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In spite of the return from exile, a large number of Jews remained in Babylon. And it may have been under Babylonian influence that the beginning of the seventh month eventually became the beginning of the New Year, although there are some indications that there were competing traditions in ancient Israel regarding the inception of the year. The Gezer Calendar, a tenth century BCE agricultural calendar, begins the year with the month of ingathering in the autumn, the season of our Rosh Hashanah. Although most biblical festivals such as Passover (Pesach), the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot), and Tabernacles (Sukkot) are linked to the agricultural year of Israel, there is no such linkage between the celebration of the first day of Tishrei and the agricultural year, in spite of the evidence of the Gezer Calendar. Indeed, each new moon was an occasion to be observed. Why, however, was the observance of the seventh new moon of the year special?
In spite of the return from exile, a large number of Jews remained in Babylon. And it may have been under Babylonian influence that the beginning of the seventh month eventually became the beginning of the New Year, although there are some indications that there were competing traditions in ancient Israel regarding the inception of the year. The Gezer Calendar, a tenth century BCE agricultural calendar, begins the year with the month of ingathering in the autumn, the season of our Rosh Hashanah. Although most biblical festivals such as Passover (Pesach), the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot), and Tabernacles (Sukkot) are linked to the agricultural year of Israel, there is no such linkage between the celebration of the first day of Tishrei and the agricultural year, in spite of the evidence of the Gezer Calendar. Indeed, each new moon was an occasion to be observed. Why, however, was the observance of the seventh new moon of the year special?
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