Today marks the beginning of the month of Adar.
In Tanach, this month is referred to as the Twelfth Month. It was in the year 3391 AM, when the Jews returned to Eretz Yisrael from the Babylonian exile, that they decided to keep the Babylonian names for the lunar months. Adar in Akkadian (the Babylonians spoke Akkadian) is Addaru, which means a ‘holder’. In Biblical Hebrew, we would find this word to mean a cloak – ‘Aderes’, which holds a person.
Although this year we have one single month of Adar, some years we could have 2, Adar I and Adar II. In Babylonia, there was the same system, where some years would have two months, Addaru I and Addaru II. But, whilst in the Hebrew calendar, Adar is the only month which can be doubled, this was not the case in Babylonia, wherein each 19-year cycle, they also had one year with two Eluls – Ulūlu I and Ulūlu II.
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲?
Present them with the gift of their heritage — their very own family tree!
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