Months of the Hebrew Calendar: A Quick Guide

Most learners don't realize this, but Israel runs on two different calendars at the same time. There's the international Gregorian calendar (January, February, March, etc.), which is used for most daily business. And there's the Hebrew calendar, used for Jewish holidays, religious events, and anniversaries. Both are in common use, and Israeli schoolchildren learn the names of both sets. Here's your quick guide.

The Gregorian months (in Hebrew)

First, the months most Israelis actually use day-to-day. They're just Hebrew transliterations of the English names, so they'll feel familiar.

• Yanuar, January.
• Februar, February.
• Mars, March.
• April, April.
• May, May.
• Yuni, June.
• Yuli, July.
• August, August.
• September, September.
• October, October.
• November, November.
• December, December.

Read these aloud and you'll see they're basically the English names with a Hebrew accent. That's the one you'll use for birthdays, appointments, work schedules.

The Hebrew months

The Hebrew calendar is lunar, so each month starts with the new moon. The year has 12 months, with a 13th added in leap years to keep the calendar aligned with the seasons. The months:

• Tishrei (תִּשְׁרֵי), roughly September to October.
• Cheshvan (חֶשְׁוָן), October to November.
• Kislev (כִּסְלֵו), November to December.
• Tevet (טֵבֵת), December to January.
• Shvat (שְׁבָט), January to February.
• Adar (אֲדָר), February to March.
• Nisan (נִיסָן), March to April.
• Iyar (אִיָּר), April to May.
• Sivan (סִיוָן), May to June.
• Tamuz (תַּמּוּז), June to July.
• Av (אָב), July to August.
• Elul (אֱלוּל), August to September.

The Hebrew year starts with Tishrei, not with the secular January. So Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) falls in September or October, not in winter.

Which months you'll hear most

Even Israelis who don't know the Hebrew calendar well usually know a few months by heart because of the holidays they contain:

• Tishrei: Rosh Hashanah (new year) and Yom Kippur.
• Kislev: Hanukkah.
• Nisan: Passover.
• Iyar: Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut).
• Sivan: Shavuot.

If you're going to memorize any Hebrew months, start with these five.

How Israelis mix the two calendars

A typical Israeli conversation about dates might say: "The wedding is on chamisha esrim be-October" (25th of October) but also "Rosh Hashanah is in Tishrei". Work and daily stuff uses Gregorian. Holidays and religious events use Hebrew. Everyone switches back and forth fluidly.

Newspapers print both dates at the top of the page, and many government forms ask for both.

Leap years

Because the Hebrew calendar is lunar, it drifts out of sync with the solar year. To fix this, a 13th month, called Adar bet (Adar II), is added every few years. This keeps Passover in spring and Sukkot in fall. Most years have 12 months, but 7 out of every 19 have 13.

Don't worry about memorizing the leap year rule. Israelis don't either.

A tiny cultural note

When Israelis refer to the month by its Hebrew name, it usually carries a holiday or season meaning. "Kislev" basically means "Hanukkah time" to most people. "Nisan" means "Passover time". The names are practical more than technical.

For more calendar and date vocabulary with audio, our topics pages include months and dates. And our phrases section covers scheduling sentences.

Two calendars, one country. Israel runs on both, and now so do you.