NISAN

NISAN (Heb. נִיסָן), the post-Exilic name of the first month of the Jewish year. Its pentateuchal name is ḥodesh ha-aviv (lit. "month of spring," Ex. 13:4 and parallels) and it is also referred to as the month of the ripening ears of barley (ibid. 9:31). The post-Exilic name, occurring in the biblical and apocryphal records (Esth. 3:7, Neh. 2:1; I Esd. 5:6, Add. Esth. 1:1) and frequently in Josephus and rabbinic literature (e.g., *Megillat Ta'anit), is linked with the Babylonian first month, Nisannu (derived from nesa, Heb., nasa "to start"). The Mishnah calls the first of Nisan the "new year for kings and festivals" (rh 1:1). Reigns of monarchs in biblical times were reckoned from that time, but later it was made the seventh month of the civil year (rh loc. cit.). The zodiacal sign of this month is Aries. In the present fixed Jewish calendar it invariably consists of 30 days, and the 1^st of Nisan never falls on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday (see *Calendar). In the 20^th century Nisan, in its earliest occurrence, extended from March 13 to April 11, and in its latest from April 11 to May 10. According to R. Joshua, this is the month during which the world was created and the Patriarchs were born (rh 11a). It was in Nisan that God spoke to Moses from the burning bush. In this month redemption will occur in the time to come (ibid.). The tabernacle was erected in Nisan (Ex. 40:17), and the princes brought their offerings then (Num. 7:1–2). Because the 12 princes offered their gifts to the tabernacle every day beginning with the first of Nisan, each day was considered a festival. All public mourning is prohibited in Nisan. *Taḥanun and *Ẓidduk ha-Din are not recited, nor are eulogies allowed (Sh. Ar., oḤ 429:2). As "the greater part of the month was thus sanctified, the entire month is deemed holy" (ibid., comm. of Magen Avraham, 3).

Memorable days of Nisan include the Passover period: the 14^th of Nisan, the eve of the biblical feast of *Passover when all leaven is cleared from Jewish households, and in Temple times, the *Paschal lamb was sacrificed (Ex. 12 and parallels); and the festival of Passover from the 15^th to the 21^st (in the Diaspora, the 22^nd) of Nisan. The 15^th and 21^st of Nisan (in the Diaspora 15^th–16^th and 21^st–22^nd), the first and last days of Passover, respectively, are full holidays; 16^th–20^th of Nisan (in the Diaspora 17^th–20^th) are the intervening days of the festival, *ḥol ha-mo'ed. The 16^th of Nisan is the controversial "morrow of the Sabbath" (see Lev. 23:11, 15, 16) when an omer of barley was offered in the Temple and marked the commencement of the counting of the omer. Other traditional dates in this month are 1^st–7^th of Nisan, the defeat by the Pharisees of the Sadducees' claim that the tamid (Ex. 29:38–42, Num. 28:1–8) was to be defrayed by private donations (Meg. Ta'an. 1); 8^th–21^st of Nisan, a Pharisaic victory over the Sadducees in a dispute concerning "the morrow of the Sabbath" and the day of the month on which Shavuot falls (Meg. Ta'an. 1); 1^st (or 8^th), 10^th, and 26^th of Nisan, the respective anniversaries of the death of *Nadab and Abihu, of *Miriam, and of *Joshua, once observed as fasts (Meg. Ta'an. 13).

bibliography:

Eisenstein, Dinim, 267, s.v.

[Ephraim Jehudah Wiesenberg]