The Jewish calendar modulates all the rhythms of Jewish life with its cycle of fasts, festivals, and special events. But unlike the secular year that follows the sun or the Islamic year that is set by the moon, it tracks both.
Originally, Jewish months were set by a visual sighting of the new moon, but sometime around 358 CE, the system was changed to one that uses (complicated) algorithms. This slide presentation will cover topics from the moon to Torah and Talmud, and will explain the basics of what is known as sod ha-ibur (something like “secrets of the moon”), including why all these calendars are wrong—and why you should care.
There will be munchies and schmoozing. Bring your friends and prepare to be enlightened.
Howard Smith is a senior astrophysicist at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He is a past member of the Harvard Astronomy Department and was the chair of astronomy at the National Air & Space Museum for a decade. He is also a longtime student of Jewish mysticism and lectures on science and religion and their roles in helping us understand the cosmos and the Divine, emphasizing the radical implications of the scientific discoveries of the past 50 years. He is the author of “Let There Be Light: Modern Cosmology and Kabbalah, a New Conversation Between Science and Religion” (New World Library, 2006). His new illustrated book with Art Green and Debra Band, “Secrets of Creation: Mysticism meets Science and Art,” will be out this summer (Ben Yehuda Press) and can be preordered. He is active in the Boston Jewish community and is a member of Walnut Street Minyan.
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