The present year (September 1890 to October 1891) is, according to Jewish tradition,[55] the year 5651 A.M. (of the Creation); its characteristics are ‏ב׳ ח׳ ה׳‎; i.e., the 1st of Tishri is on Monday; the year is defective; and the 1st of Nisan is on Thursday. The year is, besides, a leap-year, consisting of 13 months; [[368]]it is the eighth year of the 298th cycle (of 19 years). It is the first year of the Septennate, or the first year after the year of release (‏שמטה‎. See Lev. xxv.).

[[Contents]]

The Festivals.

“The feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons” (Lev. xxiii. 4), are Passover, Feast of Weeks, Day of Memorial, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. These are divided into two groups called ‏שלוש רגלים‎ and ‏ימים נוראים‎, “three festivals” and “solemn days.” In the Pentateuch the two groups are kept distinctly asunder. Thus in Exod. xxiii. 14–17 and xxxiv. 18, and Deut. xvi., only the former group is mentioned.

The name shalosh regalim derives its origin from the following Biblical passage: “Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year,” ‏שלש רגלים תחג לי בשנה‎ (Exod. xxiii. 14). Although in a parallel passage the word ‏רגלים‎ has been replaced by ‏פעמים‎ (ibid. ver. 17), of the same meaning, “times,” shalosh regalim has been preferred, because ‏רגלים‎ reminds one also of “a journey on foot,” “a pilgrimage,” an important element in the celebration of these three festivals, according to the Divine commandment, “Three times every year shall thy males appear before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose, in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles” (Deut. xvi. 16).

The name yamim noraim for the remaining two feasts is not founded on a Biblical phrase, but on the fact that these festivals are devoted more than the rest to earnest reflection and solemn devotion. [[369]]

I. The Three Festivals (‏שלש רגלים‎).

The three festivals have the following three characteristics in common:—

1. They refer to important events in our national history; viz., Passover to the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage; Feast of Weeks to the Revelation on Mount Sinai; and Tabernacles to the travels of the Israelites through the Arabian desert.

2. They mark the various stages of the harvest; viz., Passover marks the season of the early harvest, Feast of Weeks the second harvest, and the Feast of Tabernacles the ingathering of the fruit.