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From: R. Halevi
Subject: Month numbering
Date: 13 Kislev 5780
The Mishnah in Rosh Hashanah 1:1 lists four new years. Nisan is the new year for kings and festivals. Tishrei is the new year for years, for sabbatical cycles, and for planting.
The specification chooses one of these as canonical. But the choice is not neutral. Numbering from Tishrei reflects the year-counting calendar that emerged during the Babylonian exile. Numbering from Nisan reflects the biblical calendar that preceded it.
We are encoding not just dates but a particular historical layer of Jewish practice.
—Dov Halevi
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