Nisan (or Nissan; he, נִיסָן,
Standard ''Nīsan'',
Tiberian ''Nīsān''; from akk, 𒊬𒊒𒄀 ''Nisanu'') in the
Babylonian and
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel ...
s is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an
Akkadian language
Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language t ...
borrowing, although ultimately originates in
Sumerian ''nisag'' "first fruits". In the
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel ...
it is the first month of the ecclesiastical year, called the "first of the months of the year" (
Book of Exodus
The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through ...
12:1-2), "first month" (Ex 12:14), and the month of ''
Aviv'' (Ex 13:4) ''ḥōḏeš hā-’āḇîḇ''). It is called Nisan in the
Book of Esther
The Book of Esther ( he, מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, Megillat Esther), also known in Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Jewish '' Tanakh'' (the Hebrew Bible). It is one of the ...
in the
Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
'' Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
, which calls it the "New Year",
Rosh HaShana, for kings and pilgrimages. It is a month of 30 days. Nisan usually falls in March–April on the
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years d ...
. Counting from 1
Tishrei
Tishrei () or Tishri (; he, ''tīšrē'' or ''tīšrī''; from Akkadian ''tašrītu'' "beginning", from ''šurrû'' "to begin") is the first month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year ...
, the civil new year, it would be the seventh month (eighth, in leap year), but in contemporary Jewish culture, both months are viewed as the first and seventh simultaneously, and are referred to as one or the other depending on the specific religious aspects being discussed.
Name and origin
The biblical Hebrew months were given enumerations instead of names. The new moon of
Aviv, which in the Hebrew language means "barley ripening" literally and by extension, "spring season",(Exodu
9:31 is one of the few called both by name and by its number, the first. "Nisan" and other
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic ...
names for the equivalent lunar months in the
Babylonian lunisolar calendar came to be applied during the
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following their defeat ...
, in which the month of Aviv's name was Araḫ Nisānu, the "month of beginning".
Holidays and observances
* 1 Nisan
Lunar new year, marking the month of Aviv (spring), as the first month of the year, which month was later called Nisan. The first national
mitzvah was given to the Jewish people to fix the calendar to the new moon of Aviv, according to the
Book of Exodus
The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through ...
12:1–2, 12:18. ( BCE)
* 4-11 Nisan - Approximate dates of the
Akitu
Akitu or Akitum is a spring festival held on the first day of Nisan in ancient Mesopotamia, to celebrate the sowing of barley. The Assyrian and Babylonian Akitu festival has played a pivotal role in the development of theories of religion, myth ...
festival of ancient Babylon, celebrating the sowing of barley in the first month of spring, Nisanu.
* 10 Nisan –
Yom HaAliyah – Aliyah Day, Israeli national holiday
* 14 Nisan –
Fast of the Firstborn - When the 14th falls on
Sabbath, Ashkenazim observe it on 12 Nisan and Sephardim do not observe it at all
* 14 Nisan -
Passover seder meal and
Haggadah on the going out of the 14th and eve of the 15th
* 14 Nisan -
Quartodeciman Last Supper, an ancient
Passover (Christian)
* 15–21 Nisan (22 Nisan outside of Israel) – Feast of
Matzot -
Passover week
* 23 Nisan –
Mimouna
Mimouna ( he, מימונה, ar, ميمونة, Berber: Mimuna, ⵎⵉⵎⵓⵏⴰ) is a traditional Maghrebi Jewish celebration dinner, that currently takes place in Morocco, Israel, France, Canada, and other places around the world where Jews o ...
–
Maghrebi Jewish celebration of the end of the Passover prohibition on eating ''
chametz'', on 22 Nisan within Israel
* 27 Nisan –
Yom HaShoah (Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day) – on 26 Nisan or 28 Nisan when the 27th falls on Friday or Sunday respectively, interfering with Shabbat
Moveable holidays and observances
*
Shabbat HaGadol, the sabbath immediately preceding the 14 Nisan
Pesach.
In history and tradition
* 1 Nisan The day the floodwaters receded from the earth, after the dove was sent out by
Noah and returned with an
olive branch, according to
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
8:10-13
* 1 Nisan (c. 1638 BCE) – Death of
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
according to the Talmud
* 1 Nisan (c. 1533 BCE) – Death of
Isaac
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was ...
according to the Talmud
* 1 Nisan (c. 1506 BCE) – Death of
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ...
according to the Talmud
* 1 Nisan (c. 1455 BCE) –
Tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...
(''Mishkan'') inaugurated on the second year
* 1 Nisan (c. 1455 BCE) death of
Nadab and Abihu
* 1 Nisan (c. 3761 BCE) – Creation of the Universe according to
Joshua ben Hananiah's opinion in the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
,
tractate Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה) is the name of a text of Jewish law originating in the Mishnah which formed the basis of tractates in both the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud of the same name. It is the eighth tr ...
10b–11a).
* 1 Nisan (1772) – Birth of Rabbi
Nachman of Breslov
* 1 Nisan (1892) – Death of Rabbi
Elimelech Szapira
Rabbi Elimelech Szapira of Grodzhisk (1823–1892) was the leading Hasidic rebbe of his time in Poland. He was a ' (follower) of the Rizhiner Rebbe. After the death of his father, the ''Sorof'' of Mogelnica, he assumed leadership of the Grodzh ...
of Grodzhisk
* 2 Nisan (1920) – Death of
Sholom Dovber Schneersohn, the fifth
Lubavitcher Rebbe. His last words are recorded as, "I'm going to heaven; I leave you the writings."
* 3 Nisan (1492) – The
Alhambra Decree orders the expulsion of Spanish Jews from
Castile and
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to s ...
(but not
Navarre).
* 7 Nisan (c. 1416 BCE) –
Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
sends two spies to
Jericho.
* 8 Nisan (1948) – Birth of
Yaakov Yechezkiya Greenwald II, the present
Pupa Rebbe
* 10 Nisan (c. 1456 BCE) – The first
Shabbat HaGadol was celebrated by the Israelites in Egypt five days before
The Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely E ...
.
* 10 Nisan (c. 1417 BCE) – Yahrzeit of
Miriam
Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The ...
the prophetess, 39 years after the
Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* E ...
.
* 10 Nisan (c. 1416 BCE) – The
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
cross the
Jordan River into
Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
(
Book of Joshua, 4)
* 11 Nisan (1270) – Death of
Nachmanides
* 11 Nisan (1902) – Birth of the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe,
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Modern Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסון; old-fashioned spelling: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to man ...
* 13 Nisan (c. 474 BCE) –
Haman
Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite or Haman the evil) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I ...
's decree to annihilate the Jews is passed.
* 13 Nisan (1575) – Death of
Joseph Caro, author of the ''
Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in ...
''.
* 13 Nisan (1866) – Death of
Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the third Lubavitcher Rebbe.
* 14 Nisan (1135) – Birth of
Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
* 14 Nisan (1943) –
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins. The uprising would last until 3 Iyar, and is now commemorated in Israel on 27 Nisan.
* 14 Nisan (c. 1456 BCE) - On the going out thereof, the eve of the 15th, was the first
Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...
meal, and the
10th plague on Egypt, the slaying of the firstborn.
* 15 Nisan (c. 1456 BCE) –
The Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely E ...
from
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
,
with a strong hand and an outstretched arm
With or WITH may refer to:
* With, a preposition in English
* Carl Johannes With (1877–1923), Danish doctor and arachnologist
* With (character), a character in ''D. N. Angel''
* ''With'' (novel), a novel by Donald Harrington
* ''With'' (alb ...
* 15 Nisan (c. 1713 BCE) – Birth of
Isaac
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was ...
* 15 Nisan (474 BC) –
Esther appears before
Ahasuerus unsummoned and invites him and Haman to a feast to be held the same day. During the feast she requests that the king and Haman attend a second feast the next day.
* 16 Nisan (c. 1273 BCE) – The Israelites stop eating
manna six days after entering the
Holy Land
The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
.
* 16 Nisan (c. 474 BCE) – Esther's second feast, during which she accuses Haman regarding his plot to annihilate her nation. Ahasuerus orders his servants to hang Haman.
* 17 Nisan (c. 24th century BCE) – Noah's Ark came to rest on mountains of Ararat
* 17 Nisan (c. 474 BCE) – Haman hanged after Esther's second drinking party.
* 21 Nisan (c. 1456 BCE) – The sea splits, allowing Israel to escape the Egyptian army.
* 26 Nisan (c. 1386 BCE) – Traditional yahrzeit of
Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
son of Nun.
* 28 Nisan (c. 1415 BCE) –
Battle of Jericho by
Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
(
Book of Joshua ch. 6).
* 29 Nisan (1620) – Death of
Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, a
Kabbalist and a disciple of
Isaac Luria
Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mean ...
.
* 29 Nisan (1699) – In
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castl ...
, Germany during a commercial crisis in 1699, the populace rose up against the Jews, and one Jew saved himself by throwing prunes from a gable-window down upon the mob. That event, the 29th of Nisan, called the ''Zwetschgen Taanit'' "Plum-Fast", was commemorated by a fast and a
Purim
Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...
festivity until the extermination of the Jewish community there.
Other uses
* In the
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic ...
of
Akkad,
Assyria
Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
and
Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c ...
''nisānu'', which derives from
Sumerian ''nisag'' "First fruits".
* "Nisan" is also the name for the month of April in
Levantine and
Mesopotamian Arabic ( ar, نيسان), a later Semitic language (see
Arabic names of Gregorian months
The Arabic names of the months of the Gregorian calendar are usually phonetic Arabic pronunciations of the corresponding month names used in European languages. An exception is the Syriac calendar used in Iraq and the Levant, whose month names a ...
), in
Kurdish languages
Kurdish (, ) is a language or a group of languages spoken by Kurds in the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Kurdish constitutes a dialect continuum, belonging to Western Iranian languages in the Indo-European lang ...
and
modern Turkish.
Maghrebi and
Gulf state Arabic use the modified Latin name "Ibril".
* In the story of
Xenogears, "Nisan" is the name of a country, named after the Hebrew month.
*
Quartodecimanism
See also
*
Jewish astrology
Astrology in Jewish antiquity ( = ''mazalot'') is the belief that celestial bodies can influence the affairs of individuals and of entire nations upon the earth. This involves the study of the celestial bodies' respective energies based on recurr ...
References
External links
Resources on the Month of NisanJewish Encyclopedia: NisanStrong's Concordance: NisanThis Month in Jewish History
{{Iraq topics
Months of the Hebrew calendar