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Sivan

 
Dictionary: Si·van   (sĭv'ən) pronunciation
n.
The ninth month of the year in the Jewish calendar.

[Hebrew sîwān, from Akkadian simānu, a month name, from simānu, season, time.]


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(Akkad. Simanu). Third month of the Jewish religious Calendar; ninth month of the Hebrew civil year counting from Tishri. It is a "full" month of 30 days and normally coincides with May-June. Its sign of the zodiac, Gemini the Twins, is associated by the rabbis with Moses and Aaron, who led the Israelites after the Exodus. There are several biblical references to "the third month," but the name Sivan is mentioned only once in the Bible (Est. 8:9).

On the first (New Moon) of Sivan, the Israelites entered the Sinai wilderness (Ex. 19:1) and the three days of "bounding" (sheloshet yemé ha-hagbalah) imposed on them before the Revelation at Mount Sinai occurred on 3-5 Sivan (Ex. 19:10ff). Shavu'Ot, the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost), which commemorates the Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai (Mattan Torah), is celebrated on 6-7 Sivan (in Israel on 6 Sivan only). Originally, Shavu'ot was a harvest festival, when First Fruits of the wheat crop were brought as offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem. Tradition has it that King David died on 6 Sivan. According to one opinion in the Talmud (BM 106b), 15 Sivan marks the beginning of summer in the Land of Israel.


Bible Guide: Sivan
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The third month of the Hebrew calendar; the name only occurs once, in the Book of Esther. See CALENDAR.

Concordance
Est 8:9


 
Sivan (sēvän'), in the Jewish calendar, the third month (or ninth month, depending upon the system of reckoning). Esther 8.9; Baruch 1.8.


Wikipedia: Sivan
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Iyar       Sivan (סִיוָן)       Tammuz
Bikkurim offerings in Nahalal, Israel

Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, marks the day the Torah
was given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai.
Bikkurim are given as offerings, which in this picture,
is in Nahalal, Israel in 2006.
Month Number: 9
Number of Days: 30
Season: spring
Gregorian Equivalent: May-June

Sivan (Hebrew: סִיוָן, Standard Sivan Tiberian Sîwān ; from Akkadian simānu, meaning "Season; time") is the ninth month of the civil year and the third month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a spring month of 30 days. Sivan usually falls in May–June on the Gregorian calendar.

Holidays in Sivan

6 Sivan - Shavuot - (though in Karaite Judaism the exact date varies)

Sivan in Jewish history

1 Sivan - (2105 BC) - Flood Waters Recede

  • 150 days after the rains stopped in the Great Flood, the raging waters which covered the entire earth calmed down the rate of one cubit every four days (Genesis 8:3; Rashi), ibid.

1 Sivan - (1096) - Worms Jews Massacred

6 Sivan - (1760) - Death of Baal Shem Tov

  • Baal Shem Tov ([born 1700) was the founder of the Hasidic movement in Judaism.

13 Sivan - (1648) - Chmielnicki Massacres

  • In Poland. Some Jews consider it a minor fast day.

17 Sivan - (2105 BC) - Noah's Ark came to a rest

20 Sivan - (1171) - Martyrs of Blois

  • The 20th of Sivan is the anniversary of the first blood libel in France. On 20 Sivan, 1171, tens of Jewish men and women were burned alive in the French town of Blois on the infamous accusation that Jews used to the blood of Christian children in the preparation of matzah for Passover.

27 Sivan - (1790) - Purim of Florence

References


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Encyclopedia of Judaism. The New Encyclopedia of Judaism. Copyright © 1989, 2002 by G.G. The Jerusalem Publishing House, Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more
Bible Guide. Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible. Copyright © 1986 by G.G. The Jerusalem Publishing House, Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sivan" Read more