Jewish Hebrew Calendar conversion

Notes: The "first month" of the Jewish calendar is the month of Nissan, in the spring, when Passover occurs. However, the Jewish New Year is in Tishri, the seventh month, and that is when the year number is increased. This concept of different starting points for a year is not as strange as it might seem at first glance. The American "new year" starts in January, but the new "school year" starts in September, and many businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year. Similarly, the Jewish calendar has different starting points for different purposes.

The names of the months of the Jewish calendar were adopted during the time of Ezra, after the return from the Babylonian exile. The names are actually Babylonian month names, brought back to Israel by the returning exiles. Note that most of the Bible refers to months by number, not by name.

The Jewish calendar has the following months:


Hebrew . . . . . . . . . Number .. Length ... Gregorian Calendar Equivalent
Nissan (in Hebrew) ....... 1 ..... 30 days .. March-April
Iyar (in Hebrew) ......... 2 ..... 29 days .. April-May
Sivan (in Hebrew)......... 3 ..... 30 days .. May-June
Tammuz (in Hebrew)........ 4 ... 29 days .. June-July
Av (in Hebrew)............ 5 ..... 30 days .. July-August
Elul (in Hebrew).......... 6 ..... 29 days .. August-September
Tishri (in Hebrew)........ 7 ..... 30 days .. September-October
• Sometimes spelled Tishrei. Following the Babylonian exile it was called Tishri, a name that does not appear in the Bible record but that is found in postexilic writings. Before this time, Tishri was called Ethanim. (For a little more information on this topic, see General Discussion on October in History above)
Cheshvan (in Hebrew)...... 8 ..... 29-30 days.October-November
Kislev (in Hebrew)........ 9 ..... 29-30 days.November-December
Tevet (in Hebrew)........ 10 ..... 29 days .. December-January
Shevat (in Hebrew)....... 11 ..... 30 days .. January-February
Adar I (in Hebrew)....... 12 ..... 30 days .. February-March (leap years only)
Adar (in Hebrew)
Adar II (in Hebrew)...... 12 ..... 29 days .. February-March (13 in leap years)
(called Adar Beit in leap years)