Tevet (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: , ''Ṭevet''; ; from Akkadian ) is the fourth month of the civil year and the tenth month of the ecclesiastical year on the

Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar (), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates of Jewish holidays and other rituals, such as '' yahrze ...

. It follows Kislev and precedes Shevat. It is a month of 29 days. Tevet usually occurs in December–January on the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

. In the

Babylonian calendar The Babylonian calendar was a lunisolar calendar used in Mesopotamia from around the 2nd millennium BC until the Seleucid Era ( 294 BC), and it was specifically used in Babylon from the Old Babylonian Period ( 1780s BC) until the Seleucid Era. ...

its name was Araḫ Ṭebētum, the "muddy month".

Gregorian new year

The Gregorian New Year's Day (1 January) nearly always occurs in this month. Only rarely will it occur in either of the two neighbouring months (Kislev or Shevat).

Holidays

* 25 Kislev – 2 Tevet – Hanukkah (or 3 Tevet if Kislev is short) * 10 Tevet – Tenth of Tevet (Asara beTevet), a fast day

Community holidays

* 5 Tevet is celebrated as a holiday by Chabad Hasidim, commemorating the 1987 verdict concerning an inheritance claim on the books of Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn.

In Jewish history and tradition

* 1 Tevet (

circa Circa is a Latin word meaning "around, approximately". Circa or CIRCA may also refer to: * CIRCA (art platform), in London * Circa (band), a progressive rock supergroup * Circa (company), an American skateboard footwear company * Circa (contempora ...

479 BC) – Esther was taken to King Achashverosh's palace, leading to her becoming queen (

Book of Esther The Book of Esther (; ; ), also known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the wikt:מגילה, Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the Five Megillot, Five Scrolls () in the Hebr ...

2:16-17). * 9 Tevet (1066) – The 1066 Granada massacre takes place, as a Muslim mob massacres 4,000 Jews throughout the city. * 10 Tevet (588 BC) –

Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...

's armies besiege

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

; now commemorated as a fast day. * 10 Tevet (479 BC) – Esther appears before Achashverosh for the first time and is chosen by him to be the queen. * 11 Tevet (decreed in 1669, enforced in 1670) – Jews were expelled from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, during the reign of

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Leopold the First. * 17 Tevet (1728) – Shearith Israel, the first New York synagogue, erects its first building in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

. * 20 Tevet (1483) – The first volume of the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) 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 centerpiece of Jewi ...

, the tractate Berachot, is printed in Soncino, Italy. * 22 Tevet (1496) – Expulsion of Jews from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, four years after the expulsion from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. * 24 Tevet (3rd century BC) – Jewish elders procure the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek (

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

) for Ptolemy II Philadelphus. * 24 Tevet (1812) - Death of the Alter Rebbe founder of the Chabad philosophy and author of the Tanya and Shulchan Aruch HaRav. * 25 Tevet (1559) – Chovot HaLevavot published * 25 Tevet (circa 332 BC) – Alexander the Great met the high priest after the Samaritans said the Jews intended to betray him. * 28 Tevet (81 BC) – Shimon ben Shetach ejects the

Sadducees The Sadducees (; ) were a sect of Jews active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Sadducees are described in contemporary literary sources in contrast to ...

from the Sanhedrin, replacing them with his Pharisaic disciples loyal to the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

References

External links