Happy New Year & Happy New Month!

First Posted on Monday, January 3, 2022 / Yom Sheni, 1 Shevat, 5782 (Rosh Chodesh Shevat)

By: David Orenstein

On Friday, September 3, 2021 (Yom Shishi, 26 Elul, 5781, in the Jewish calendar) I wrote about the “Jewish Calendar In Canada”. The previous look at calendrics was on March 5 last year: “Mi’kmaw Calendar and Traditional Astronomy: A Two-Eyed Seeing Partnership”.

Today is the first regular business day of the new civil year 2022, which started last Friday (or is it Saturday) just after midnight. But it’s also already Shevat, the fifth month of the Jewish Year 5782. Since today is the first, it’s also known as Rosh Chodesh = “Head of the Month”.

There’s a special Sabbath in Shevat, Shabbat Shira = “The Sabbath of Song”. It’s 13 Shevat (Friday, January 14 – Saturday January 15), coinciding with the weekly Torah reading of Be-Shellach, where Miriam leads the women in song after the miraculous crossing of the Sea of Reeds. It’s an occasion to relish the Jewish liturgical music tradition, of which there are many fine Canadian practitioners.

And then there’s Tu B’Shevat = “Middle of Shevat”, 15 Shevat (Sunday, January 15 – Monday, January 16). A concept much like “The Ides of March”. It’s also another New Year’s Day, marking the New Year for Trees. In Canada, many of us celebrate Tu B’Shevat as a holiday for environmental awareness and action.

If you follow other calendars, you have other holidays to look forward to and you would be at another point in your year. So why not write a blogpost about it?

P.S. Last week the CSTHA Blog celebrated day by day, the Centennial of the December 27-31, 1921, Toronto Meeting to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Links to these posts are gathered together at the end of this blog.

Links:

CSTHA Blogposts on Calendrics.

1. March 5, 2021, CSTHA Mi’kmaw Calendar blog post:

https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2021/03/05/mikmaw-calendar-and-traditional-astronomy-a-two-eyed-seeing-partnership/

2. September 3, 2021, Jewish Calendar blog post:

https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2021/09/03/jewish-calendar-in-canada/

Day by Day Centennials of the 1921 Toronto AAAS Meeting blog posts.

1. Monday, December 26, 1921:

https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2021/12/26/1921-toronto-aaas-pt-1/

2. Tuesday, December 27, 1921:

https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2021/12/27/1921-toronto-aaas-pt-2/

3. Wednesday, December 28, 1921: