The True Calendar?

B"H

The True Calendar?

A Torah and Halachic Critique of the Hebrew Roots

Calendar Poster

Introduction: A False Polemic Framed as Truth

The viral poster above proclaiming "The Biblical Calendar is NOT..." presents a striking but deeply flawed critique of traditional Jewish calendrical authority. Popular among Hebrew Roots and certain Karaite circles, this graphic purports to restore "biblical truth" while dismissing Rabbinic Judaism, its halachic framework, and thousands of years of Jewish practice. It identifies four rejected calendar systems—the Zodiac Calendar, the Enochian Calendar, Jasher & Jubilees, and the Rabbinic Calendar—and insists that only the sighted new moon and Aviv barley restore the "true calendar."

At first glance, this appeal to return to the "Bible alone" seems noble, even pious. However, upon close scrutiny, each of its claims lacks textual, halachic, and historical grounding. This essay provides a detailed rebuttal, using the very sources the poster claims to champion: the Written Torah and the Oral Torah handed down by the Sages of Israel. We will show that the poster is not a restoration of biblical faithfulness, but a well-disguised rebellion against the Torah's own internal legal structure.

1. The Zodiac Calendar: A Strawman Accusation

Claim: "Astrological timekeeping is an abomination based in pagan sorcery."

This accusation is built on a misconception: that Rabbinic Judaism bases its calendar on astrology. This is demonstrably false.

Biblical Sources:

• Genesis 1:14: "Let there be lights in the heavens... for signs and for mo'adim (appointed times), and for days and years."

• Deuteronomy 18:10-12 condemns sorcery and soothsaying, not astronomy.

Clarification:

• The Jewish calendar is based on astronomy, not astrology.

• No halachic calendar in Judaism uses horoscopic signs to determine months or festivals.

Rabbinic Sources:

• Rambam (Hilchot Avodat Kochavim 11:8): "Astrology is not a science, but superstition."

• Talmud Shabbat 156a mentions astrology as a belief among the nations, not as part of Jewish halachic practice.

Critique: This claim is a blatant strawman. No mainstream Jewish authority has ever based the calendar on the Zodiac. The Torah mandates timekeeping via heavenly lights (sun and moon), not constellations.

2. The Enochian Calendar: A Sectarian Invention

Claim: "The 364-day solar calendar contradicts the Torah and removes the moon."

Biblical Sources:

• Exodus 12:2: "This month shall be for you the beginning of months."

• Numbers 28:11: Monthly offerings are commanded, implying lunar reckoning.

• Psalm 104:19: "He made the moon for appointed times."

Clarification:

• The Book of Enoch is not part of the Tanakh.

• A 364-day solar calendar is used in sectarian texts like Jubilees and Enoch (Dead Sea Scrolls), not in Torah or Talmud.

Rabbinic Sources:

• Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 2:6: New months are sanctified by sighted moon witnesses.

• Rambam (Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh 1:1): "The months are lunar; the year is adjusted to the solar cycle."

Critique:

Ironically, the poster is correct that the Enochian calendar is invalid—but this error has nothing to do with Rabbinic Judaism. It was a sectarian deviation rejected by both the Sages and the mainstream biblical tradition. The inclusion of this point serves only to conflate legitimate Jewish tradition with apocryphal nonsense, as a rhetorical trick.

3. Jasher & Jubilees: Misleading the Masses

Claim:

"Extra-biblical books are not scripture and add to the Torah."

Biblical Sources:

• Deuteronomy 4:2: "Do not add to or subtract from the word I command you."

• Deuteronomy 17:9-11: Authority is granted to the judges and kohanim of each generation.

Clarification:

• Rabbinic Judaism does not use Jasher or Jubilees for halacha.

• These texts are considered Midrashic or apocryphal but have no legal status.

Rabbinic Sources:

• Avot 1:1: "Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it..."

• Rambam (Introduction to Mishneh Torah): Oral Torah was given alongside the Written Torah.

Critique:

The accusation that Judaism depends on these texts is a red herring. Traditional halacha is not derived from apocrypha but from the Oral Torah transmitted from Sinai. This claim attempts to undermine the Oral Law by lumping it in with non-canonical books, revealing the poster's fundamental misunderstanding of Jewish legal transmission.

4. The Rabbinic Calendar:

A Torah-Mandated Institution

Claim:

"Talmudic calculations nullify the appointed times and follow traditions."

This is the heart of the poster’s attack: that the fixed calendar used today is man-made.

Biblical Sources:

• Exodus 23:14-17: Festivals must be kept at their appointed times.

• Deuteronomy 16:1: "Guard the month of Aviv."

• Deuteronomy 17:9-11: Obey the ruling of the court.

Clarification:

• Originally, the Sanhedrin declared Rosh Chodesh based on witnesses.

• Due to persecution and dispersion, Hillel II instituted a calculated calendar around 358 CE.

Rabbinic Sources:

• Rosh Hashanah 25a: Rabban Gamliel enforces the court’s authority to sanctify the month.

• Rambam (Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh 5:2): "From the time the court was dispersed, we rely on calculation."

• Sanhedrin 88b: Even if the court errs in calculation, their decision is binding.

Critique:

The Rabbinic calendar is not a tradition "nullifying" Torah but an expression of Torah’s judicial authority. To reject the calendar is to reject Deuteronomy 17:11 and the very institution HaShem commands us to obey. This criticism collapses under the weight of the Torah itself.

5. The Sighted New Moon and Aviv Barley: A Misapplied Ideal

Claim:

"Only the sighted new moon and Aviv barley restore the true calendar."

Biblical Sources:

• Numbers 28:11: Monthly offerings depend on declared months.

• Deuteronomy 16:1: Guard the month of Aviv.

• Exodus 12:2: This month shall be for you the first of months.

Clarification:

• Sighted moons and barley were once part of the Sanhedrin's method.

• Without a central court, individuals have no halachic authority to declare months.

Rabbinic Sources:

• Rambam (Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh 4–5): Sightings are valid only when verified by a functioning court.

• Rosh Hashanah 24a: Even incorrect sanctifications by the court are valid.

Critique:

This is the most seductive claim, appealing to a vision of "biblical purity." But it is halachically incoherent. Torah does not permit each person to determine the calendar. That authority rests with the judges (Deut. 17:9-11). Without a Sanhedrin, the sighted moon and barley cannot be legally sanctified. This is not restoration—it's lawlessness in holy clothing.

Conclusion:

From Pious-Sounding Error to Open Rebellion

The poster trades on superficial fidelity to Scripture while attacking the very structure the Torah commands: the legal authority of the Jewish court. In rejecting the Rabbinic calendar, it unintentionally aligns with the Sadducees and Karaites, who were rejected by every stream of traditional Judaism.

Far from restoring "biblical timekeeping," this ideology isolates individuals from the legal unity of Israel and denies the Torah's own commandments about judicial authority. The Rabbinic calendar is not perfect because no human system is. But it is ours, rooted in Torah, upheld by halacha, and sustained by thousands of years of Jewish continuity. Those who abandon it in favor of sighted moons and internet barley reports do not restore the Torah. They abandon it.

Let us therefore reaffirm:

"You shall act according to the decision they declare to you... you shall not turn aside from the word they declare to you, neither to the right nor to the left." (Deuteronomy 17:11)