Why is this year's memorial being held on March 23 (which is the 13th of Adar II on the Jewish Calendar)?

outsmartthesystem

I thought it had to be done on Nisan 14????

Nisan 14 isn't until April 22nd.

Does this have anything to do with an intercalary month being added to the Jewish calendar this year or something?

blondie

The Jews operate on a lunar month (30 days) which leaves 5 days out of the equation. This must be the year they add their 13th lunar month to the calendar making it a month out from the solar year.

*** w60 4/15 p. 251 par. 18 Part 36—“Your Will Be Done on Earth” ***

In prophecy these three years and six months are not affected by any leap year or by any Jewish Veadar year in which a thirteenth lunar month is added to the Jewish calendar to bring the series of lunar years up to the length of the series of solar years.

*** it-1 p. 46 Adar ***ADAR

(A′dar).

The postexilic name of the 12th Jewish lunar month of the sacred calendar, but the 6th of the secular calendar. (Es 3:7) It corresponds to part of February and part of March. It is after the month Adar that the intercalary month, called Veadar, or the second Adar, is added in certain years.

The WTS says they follow the lunar cycle in Israel as it would have been in Jesus' day but goes beyond the Jews although the WTS regular follows Jewish customs.

WTWizard

On my calendar, the Jewish holiday Purim begins at sundown. And my calendar has all these holidays along with xian and muslim, and patriotic holidays for various countries. True, Easter--Ashtar--is March 27 this year.

You want to honor the Jewish system, you celebrate it April 22. You want to honor Jesus, you do it March 27. You want to honor Astaroth, you do the Easter stuff minus the xian part, March 20-27 (because the Vernal Equinox happens March 20)--and perhaps up to Beltane which is April 30. You want to honor your own damnation, you go to this party on March 23 and refuse to partake. You will gain damnation from all sources that way.

Cheeto

The memorial IS at the wrong time this year! Nissan 15 does NOT happen untill the new moon AFTER the spring equinox. The Organization planned it on Purim. I called Headquarters and asked, and they WILL NOT answer the question on the phone. LOTS of people have noticed. Let's see how they explain their way out of THIS!!!!

Nameless

Cheeto, as Blondie pointed out the Jews add an extra lunar month because of how they observe their calendar. The spring equinox was Sunday, March 20th. So the first full moon is on Wednesday, March 23rd. But as WTWizard pointed out, pick a holiday and go from there. Me personally, I will be having a Diet Coke & rum, or two, or three, or..........

prologos

Cheeto: Question : the new moon AFTER the spring equinox. +14 or

the new moon CLOSEST to the spring equinox + 14 ?

PS: at least the wednesday date has an eclipse as a bonus.

mana11

Passover 2016 begins in the evening of

Friday, April 22

and ends in the evening of

Saturday, April 30

Dagney

OMGosh is it tomorrow? March 23?

Phizzy

Yup Dagney, if you ain't been hounded by now you are in the clear.

Looking at several aspects of how the JW Org arrives at its decision as to which day to hold their weird ritual, I have concluded that they hold it on the wrong day every year, one way or another.

For one thing, they can always be called out by whichever Gospel contradicts their choice, as John is different to the others as to timing.

Are they claiming that the extra month inserted to keep the Jewish calendar on track should be ignored ?

Surely Jesus would have been way out had He done so ?

Hadriel

The Sanhedrin of Jesus day accounted for such times as this where the closes new moon to the spring equinox would be in such a way that the barley was not ready to harvest. Why is this important and why was this criteria required also?

Jesus said "take life's water free" while celebrating the Festival of Tabernacles. Hence precedence is set in that Jesus observed this holiday or gave it some importance. It seems reasonable then to follow the 13th adjustment month much like the Sanhedrin would have in order to keep the festivals in tact as to date.

How would you have for example the festival of firstfruits when the barley could not be harvested yet? You can check the barley report in Jerusalem yourself.

Under the current date the Watchtower has chosen for the memorial I see no way possible to correlate the rest of the festivals appropriately. Leviticus 23:39 for example discusses when the Festival of Tabernacles was to be. I don't see how this festival could have been celebrated and still follow this command from God given the date the Watchtower has chosen if Jesus were alive today.

I think the issue here lies in the fact that the Watchtower has chosen to take only one piece of criteria the Sanhedrin used back in Jesus day as opposed to all the criteria use to ensure proper celebration dates.

Why is this year's memorial being held on March 23 (which is the 13th of Adar II on the Jewish Calendar)?

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