Category Archives: Observance

Asara B’Tevet / עֲשָׂרָה בְּטֵבֵת, the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tevet, is a minor fast day in Judaism. The fast commemorates the siege of Jerusalem.

Although the Tenth of Tevet is an annual observance on the Hebrew calendar, the date can fall during December or January on the Gregorian calendar. In some Gregorian years, there is no observance of the fast. In other Gregorian years, the fast is observed twice.

For example, the Tenth of Tevet does not occur at all in during the Gregorian year 2024. The fast for Hebrew year 5785 will be observed in January 2025, and the Asara B’Tevet 5786 observance of the fast will be in occur in December 2025.

To illustrate further, consider the following 8-year table:

Hebrew Date	Gregorian Date
10 Tevet 5780	Tuesday, January 7, 2020
10 Tevet 5781	Friday, December 25, 2020
10 Tevet 5782	Tuesday, December 14, 2021
10 Tevet 5783	Tuesday, January 3, 2023
10 Tevet 5784	Friday, December 22, 2023
10 Tevet 5785	Friday, January 10, 2025
10 Tevet 5786	Tuesday, December 30, 2025
10 Tevet 5787	Sunday, December 20, 2026

Why does Pesach begin on the 15th of Nisan when Numbers 28:16 says “And in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is the LORD’S passover”?

Special thanks to Rabbi George Schlesinger for this guest post.

First of all, it’s helpful to know and understand the Hebrew and to know that in ancient days there were two sacrifices i.e. two holidays that were conjoined into one in later days. There was the Pascal sacrifice/Pascal holiday which was known as the “Pesach” or “passover.” This was an agricultural holiday celebrating springtime and the new lambs of the flock and it apparently preceded the Exodus from Egypt by many, many years. That sacrifice/holiday was on the 14th of Nisan. And it’s the term that in later days came to be used in Judaism for what was in ancient times a separate sacrifice/holiday celebrated a day later…the 15th of Nisan and the start of a 7 day festival during which matza was eaten. The holiday celebrating the Exodus is (in the Bible) usually called Chag HaMatzot or Festival of Matzah. So a more precise translation of verses 16 and 17 would read:

16) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, there shall be a passover (pesach) sacrifice to the Lord

17) and on the fifteenth day of that month a festival (chag). Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days.

To add just a little, I quote from the Jewish Publication Society’s commentary on the Book of Numbers on page 243:

“The day of the paschal offering and the seven-day Festival of Unleavened Bread are discrete holidays. Yet the fact that the paschal offering is mentioned even though it is a private sacrifice (see Exodus 12:1-11) –– and hence no description is given –– indicates that the two festivals are already fused.”

In later centuries, the two sacrifices were both made on the 14th of Nisan. The “pesach”/paschal offering earlier in the day than the offering for the Chag HaMatzot since that was the lamb that was to be eaten at the Seder commemorating the Exodus and it had to be slaughtered and roasted prior to sundown of the 15th so that it could be consumed during the Seder.

 

In general, Jewish Holidays begin the evening before the date specified. This is because the Jewish day actually begins at sundown on the previous night. Sometimes, for clarity, the Erev holiday is also included to indicate that the holiday begins the evening before.

For example, in the April 2015 calendar below, Erev Pesach is listed as April 3rd and the first day of Pesach is listed as April 4th. This means that the holiday of Pesach begins on the evening on April 3rd.

And, Rosh Chodesh Iyyar is listed on April 19. This means that Rosh Chodesh begins on the evening of April 18, even though the Erev is not explicitly mentioned on the calendar.

April 2015

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
			1	2	3 Ta’anit Bechorot Erev Pesach	4 Pesach I
5 Pesach II	6 Pesach III (CH”M)	7 Pesach IV (CH”M)	8 Pesach V (CH”M)	9 Pesach VI (CH”M)	10 Pesach VII	11 Pesach VIII
12	13	14	15	16 Yom HaShoah	17	18
19 Rosh Chodesh Iyyar	20 Rosh Chodesh Iyyar	21	22 Yom HaZikaron	23 Yom HaAtzma’ut	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

Minor fasts (Tzom Gedaliah, Asara B’Tevet, Ta’anit Esther, Ta’anit Bechorot, and Tzom Tammuz) begin at dawn. Major fasts (Yom Kippur and Tish’a B’Av) begin the evening before.