In this episode of Hebrew Voices #153, Sighting the New Moon in the Middle Ages, Nehemia speaks with a scholar at University College London about why Jews transitioned from sighting the new moon to a precalculated calendar, how Karaites remained faithful to sighting the New Moon, and the calendar controversies they confronted.

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VIDEO CHAPTERS00:00 Intro01:48  From observation to calculation05:23 Conjunctions 11:02  Jewish calendar controversy14:50  Medieval Karaite new moon sightings 17: 51  The short, short month 24:42 Locality & corrections of sightings27:44 Outro

VERSES MENTIONEDRosh Hashanah 25a (Babylonian Talmud)

BOOKS MENTIONED

Calendar and Community: A History of the Jewish Calendar, 2nd Century BCE to 10th Century CE

by Sacha Stern

The Jewish Calendar Controversy of 921/2 CE

by Sacha Stern

OTHER LINKS

Nadia’s articles in the Journal of Jewish Studies (Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies)

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