Cycles within Cycles: Mechanics of the Jewish Calendar

Looking at the different cycles of time portrayed in the Jewish calendar, we will look at how the dual lunar-solar calendar functions, how it overlays with the agricultural and seasonal rhythms, the mechanics of its inner workings, as well as some fundamental astronomical and astrological wisdom as it relates to the ancestral wisdom of Jewish time-keeping.

Session 1: The Command to Calendar

In the first session we will understand the cultural imperative to be time keepers, develop a basic relationship with the ancestral Jewish wisdom of how we keep time, and recognize the difference in our relationship to time before and after exile.

Session 2: Phasic vs. Fixed Calendar

In this session we will understand what led to our ancestors utilizing a fixed calendar instead of a phasic calendar, as well as look at the basic calculations that establish months, and the technology of the leap-year.

Session 3: The Four New Years and the Festival Cycle

In this session we will understand the six seasons in ancestral Jewish time keeping, what is the purpose of Four New Years, and how the festivals create containers for our personal experience of the calendar.

Session 4: Solar Cycles and Star Cycles

In this session we will explore the significance of the solstices and equinoxes in ancestral Jewish time keeping, understanding our astronomical celebrations as well as some of the astrological associations in our calendar and mythic narrative.

Session 5: Mystical Time Keeping

In this session we will touch on ancestral Jewish conceptions of cosmic time cycles and how the calendar is a tool for our mystical relationship with Creation.