CBI Blogs

Happy March, everyone! Like all of you, I’ve been enjoying the beautiful bluebonnets appearing throughout the city and trying to make the most of this warm weather before it gets too unbearably hot to be outside. Speaking of a new month, did you know that this year’s Hebrew calendar is special? While 2024 was a leap year in the secular Gregorian calendar, it is also a leap year in the Hebrew calendar. But rather than adding one extra day, we add an entire extra month.

Because the Hebrew calendar follows the lunar cycle, we need to add an entire extra month (not just one day) to help keep our holidays in line with the seasons in which they were intended to be celebrated. The lunar cycle creates much shorter months, meaning that the Hebrew calendar doesn’t come close to 365 days a year. And so, a leap month was added 7 times during a 19 year span to keep us “on track” with the seasons.

During a Hebrew calendar leap year, we celebrate Adar I and Adar II. Adar is best known as the month that contains the fun and festive holiday of Purim. When there is a leap year, we celebrate Purim during Adar II (also known as Adar Bet, as in the Hebrew letter “bet”). That typically means that the holidays seem “later” than usual, but they are really right on time! Well, at least in the Hebrew calendar.

This Monday, March 11 is the first day of Adar II. As we celebrate Rosh Chodesh (the new month), we also acknowledge that Purim is right around the corner! This year, Purim begins on Saturday, March 23. We will have lots of fun enjoying Purim this year with our annual carnival and Haman’s Hotdog Hangout, a backwards and silly service, beautiful Megillah reading, and of course, a fabulous Purim spiel with several volunteers from our community. And, to top it all off, those 18 years old and up are invited to join us for trivia after the spiel.

So, if it feels like you’ve been waiting a while for the next Jewish holiday, it’s because you have; we had an entire month to get through first! But never fear, Purim is almost here! We hope you’ll join us for some laughs, some groggers, and delicious hamantaschen.

Happy March, Happy (almost) Adar II, and Happy (almost) Purim!