THE AVIV CALENDAR

In Sh’mot (Exodus) 12:2 Moshe was

told to begin a new calendar, which

was to become the Scriptural Calendar

Why the Aviv Calendar?

As Talmidei Yeshua, we have returned to using the Scriptural Aviv Calendar as our means of observing the Mo’adim (appointed times) of YHVH Elohim. We acknowledge the weekly Shabbat, the seven Mo’adim and Rosh Hodesh, not out of obligation, but out of desire, because we accept that Yeshua as the only and unique son of El Shaddai (God Almighty the all-sufficient God) as the Word of God in accordance with Yochanan 1:1-3. We acknowledge that as the Word of God, it was actually Yeshua who instructed Moshe to write the words of Torah as a combination of antecedent history and regulations for Isra’el, the chosen people of YHVH. We also acknowledge that through his death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of his Father, Yeshua fulfilled the first four of the seven Mo’adim set forth in Vayikra (Leviticus) Chapter 23. He fulfilled Pesach, Matzah, Bikkurim and Shavuot.

Regrettably, many Christians believe that it is no longer necessary to observe the appointed times of YHVH. However, in the words of Yeshua in Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:18 “I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah -- not until everything that must happen has happened.” So, as the Torah has never been done away with, it is our desire to observe the appointed times of Vayikra Chapter 23, as a continuing practice until Yeshua returns.

Having said that, many people ask why we have a calendar that is different from that of both Rabbinic Judaism and Christendom? The short answer is because we prefer to observe things written in Scripture ahead of man-made traditions. However, both Rabbinic Jews and Christians usually respond that they also base their festivals on the words of Scripture, so why do we elect to be different?

The Rabbinic Calendar

Rabbinic Jews follow the teachings of Moshe and the Tanakh, while at the same time following a calendar they adopted during the Babylonian Exile. Hence, the Rabbinic year begins with Rosh Hashanah, which according to Chabad, a deeply orthodox community, claim it is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve and a time for the sounding of the shofar. It also begins their period of ten ‘Days of Awe’ culminating on Yom Kippur the day of judgement. They believe that is when a person will be once again inscribed in the Book of Life for yet another year. Rosh Hashanah is their new year celebration on the 1st day of the 7th scriptural month, near the end of the festival cycle, as set forth in Torah. So, how can the Rabbinic Calendar be considered scripturally based? The answer is that it is not scriptural but rather it is based on a man-made tradition.

The Christian Calendar

By contrast, Christianity centres their calendar around the rulings of the Council of Nicaea of 325 CE, which established that Easter would always be held on the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox, which always falls on 21 March each year. Further, their lead up to Easter covers a period of 40 days called ‘Lent’ which is similar to the ten days of awe in Judaism. Lent is a period of preparation which is made up of prayer, repentance, and self denial, leading toward their celebration of what they call ‘Passion Week.’

However, neither of those calendrical practices match what we as Talmidim of Yeshua are trying to observe. We are not being different from the two great religious communities, just for the sake of being different, but rather because we prefer to adhere as closely as possible the calendar principles laid down by YHVH himself as expressed in Torah. Moshe was given clear guidelines as to how Isra’el were to apply their calendar in planning the year in Eretz Yisra’el. Its application was very simple. Every individual in Eretz Yisra’el could determine the days, weeks, months, and years, without the need any knowledge of astronomy or mathematics, they did not need sophisticated equipment to measure star, planet, and lunar movements, just the naked eye searching the sky after sunset.

The Origin of The Aviv Calendar

Unlike the Gregorian Calendar which we all use in our daily lives, the Aviv Calendar is not commercially available in table format ready to be hung on the wall. Determining times and seasons, months and years from Scripture requires careful examination of many parts of the Bible, because the key elements are embedded throughout the narrative. However, once the scriptural format is established, the application from there becomes very simple.

Our search for the basis of the Aviv Calendar begins in Sh’mot 12:1-2 where we are told:- “ADONAI spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt; and said, "You are to begin your calendar with this month; it will be the first month of the year for you.”

Then immediately following in verses 3-4, YHVH says – “Speak to all the assembly of Isra'el and say, 'On the tenth day of this month, each man is to take a lamb or kid for his family, one per household” – and in verse 6 “You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, and then the entire assembly of the community of Isra'el will slaughter it at dusk.”

Finally, in verse 18 – “From the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day, you are to eat matzah.”

None of these verses in and of themselves give us any indication when YHVH spoke to Moshe on these matters! So, when was the first month of the year to be begin?

The 1st clue was found Sh’mot 12:3-4, when YHVH spoke about the preparation for Pesach. But, he still did not say when.

The 2nd clue is found back in Sh’mot 9:31-32 where we are told:- “The flax and barley were ruined, because the barley was ripe and the flax in bud. But the wheat and buckwheat were not ruined, because they come up later.”

The damage caused by the hailstorm, was the result of the 7th plaque with which YHVH struck Egypt. However, we still do not know how the storm damage links with the narrative about the first month of the year.

The 3rd clue is found later in Sh’mot 34:18, where YHVH instructs Moshe saying:- “Keep the festival of matzah by eating matzah, as I ordered you, for seven days during the month of Aviv; for it was in the month of Aviv that you came out from Egypt.”

It has taken four different and separate portions of the Book of Sh’mot to find a definitive answer to our original question – When did the year begin? However, by bringing these three clues together along with the initial statement in Sh’mot 12:1-2, we can finally pinpoint, which is the first month and its place in the annual cycle of time.

So, let’s recap and see how we had to jump around to bring the whole narrative together. The initial statement by YHVH made in Sh’mot 12:1-2- "You are to begin your calendar with this month; it will be the first month of the year for you!”

1st clue is in Sh’mot 12:3-4, 6 and 18, speaks about the preparation for Pesach,

2nd clue is in Sh’mot 9:31-32 speaks of the destruction of the barley and flax,

3rd clue is in Sh’mot 34:18 tells us that Matzah was eaten in the month of Aviv, which was the same month in which Isra’el departed from Egypt. Having established the timing of the calendar given to Moshe, we can now need to jump forward forty years, to the entry of Isra’el into the Land of Promise.

Firstly, Y’hoshua (Joshua) 4:19 says that:– “The people came up out of the Yarden on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, by the eastern boundary of Yericho.”

Having recorded these words, Y’hoshua would have known when each month began, by observing the evening sky, while camped on the Plains of Mo’av. However, having survived the forty-year period in a parched wilderness, he would have no way of knowing when the wild barley growing in the Jordan Valley would reach the Aviv stage. Yet, in Y’hoshua 5:11 we are told:- “The day after Pesach they ate what the land produced, matzah and [they] roasted ears of grain that day.”

By placing Y’hoshua 4:19 and 5:11 together, we see that just five days after they crossed the Yarden River, they found Aviv barley, ready for picking. That was the day after Pesach. So, through these two verses YHVH confirms again that the first month of the year is Aviv. The month during which Isra’el observe Pesach and Matzah. So, when they found the Aviv barley, Y’hoshua confirmed that it was the 1st month of their 1st year in Eretz-Yisra’el.

Aviv Barley

The ‘Aviv state’ of barley is the condition when it was sufficiently ripe to be roasted and eaten, but not ripe enough to be stored in an unroasted state. The Aviv state occurs when the crop turns from green to pale yellow.

Throughout the 1st Temple era Isra’el and later, the tribe of Y’hudah during the 2nd Temple era, were able to determine the beginning of each new year. Then again since 1948 CE, when the modern State of Israel was established back in Eretz Yisra’el, it has been possible to search for wild barley once again on an annual basis. Each year when the barley reaches the Aviv stage and the sliver of the new moon is observed, the message can be broadcast throughout the Land and around the world, that the new scriptural year has begun. It is that simple! Thanks to the internet, it is now possible for Torah observant people both in the Land and throughout the rest of the world, to know exactly when both the Aviv barley and the new moon have been sighted together.

The 21st Century

Life in the 21st century is vastly different from the slow-paced agrarian life of ancient Isra’el. Regrettably, in this modern age we all need to programme our lives well in advance of each scripturally appointed time. That problem is further compounded by the fact that most of the Gentile world is unaware of the scriptural significance surrounding the observance of the Levitical Mo’adim, with many in Christianity considering the Mo’adim of no importance at all. However, as Talmidim of Yeshua, we need to make prior arrangements for days off work to enable observance of the Mo’adim ordained by YHVH. Therefore, it is important that we know well in advance when both the Mo’adim and Holy Convocations will occur in relation to our modern Gregorian Calendar. Hence, our Aviv Calendar has become a vital resource for Talmidei Yeshua Kehilot ensuring we observe the Mo’adim together at a time and in a manner that is acceptable to YHVH.

While advanced planning is necessary, it is still encouraging to receive confirmation from Isra’el that the moon has been sighted at the beginning of each consecutive month and in the first month, that the barley is ripe. Knowing that the three spring Mo’adim of Pesach, Matzah and Bikkurim are all directly linked with the exodus of Isra’el from Egypt and the eating of the wild barley in Eretz Yisra’el, we observe all three in accordance with the Aviv calendar.

Differences Between Gregorian and Aviv Calendars

The Gregorian Calendar, which is used almost universally throughout the western world in this 21st century measures the day from midnight to midnight. However, the scriptural (Aviv) calendar, measures the day from sundown to sundown (approx. 6:00pm). Hence, when one calendar is laid over the other, the timing of events appear difficult to relate. The six-hour time difference in the time the day starts is particularly noticeable when look at the timing of Pesach. The Pesach lamb in ancient times was sacrificed about 3:00pm on the 14th day of Aviv, with the meal beginning immediately after sundown. So, the lamb was killed on the 14th day of Aviv, while Pesach meal was eaten on the 15th. On the Gregorian Calendar even, the meal is eaten on the 14th day because the meal is eaten before midnight.

Names and Dates

In the Torah, the 1st month (Aviv) is the only month that has a given name. All subsequent months are simply known as 2nd 3rd 4th etc. which is the practice that has been adopted in our calendar. Further, our calendar focuses on the sighting of first sliver of the waxing moon which determines the day on which Rosh Hodesh will be observed. By contrast the Rabbinical Hebrew Calendar uses Babylonian names for all months and bases the timing of Rosh Hodesh on the lunar conjunction (when the moon is invisible).

"This essay was written by Graeme Purdie – Founder of Talmidei Yeshua Messianic Ministry of NZ and may only be shared in full and must include this citation at all times. All scriptural references, unless stated otherwise, have been taken from the Complete Jewish Bible by David H Stern. Copyright © 1998. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Messianic Jewish Publishers, 6120 Day Long Lane, Clarksville, MD 21029 www.messianicjewish.net."