The Seventh of

Adar Adar (Hebrew: , ; from Akkadian ''adaru'') is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar, roughly corresponding to the month of March in the Gregorian calendar. It is a month of 29 days. ...

, also known as Zayin Adar (), is the anniversary of the birth and death of

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

in Jewish tradition. It is observed as a fast day in some Jewish communities.

Background

The Biblical sources suggesting these dates are as follows:

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

crossed the

River Jordan The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic basin, endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and d ...

on the 10th of Nisan. Earlier, God had commanded Joshua to perform the crossing "in three days' time," thus this command was given on 7 Nisan. The command is specified as coming "after the death of Moses.". Moses had been mourned for 30 days after his death. Assuming that the Divine command immediately followed the end of the mourning period, Moses must have died 30 days before 7 Nisan, i.e. 7 Adar.

Practices

Garden of the Missing in Action IMG 1291

The Seventh of Adar is a fast day in some Jewish communities. A special '' tikkun'' is added prior to services. Jewish

burial societies A burial society is a type of benefit/ friendly society. These groups historically existed in England and elsewhere, and were constituted for the purpose of providing by voluntary subscriptions for the funeral expenses of the husband, wife or chil ...

also often meet on the Seventh of Adar. In Israel, the Seventh of Adar is designated as a day in remembrance of those soldiers who have fallen in war, but whose bodies have not been found or identified, in reference to the Biblical verse noting that no one knows the exact burial place of Moses "even to this day". On

Mount Herzl Mount Herzl ( ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside the Jerusalem Forest. I ...

, there is a wall with the names of 588 fallen soldiers who died in Israel with unknown grave sites.

Background

Practices

References

Further reading