The Sacred Calendar
A lunisolar calendar built from the 66-book canon. Dark-moon conjunction for the new month. Vernal equinox as the seasonal floor. Sabbath-anchored Firstfruits.
Four Rules That Govern the Reckoning
Lunar Months (Chodesh)
Each month begins at the astronomical conjunction — the dark moon, the moment the moon passes between the earth and sun. Not visual crescent sighting, which can be cloud-obscured; not rabbinic calculation. The astronomical event itself. Day 1 of the month begins at the sundown following the conjunction.
Vernal Equinox Floor
Month I (Aviv) cannot begin until after the vernal equinox has passed. If the first new moon falls before the equinox, we wait for the next conjunction. This keeps the spring feasts anchored in their proper season relative to the solar year.
Sabbath-Anchored Firstfruits
Firstfruits falls on the first Sunday after the weekly Sabbath within Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:11, 15). We read 'the Sabbath' there as the weekly seventh-day Sabbath — the Sadducee and Karaite reading preserved also at Qumran. This anchors the Omer count and ensures Shavuot always falls on a Sunday.
66-Book Canon Only
The calendar is built from the biblical text itself — not from 1 Enoch, not from Jubilees, not from the Qumran 364-day solar reckoning, not from Mishnaic-rabbinic calculations. Where extrabiblical sources illuminate context (as 4QMMT illuminates Paul), we receive them as testimony; where they would determine doctrine, we set them aside.
The Spring Feasts
Passover to Shavuot — the seven weeks of the Omer
Passover (Pesach)
The day Yeshua kept Passover with His disciples and was crucified. Month I Day 14.
First Day of Unleavened Bread
High Sabbath. Seven days of unleavened bread begin (Exodus 12:15–20).
Firstfruits — Omer Day 1
First Sunday after the weekly Sabbath within Unleavened Bread. The Omer count begins. Yeshua rose on this day.
Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread
High Sabbath. End of Chag HaMatzot.
Shavuot (Pentecost) — Omer Day 50
The giving of Torah at Sinai. The outpouring of the Spirit at Jerusalem (Acts 2). Always falls on a Sunday.
The Fall Feasts
Yom Teruah to Shemini Atzeret — the seventh month of Ethanim
Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets)
New moon conjunction — Month VII Day 1. The shofar is sounded (Leviticus 23:24).
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
The holiest day of the year. Fasting and affliction of soul (Leviticus 23:27–32).
First Day of Sukkot (Tabernacles)
High Sabbath. Seven days in temporary dwellings (Leviticus 23:34, 42–43).
Seventh Day of Sukkot (Hoshana Rabbah)
The great day of the feast (John 7:37).
Shemini Atzeret (Eighth Day Assembly)
The eighth-day holy convocation (Leviticus 23:36). A solemn assembly, separate from Sukkot.
Hanukkah & Purim
Post-biblical feasts — observed by Yeshua and attested in the 66-book canon
Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) 2026–2027
Eight days from Chislev 25. Month IX (Chislev) begins Dec 9, 2026 — so Chislev 25 = Jan 2, 2027. Yeshua walked in the Temple during this feast (John 10:22–23).
Purim 2027
The feast of lots — Esther 9:20–32. Celebrates the deliverance of Israel in Persia. Observed on Adar 14 (villages) and Adar 15 (walled cities).
The Twelve Months — 2026–2027
Each month opens at the astronomical dark-moon conjunction
Intercalation — When an Extra Month Is Added
Twelve lunar months total roughly 354 days — eleven days short of the solar year. Over time, without adjustment, the spring feasts would drift backward through the solar calendar. To prevent this drift, a thirteenth month is added when the first new moon after winter would otherwise fall before the vernal equinox.
The thirteenth month is called Adar Sheni (Second Adar). It is inserted between Adar and Aviv, extending the winter before spring begins, only in the years the reckoning requires it.
Scriptural basis: Genesis 1:14 · Psalm 104:19 · Leviticus 23 · Exodus 12:2; 13:4 · Numbers 10:10; 28:11
"These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them."