Beroean Pickets Jw.org Reviewer

When is Nisan 14 in 2020 (Jewish Calendar Year 5780)? New Moon in the Western Sky begins the lunar month. The Jewish Calendar consists of 12 lunar months of 29.5 days each, bringing the “return of the year” in 354 days, falling short by 11 and one-quarter days of the solar year length.  So the first problem in determining the date is to choose which new moon will mark the first month of the sacred year (as opposed to the start of the agricultural year which is 6 months latter). In the 4th century of our common era the rabbi Hillel II established an official Jewish Calendar that has been in use since then.  A 13th lunar month is added 7 times in 19 years to make up the shortfall.  The long years (13 months) occur at the end of years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 19 in the cycle, which is named for the Greek astronomer, Meton, who first devised it in the fifth century before our common era. This cycle pattern is similar to the black keys on the piano, representing the grouping of long years. Piano Key pattern