The Jewish calendar is quite different from the Christian or Julian calendar (the calendar which is currently used in the Western world). Unlike the Julian calendar, which is based on the solar year, the Jewish calendar is based primarily on the lunar year. That is, each month is marked by the appearance of a new moon. Consequently, the ordinary Jewish year is composed of twelve months (29 or 30 days in each month) and totals about 354 days in a year.

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From first to last, the Jewish months are as follows: Tishre (30 days; coincides with September-October), Heshvan (29 or 30 days; coincides with October-November), Kislev (29 or 30 days; coincides with November-December), Tevet (29 days; coincides with December-January), Shevat (30 days; coincides with January-February), Adar (29 days; coincides with February-March), Nisan (30 days; coincides with March-April), Iyar (29 days; coincides with April-May), Sivan (30 days; coincides with May-June), Tammuz (29 days; coincides with June-July), Av (30 days; coincides with August-September), Elul (29 days; coincides with August-September). To ensure that the holidays fall in their right season, an attempt was made in recent centuries to adjust the calendar to the solar year. This was done by adding an extra month unto each leap year. In the Jewish calendar, a leap year occurs in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th year of each 19 year cycle.

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