Isn't Nisan 14 supposed to be April 23rd?

by catchthis 25 Replies latest jw friends

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  catchthis

  Sorry folks if I missed this somewhere before, but isn't Nisan 14 supposed to line up with our current calendar on April 23rd? I didn't go to the memorial last night so I do not know if they tried explaining this difference. I always thought that Nisan 14 was THE date that they used to celebrate the memorial. Or have I been out mentally too long now that I've forgotten the dates?? I know that Christendom had services last night, but wouldn't the JW's want to remain separate of their dates and remain true to their own?

  http://www.hebcal.com/converter/ --- Just plug in April 23, 2005 and the converter will show you Nisan 14, and vice-versa.
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  minimus

  Passover's the 24th.
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  blondie

  It depends on what calendar you use. I think if you use the Julian calendar (which most do) or the Gregorian calendar. By the time the Julian calendar was adopted the harvest seasons were way off due to the problem that the leap year solves now.

  The Greek Orthodox Church still uses the Gregorian calendar. The Jews have an intercalary year every so often which adjusts the discrepancy between a 360 day lunar year and the actual 365 1/4 day solar year. So every so often the Passover and the Memorial (and Good Friday/Easter) will be about a month apart.

  Not a scientific explanation but it works for me.
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  blondie

  Interestingly, the Bible Students vary; I know of what group that had it about now and one that is having the Memorial a month later.
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  jula71

  Interesting, I can't find one source that puts Nisan 14 on March 24
  

  Look at this: http://www.jewfaq.org/current.htm#Nissan
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  catchthis

  According to the publications, I think something is a bit off....

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  it-2 p. 268 Lord?s Evening Meal ***

  How

  Often Observed. According to Luke and Paul, when instituting the Memorial of his death Jesus said: "Keep doing this in remembrance of me." (Lu 22:19; 1Co 11:24) From this it is reasonable to understand that Jesus meant that his followers should celebrate the Lord?s Evening Meal annually, not more often. The Passover, observed in remembrance of Jehovah?s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage in 1513 B.C.E., was commemorated only once a year, on the anniversary date of Nisan 14. The Memorial, also an anniversary, would appropriately be held only on Nisan 14.

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  km 3/87 p. 1 Preparation for a Special Occasion ***

  This occasion is properly celebrated every year on Nisan 14. In 1987 the Memorial of Christ?s death falls on Sunday, April 12. Are you making plans to be there?

  *** This date mentioned above even lines up with the date converter

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  rs p. 269 par. 2 Memorial (Lord?s Evening Meal) ***

  Jehovah?s Witnesses observe the Memorial after sundown on Nisan 14, according to the reckoning of the Jewish calendar that was common in the first century. The Jewish day begins at sundown and extends until the following sundown. So Jesus died on the same Jewish calendar day that he instituted the Memorial. The beginning of the month of Nisan was the sunset after the new moon nearest the spring equinox became visible in Jerusalem. The Memorial date is 14 days thereafter. (Thus the date for the Memorial may not coincide with that of the Passover kept by modern-day Jews. Why not? The start of their calendar months is set to coincide with the astronomical new moon, not the visible new moon over Jerusalem, which may come 18 to 30 hours later. Also, most Jews today keep the Passover on Nisan 15, not on the 14th as did Jesus in harmony with what was stated in the Mosaic Law.)

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  Even if the JW's do not follow the Jewish dates as mentioned above, it would only be off by 18-30 hours.

  Catch, scratching head
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  jula71

  I found this, a Jewish leap year?

  http://www.studiesintheword.org/jewish_calendar_2005.htm
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  catchthis

  So every so often the Passover and the Memorial (and Good Friday/Easter) will be about a month apart.

  Nice explanation Blondie. But what concerns me is that the JW's are so paranoid about keeping the NISAN 14 date. They make no mention, that I can find, regarding the dating system that you explained. Ever since I was a kid, all I remember was Nisan 14 Nisan 14 Nisan 14. They were more concerned with keeping true to the original dating method that the Jews used back in Jesus' day, not how it evolved into what we use today.
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  zen nudist

  unless I am forgetting something, the Passover is always on the full moon just after spring

  which means they fudge the months in the hebrew calender and add one when it gets too far out of wack

  so nisan 14 should always fall just after spring, the first full moon.
• 

  Leolaia

  *** w90 2/15 pp. 14-15 From Seder to Salvation ***

  23

  Another reason why our date may differ from that of the Jews is that they employ a predetermined calendar, which system was not fixed until the fourth century C.E. Using this, they can set dates for Nisan 1 or for festivals decades or centuries beforehand. Moreover, the ancient lunar calendar needed to have a 13th month added occasionally so that the calendar would synchronize with the seasons. The current Jewish calendar adds this month at fixed points; in a 19-year cycle, it is added to years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19.

  24

  However, Emil Schürer says that "at the time of Jesus [the Jews] still had no fixed calendar, but on the basis of purely empirical observation, began each new month with the appearance of the new moon, and similarly on the basis of observation" added a month as needed. "If . . . it was noticed towards the end of the year that Passover would fall before the vernal equinox [about March 21], the intercalation of a month before Nisan was decreed." (The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, Volume 1) The extra month thus comes in naturally, not being added arbitrarily.

  25

  The Governing Body of Jehovah?s Witnesses establishes the date for the Lord?s Evening Meal in line with the ancient method. Nisan 1 is determined by when the new moon nearest the spring equinox can likely be observed at sunset in Jerusalem. Counting 14 days from that brings one to Nisan 14, which usually corresponds to the day of the full moon. (See The Watchtower of June 15, 1977, pages 383-4.) On the basis of this Biblical method, Jehovah?s Witnesses around the globe have been advised that the celebration of the Memorial this year will be after sunset on April 10.

  26

  This date corresponds to Nisan 14, which was when Jesus held the last valid Passover. However, celebrating the Memorial brings into focus salvation beyond what the Jewish Seder commemorates. All of us need to understand what takes place during the Lord?s Evening Meal, what it means, and how our salvation is involved.