holidays and weekends. Contact me if you have any questions!