Nissan, the first month in the Jewish calendar, usually starts around the beginning of April. Days on either calendar barely ever if ever…
In This Article...
What does the English word Nissan mean?
Have you ever heard the name of a brand and wondered where it originated? Sometimes a company’s name is derived from the founder, while other times it’s a totally fictitious name chosen because it sounds interesting. However, in some instances, the names of various brands have fascinating histories, Nissan being one such them.
If you looked this up online, you might have discovered that Nissan is a boy’s name that means “miracle” in Hebrew. That might be the case, but Nissan is a Japanese automaker, so we know that’s probably not where the name originated.
In actuality, the meaning of the Nissan name is more of an abbreviation than a true “meaning.” Actually, the holding corporation Nihon Sangyo (or Nippon Sangyo), founded in 1928, is where the name comes from. However, the name quickly adopted the acronym Ni-San, or Nissan, for stock market purposes.
Nissan didn’t start producing cars until the middle of the 1930s. Nissan combined its subsidiary Tobata Casting with another automaker it now owns, Datsun. The auto components division of Tobata Casting was split off in 1934 and given the name Nissan Motor. By 1935, Datsun automobile manufacture had started in Yokohama. Then came vehicles with the Nissan name.
Is Abib the month that Passover falls in?
When is the Passover holiday? On the fourteenth day of Abib, the first Biblical month, it is observed. According to the Gregorian calendar, the first month is also known as Nisan and occurs in March or April.
What day did Nissan begin operations?
An ancient calendar used in Mesopotamia is called nisan-years. Its origins date back to the prehistoric period. The Nisan-years were employed in Mesopotamia’s calendar ever since it had historical records, even before the First Babylonian dynasty of Hammurabi.
A lunisolar calendar called nisan-years synchronizes the lunar and solar ages by adding an extra month every seven of every nineteenth year (called the Metonic cycle). The difference between the solar and lunar calendars will only be around two hours, or 1 part in 80,000, in nineteen years because a tropical year has 365.2422 days and a synodic month has an average length of 29.53059 days.
Spring is the start of the Nisan year. Technically, its New Year’s Day is the day following the New Moon that occurs the day after the Spring equinox, which occurs on March 21 in the Gregorian Calendar and is closest to (within fifteen days before or after) the time when the day and the night are of equal length. The first month, Nisanu/Nisan/Abib, is when it starts.
Why is the first month Nisan?
The Mishnah in Tractate Rosh Hashanah 1:1 describes the First of Nisan as one of the four beginnings of the Jewish New Year, while Exodus 12:1-2 specifies that Nisan is the first month in the intercalation of the new year: Four new years have passed. The new year for kings and celebrations begins on the first of Nisan.
Which month begins the Hebrew calendar?
Depends, really. Jews can pick from a variety of holidays. The crucial ones are:
Rosh HaShanah falls on 1 Tishri. The new calendar year officially begins on this day, which also serves as a commemoration of the world’s creation. We will base our computations in the ensuing parts on this day.
New Year for Kings on 1 Nisan. The religious year begins at this time as well. Despite occurring six to seven months after the beginning of the calendar year, Nisan is regarded as the first month.
Rosh Hashana, or the first of Tishri, is the start of the Jewish New Year. Apples and honey have been a traditional emblem of a sweet New Year since the Middle Ages when they were served at festive dinners.
Why doesn’t the new year begin at Passover?
This is a challenging one. There is a tie to Passover, a spring celebration that is traditionally regarded as a new year (we actually have four new years though the numerical year changes only on Rosh Hashana). Some claim that our time spent in ancient Egypt, from which Passover commemorates our exodus, is the reason for the scheduling of this fall feast.
What month is the new year in the Bible?
To start calculating the months on the Jewish calendar, Nisan 1 served as the new year’s day. The first month of the Jewish year is referred to in Scripture by the names Aviv and Nisan. Today, the majority of Jewish culture refers to it as Nisan. It typically starts in March according to the Gregorian calendar.
The cycle of the seven great biblical feasts likewise starts in the month of Nisan. Nisan is the month with three of the seven festivals.
The first of the three pilgrimage holidays, Passover, starts on the fourteenth day of Nisan. The very next day, on the 15th, is the Unleavened Bread Festival. Last but not least, First fruits frequently follows Unleavened Bread by a few days.
Legalistic 23:5 The LORD’s Passover is held on the fourteenth day of the first month, at dusk.
God commanded the Israelites to observe Passover in which month?
As stated in the book of Exodus, Passover occurs in the first few days of the Hebrew month of Nissan. Exodus 12:18 instructs how Passover is to be observed: “You shall eat unleavened bread from the fourteenth day of the month at evening to the twenty-first day of the month at evening.”
The dates of Passover and other Jewish holidays shift year because the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars do not line up.
When does Nisan 2022 officially begin?
What Time Is Passover? The dates range from the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan (or Nisan), to the 22nd day, and are based on the Hebrew calendar. The dates of Passover 2022 are April 15–April 23. Both the first and second Seders will take place after dark on April 15 and 16, respectively.
What makes Jesus the Paschal Lamb?
Although every attempt has been made to adhere to the citation style guidelines, there may still be some inconsistencies.
If you have any questions, kindly consult the relevant style guide or other sources.
The lamb killed at the first Passover, which occurred on the eve of the most important event in Jewish history—the Exodus from Egypt—is known as the Paschal lamb in Judaism. The Jews were saved from destruction by marking their doorposts with the blood of the lamb, according to the Passover tale found in Exodus chapter 12.
The family afterwards consumed the spotless year-old lamb that had been offered as a sacrifice on the 14th of Nisan in the Temple of Jerusalem to commemorate the night before the Exodus. A second Passover festival was allowed a month later for individuals who had been prevented from going to the Temple at the appointed time. Jews today represent the Paschal lamb with a roasted shank bone during the seder (q.v.) feast. In I Corinthians 5:7, St. Paul compared the sacrifice made by Jesus to the Paschal lamb, thereby giving rise to the Christian idea of Christ as the spotless Lamb of God who, through his death, set people free from the grip of sin.
When is Passover this year?
The beginning of the Passover is on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan, which on the Gregorian calendar usually occurs in March or April. After the 14th day, the 15th day starts in the evening, and the seder is eaten that night. The 15th day of Nisan usually begins on the night of a full moon following the northern vernal equinox because Passover is a spring feast. Passover does occasionally begin on the second full moon following the vernal equinox, as it did in 2016, due to leap months that follow the vernal equinox.
The custom in ancient Israel was that the lunar new year, the first day of Nisan, would not begin until the barley was ready, being the test for the beginning of spring. This was done to prevent Passover from beginning before spring. An intercalary month (Adar II) was added if the barley wasn’t ripe or if several other phenomena suggested that spring wasn’t quite here yet. However, the intercalation has been mathematically determined in accordance with the Metonic cycle from at least the 4th century.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is observed over a seven-day period in Israel as Passover, with the first and last days being observed as holy days with holiday feasts, special prayer services, and a day off from work. The remaining days are referred to as Chol HaMoed (“Weekdays [of] the Festival”). The festival is observed by Jews outside of Israel for eight days. Jews who practice Reform or Reconstruction usually observe the festival for seven days. The Jewish calendar utilized by Karaites is distinct from the present Jewish calendar and is off by one or two days. To calculate the timing of their feastdays, the Samaritans adopt a calendrical system that employs a different methodology from that currently used in Jewish practice. Nisan 15 on the Jewish calendar followed by Rabbinic Judaism, for instance, corresponds to April 9 in 2009. Abib or Aviv 15 (as opposed to “Nisan”) in the Karaite and Samaritan calendars corresponds to April 11 in 2009. The Festival of Unleavened Bread lasts six days, followed by the one-day Karaite and Samaritan Passovers for a total of seven days.
What differentiates Passover from Easter?
Passover commemorates the biblical Exodus narrative, in which the Jews and Moses, their leader, escape from slavery in Egypt thanks to divine intervention.
Easter, which is usually regarded as the most significant day on the Christian calendar, honors Jesus’ resurrection as described in the New Testament Gospels.
According to David Kraemer, librarian and professor of Talmud and rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, Passover and the days from Good Friday to Easter go hand in hand. They are actually intended to work well together.
However, if you believe that merely indicates that Jesus, a Jew, went to a Passover Seder before he died, continue reading. The two springtime festivals are connected in a number of significant ways, including the names of the holidays and how, when, and why we commemorate them.
Christians: Do they still observe Passover?
Understanding the traditions and symbols of a Passover seder through Jewish eyes is the biggest obstacle for a Christian taking part. Passover is only known to many Christians insofar as it is occasionally observed in Christian tradition. On Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, the Thursday evening before Easter, some churches even host a “Passover” feast. This dinner commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus, which the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) claim to have been a Passover seder.
But there isn’t enough material in the New Testament’s account of the Last Supper to say for sure that it was a Passover supper. It was possible for a dinner to start with wine and breaking bread on the Sabbath or even throughout the workweek. In fact, the Last Supper occurred the night before Passover, and Jesus was crucified on the eve of Passover during the Passover offering, according to the Gospel of John (for, according to John, Jesus is the Passover offering).
Passover is essential to understanding Easter in particular and Christianity in general, whether or not the Last Supper was a Passover seder. For Christians, Easter stands for the ultimate redemption of humankind via the life and death of Jesus, just as Passover signifies for Jews the rescue from slavery and the redemption to freedom.
Christians shouldn’t let these theological issues stand in the way of their comprehension and celebration of the Passover seder, even though Passover is essential for understanding the story of Easter. Instead, it is important to consider Judaism in order to fully comprehend the seder ceremonies and dishes.