Tishrei

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Tishrei (or Tishri) (IPA: [ˈtɪʃri or [ˈtɪʃreɪ]]) (Hebrew: תִּשְׁרֵי‎ (תִּשְׁרִי‎) Standard Tišre (Tišri) Tiberian Tišrê (Tišrî) ; from Akkadian tašrītu "Beginning", from šurrû "To begin") is the first month of the civil year and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year in the Hebrew calendar. The name comes from the Talmud. In the Bible it is called Ethanim. It is an autumn month of 30 days. Tishrei usually occurs in September–October on the Gregorian calendar, and coincides with either the eighth or ninth month of the Chinese calendar, though the Chinese calendar starts the day at 11:00 pm rather than at sunset.

[edit] Holidays in Tishrei

Rosh Hashanah – Tishrei 1 & 2
Tzom Gedaliah – (Fast Day) Tishrei 3 (Tishrei 4 when Tishrei 3 falls on a Saturday)
Yom Kippur – (Fast Day) Tishrei 10
Sukkot – Tishrei 15–21
- Hoshanah Rabbah – Tishrei 21
Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah – Tishrei 22 (and 23 outside of Israel)

[edit] This Month in Jewish History

1 Tishrei - Adam & Eve Created (3761 BCE)

On Tishrei 1 -- the sixth day of creation -- "G-d said: 'Let us make Man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth...'" (Genesis 1:26).

1 Tishrei - (3761 BCE) - First Sin & Repentance

On the very day he was created, man committed the first sin of history, transgressing the divine commandment not to eat from the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden, and mankind became subject to death, labor and moral confusion. But on that day the first man and woman also repented their sin, introducing the concept and opportunities of teshuvah ("return") into the human experience.

1 Tishrei - (2105 BCE) - Dove's 3rd Mission

On the 1st of Tishrei, on the 307th day of the Great Flood, Noach dispatched a dove from the ark, for the third time (see "On This Date" for Elul 17 and Elul 23). When the dove did not return, Noah knew that the Flood's waters had completely drained from the earth. On that day, Noach removed the roof of the ark; but Noah and his family, and all the animals, remained in the ark for another 57 days -- until the 27th of Cheshvan -- when the suface of the earth was completely dry and G-d commanded them to leave the ark and resettle and reppopulate the earth.

1 Tishrei - (1677 BCE) - Binding of Isaac; Sarah's Passing

Abraham's supreme test of faith -- his binding of Isaac in preparation to sacrifice him as per G-d's command -- occurred on the 1st of Tishrei of the year 2084 from creation (1677 BCE), and is recalled each Rosh Hashanah with the sounding of the shofar (ram's horn -- a ram was sacrificed in Isaac's stead when an angel revealed that the command to sacrifice Isaac was but a divine test); the Torah's account of the event is publicly read in the synagogue on the 2nd day of Rosh Hashanah. On the day of Isaac's binding, the Talmud tells that his mother, Sarah, passed away at age 127, and was subsequently buried in the Machpelah Cave in Hebron.

1 Tisrei - (1923) - Daf Yomi

The "Daf Yomi" daily regimen of Talmud study (in which the participant studies one folio a day to complete the entire Talmud in seven years) initiated by Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin, was launched on Rosh Hashanah of 1923.

3 Tishrei - Assassination of Gedaliah (Fast of Gedalia)

3rd Tishrei is a fast day mourning the assassination of the Jewish royal Gedaliah ben Achikam, governor of the Land of Israel for a short period following the destruction of the First Temple. Gedaliah's killing spelled the end of the small remnant of a Jewish community that remained in the Holy Land after the destruction, which fled to Egypt. (According to many opinions, the assassination of Gedaliah actually occurred on Rosh Hashanah, but the commemoration of the event is postponed to the day after the festival).

5 Tishrei - (134) - Rabbi Akiva martyred

The great Talmudic sage, Rabbi Akiva, was taken captive by the Romans on the 5th of Tishrei, of the year 3894 from creation (134 CE). His subsequent torture and execution is recalled in the stirring Eleh Ezkerah poem of the Yom Kippur service.

8 Tishrei - (826 BCE) - Temple Dedicated

The 14-day dedication festivities, celebrating the completion of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem built by King Solomon, commenced on the 8th of Tishrei of the year 2935 from creation (826 BCE). The First Temple served as the epicenter of Jewish national and spiritual life for 410 year, until its destruction by the Babylonians in 423 BCE.

10 Tishrei - (1313 BCE) - 2nd Tablets; Day of Forgiveness (Yom Kippur)

On the 10th of Tishrei of the year 2449 from creation, 82 days after the people of Israel betrayed their newly entered covenant with G-d by worshipping a Golden Calf and after Moses twice spent 40 days atop Mount Sinai pleading on their behalf, "G-d restored His goodwill with the Jewish people gladly and wholeheartedly, saying to Moses 'I have forgiven, as you ask', and gave him the Second Tablets" -- thereby establishing the day as a time for atonement, forgiveness and teshuvah for all generations.

13 Tishrei - (1837) - Passing of R. Akiva Eiger

Passing of Rabbi Akiva Eiger (1761-1837), outstanding Talmudist and Halachic authority.

25 Tishrei - (1810) - Passing of R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev

Passing of the great Chassidic leader and advocate for the Jewish people, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (1740-1810). Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was a close disciple of the second leader of the Chassidic movement, Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezritch. He is best known for his love for every Jew and his impassioned words of advocation on their behalf before the Almighty.

25 Tishrei - (1839) - Passing of the Chatam Sofer

Tishrei 25th is the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Moshe Sofer of Pressburg (1762-1839), known as "Chatam Sofer" after his work of Rabbinic respona.Rabbi Moshe was an outstanding Halachic authority and community leader, and was at het forefront of the battle to preserve the integrity of traditional Judaism in the face of the various "reformist" movements of his time.

29 Tishrei - (1508) - Passing of Rabbi Don Isaac Abravanel

Today is the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the passing) of Rabbi Don Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508), one of the leaders of Spanish Jewry at the time of the 1492 expulsion. A minister in the king's court (after having served as treasurer to the king of Portugal), he chose to join his brethren in their exile. He began writing his extensive and highly regarded commentary on the Torah in 1503 in Venice (where it was published in 1579).