Passover Seder Meal History - Origin of the Passover Celebration
Note: Regarding all dates on this Passover Seder Meal web page, see the footnote near the bottom of this web page.
Passover Seder Meal History - Origin of the Passover Celebration - the following discussion describes the origin of the Passover celebration and how the Passover Seder meal was celebrated from pre-Passover of Egypt times until the Roman period in Israel. To read about the contemporary version of how the Passover Seder is celebrated, head on over to our Passover Seder web page. To read about the origin of the Passover Haggadah, which is the "instruction manual" for the contemporary Passover Seder, and about the origin of the contemporary Passover Seder, which began to develop in Roman times in Israel, steer over to the section in our Passover Haggadah web page that describes the Origin of the Passover Haggadah.
Passover as we know it today is a commemoration of the Hebrews' Exodus from Egypt. However, the origin of how the Passover celebration came to be in its present form is a result of the adoption and transfer of two earlier customs - each borrowed from other neighbouring cultures by the Hebrews - onto specific events of the first Passover, or the "Passover of Egypt". What were these two customs? The first custom was practiced by early nomadic breeders of sheep and goats and was a pastoral feast called the "Passover" that had two parts: (1) Early nomadic sheep and goat breeders sacrificed and ate a paschal lamb in order to secure protection from their G-ds for a safe journey just before they were about to migrate from their desert winter pastures for cultivated areas. This sacrificial event was also known as the "Passover", and the lamb itself was also known as the "Passover"; (2) The second part of the first custom of the nomadic sheep and goat breeders that was adopted by the Hebrews was the practice of spreading the doorposts and lintel ("beam" in Hebrew) of their tents (and later their households) with the blood of the sacrificed lamb, which was, as mentioned, known as the "Passover". The second custom that the Hebrews adopted was most likely practiced by the Canaanites and was an agricultural feast that consisted of the eating of unleavened bread to celebrate the start of the grain harvest season. What was the order of how these two customs were celebrated? The "Passover" was the first custom of these two customs to be celebrated, and was followed the next day by the feast of the unleavened bread, which was observed for 6 days. Now, regarding the first part of the first custom, how was this sacrificial event first practiced by the nomadic breeders and later by the Hebrews connected with the Passover of Egypt? The answer is that the nomadic breeders' act of migrating from the desert pastures to cultivated areas was similar to the Hebrews' act of migrating from Egypt to the Sinai desert, and so it was easy for the Hebrews to connect the nomadic breeders' migration event to the Passover of Egypt migration event. The sacrifice of a lamb, in which the lamb itself was called the "Passover", became associated with the Exodus from Egypt as a result, and over time, was "historicized" and "traditionalized" into the Hebrew and Jewish culture, respectively. Regarding the second part of the first custom, how did the Hebrews connect the spreading of the doorposts and lintel with blood with the events of the Passover of Egypt? Since the spreading of the lamb's blood on the doorposts and lintel was associated with the death of the "Passover", or the sacrificial lamb, the Hebrews connected the spreading of the doorposts and lintel with blood to the story of the Death of the First-Born Son in each Egyptian household which comprised the 10th and final Plague on the Egyptians by G-d, where the Hebrews spread the blood of the paschal lamb on the doorposts and lintel of their homes, sparing the first-born son in each Hebrew household from death as the Angel of Death "passed over" the Hebrew households that had the blood of the paschal lamb on the doorposts and lintel of their homes, as instructed by G-d to Moses who relayed this information to the Hebrews. This explained why the Pharaoh finally let the Hebrews leave Egypt. The second custom was an agricultural festival most likely adopted from the Canaanites by the Hebrews, where unleavened bread was baked and eaten to celebrate the start of the grain harvest season. How did the Hebrews connect this festival with the Passover of Egypt? Since the start of the grain harvest season was close in time to the Exodus from Egypt, it was also easy for the Hebrews to identify the festival of eating unleavened bread with the Exodus from Egypt. In addition, because the Exodus from Egypt was the main theme of the Passover of Egypt story, this helped to solidify the identification of the two earlier festivals with the Passover of Egypt story. After the Hebrews identified these two ancient customs with the events of the Passover of Egypt, the two customs were initially celebrated as separate festivals. Over time, the two customs or festivals were then "historicized" and "traditionalized" as part of the Passover of Egypt story. After the Exile of most of the Hebrews from the Kingdom of Judah in the region of Judea by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.E. or 586 B.C.E., the two separate festivals were merged into one festival known simply as "Passover".
The festival of unleavened bread that pre-dated the Passover of Egypt story was a pilgrimage festival which originally required that participants journey to a local sanctuary, and later on, to the Temple in Jerusalem when the 7th century B.C.E. King Josiah* of the Kingdom of Judah in the region of Judea centralized both Hebrew worship and the festival of unleavened bread in the main sanctuary, the Temple in Jerusalem. However, performing this pilgrimage was secondary to the eating of matzah, which was the main custom of this festival. This festival was celebrated in the month of Abib, later known as the Hebrew month of Nissan or Nisan. It was originally celebrated for more than one week and began on a "morrow after the Sabbath" ("morrow" means "morning" in archaic language terms.). Since this festival extended for over a week, there was a need for the Jews who resided in Babylonia after the Exile of the Jews or Hebrews from the Kingdom of Judah in the region of Babylonia in either 587 B.C.E. or 586 B.C.E. to fix a common date for the festival of unleavened bread. Therefore, after 587 B.C.E. or 586 B.C.E., the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan to the 21st day of the Hebrew month of Nissan was established as the dates for the festival of unleavened bread, thus connecting it with the dates of the Passover of Egypt story.
After the Hebrews left Egypt, they eventually journeyed to Mount Sinai where Moses received the 10 Commandments on the summit of Mount Sinai. After the sin of the Golden calf, which occurred when Moses discovered the Hebrews worshipping a Golden Calf after he descended from Mount Sinai, G-d restricted Himself to appearing in the Mishkan ("dwelling place" or "abode" in Hebrew, also known as the Tabernacle, or the "Ohel Mo'ed", meaning "tent of meeting" in Hebrew, or the "Miqdash", meaning "sanctuary" in Hebrew), which meant that G-d could only be heard by a select few. The Tabernacle had three functions as expressed in the aforementioned names for the Tabernacle: (1) It was an earthly abode for the deity of G-d; (2) It was a sacred area for sacrificial worship; and (3) It was the place where Moshe or Moses was to meet with and receive the 10 Commandments from G-d. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the tablets containing the 10 Commandments, he was first given detailed instructions for the building of the Tabernacle. G-d ensured Moses carried out these instructions correctly by displaying a heavenly image of the Tabernacle to Moses. The instructions were then delivered to the Hebrew people, who willingly contributed all the materials that they could toward building the Tabernacle. Guided by Bezalel and Oholiab who were both craftsmen or architects, the Hebrews also eagerly participated in the construction of the Tabernacle. By the beginning of the following year, the Tabernacle was completed. G-d's presence then appeared in the form of a fiery cloud, and then resided in the Tabernacle. Moses met with G-d through a series of meetings, with the voice of G-d emanating from the Tabernacle. It was in this series of meetings that G-d gave the laws of sacrifice to Moses. As well, the Tabernacle and its priesthood were consecrated, beginning the sacrificial worship of G-d. After this, the remaining laws were given to Moses. The Tabernacle was meant to be a portable but majestic-looking sanctuary for the Hebrews' wanderings in the Sinai desert, and so it was constructed to be easily dismantled and transported by the members of the Hebrew tribe of Levi, which consisted of the priests and the assistants to the priests, known simply as Levites. When the Hebrews began their wanderings in the Sinai desert, the Tabernacle was disassembled and transported by the Levites, and when the Hebrews reached a new location to temporarily settle, the Tabernacle was reassembled, and disassembled and transported again when the Hebrews departed for a new location to temporarily settle. The Tabernacle was brought into Canaan from the desert by the Hebrews first to Gilgal. The Hebrew Bible mentions in the Book of Joshua that the Passover feast was kept by the Hebrews at Gilgal (Joshua 5:10-11), and it was led by Joshua. After the Hebrews conquered Canaan, the Tabernacle was moved and erected in Shiloh, where it became a fixed sanctuary until it was moved to Jerusalem by King David and eventually preserved in King Solomon's Temple. After the Babylonians conquered the Kingdom of Judah in the region of Judea in either 587 B.C.E. or 586 B.C.E., the Ark was no longer mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and it is thought that either the Ark was destroyed by the Babylonians or another foreign army or it was hidden.
What did the Tabernacle look like? The Tabernacle was rectangular structure of 30 cubits x 10 cubits (45 feet or 14 meters long x 15 feet or 4.6 meters high x 15 feet or 4.6 meters in width) (1 cubit = about 18 inches). The north, west, and south walls of the Tabernacle consisted of upright wooden planks or boards that were inserted into silver sockets and held together by bars and bolts. Each board had gold rings through which passed acacia wood bars plated with gold to give the structure stability. The wooden planks or boards were made from acacia wood, and the three walls were covered with gold. The roof or ceiling of the Tabernacle consisted of a set of curtains of fine fabrics (white linen) made up of five sections joined together that were stretched out over the top and draped down over the north, west, and southern sides of the Tabernacle. These curtains had cherub or angel motifs of blue, scarlet, and purple embroidered onto them. Over these cherub-embroidered curtains were a set of twelve goat-haired curtains or sections. The goat-haired curtains were, in turn, draped by ram skins and badger skins. Because there were only fabric coverings for the roof and no other coverings, this made the Tabernacle a tent. But what about the fourth side of the Tabernacle? The fourth side was the eastern side of the Tabernacle, and it had a woven screen of fine fabrics embroidered with cherubs that were suspended on five wooden pillars. This formed the entrance to the Tabernacle. The interior of the Tabernacle consisted of two parts: an inner sanctum (the western end of the Tabernacle) and an outer sanctum (the eastern end of the Tabernacle). The Parokhet ("veil" in Hebrew) was another screen of fabric embroidered with the cherub motif, and was the divider between the inner sanctum and the outer sanctum. The Parokhet or veil hung on five wooden pillars and was made of "blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen" (Exodus 26:31). Later on, in Temple times, the task of making the Parokhet was given to the Hebrew women. Today, in Ashkenazic synagogues, the Parokhet is draped in front of the Ark. The Parokhet in Ashkenazic synagogues today is based on the Parokhet of Tabernacle and Temple times. The term "Parokhet" is only used by Ashkenazic Jews. In Sephardic synagogues, there is no Parokhet except for the holiday of Tisha B'Av, when the Ark is covered with a black curtain. In contrast, the Ashkenazic custom is to remove the Parokhet altogether to reveal the Ark for the Tisha B'Av holiday.
The inner sanctum of the Tabernacle was the smaller of the two sanctums and measured 10 cubits x 10 cubits. The inner sanctum was called the "Holy of Holies" ("Qodesh ha-Qodashim" in Hebrew). What was in the inner sanctum? The inner sanctum contained only the "Ark of the Covenant" which in turn, contained the tablets of the 10 Commandments, including the broken set of tablets of the Commandments that was initially given to Moses. The Ark was called the "Ark of the Covenant" because it symbolized the Hebrews' covenant or agreement with G-d at Mount Sinai when Moses received the Ten Commandments from G-d at the summit. The Ark was essentially a chest made of expensive wood topped with a cover of gold and a figure of a cherub at each end, and was equipped with poles for carrying it from place to place. Moses communicated with G-d in the presence of the Ark. There was no light in the inner sanctum, and it was in the inner sanctum that the Hebrews believed G-d resided in isolation, enthroned on the two cherubim that surmounted the Ark of the Covenant. The inner sanctum was only entered into once a year by the High Priest on Yom Kippur in order to perform the purification ritual. The outer sanctum measured 10 cubits x 20 cubits and was called the "Holy Place" ("Qodesh" in Hebrew). The outer sanctum consisted of three golden furnishings: (1) the Menorah ("lamp stand" in Hebrew), a seven-branched golden candelabra or candlestick, (2) the table of the shewbread, which is bread made without yeast, and (3) the incense altar, on which incense was burned. The table had shewbread (bread made without yeast, also known as showbread) placed on it. All in all, the materials used to build, cover, and furnish the Tabernacle reflected the importance of the structure, and there was even a hierarchical arrangement of the materials in terms of expensiveness: as one got closer to the holiest part of the Tabernacle - the inner sanctum - the expensiveness of the materials used to build and furnish the Tabernacle rose, and the workmanship of the designs were more intricate. Outside the Tabernacle but still an inseparable part of the Tabernacle was a courtyard. This courtyard measured 100 cubits x 50 cubits, and the courtyard fence consisted of wooden pillars placed every five cubits, from which a cloth curtain was suspended that was 20 cubits long, and 10 cubits from the entrance to the Tabernacle. The courtyard was enclosed by hanging screens of rich curtains and brass pillars, which indicated the sacredness of the area. The sacrificial altar stood in the center of the eastern part of the courtyard, opposite the entrance to the Tabernacle, which faced eastward toward the altar. It was here that the main sacrificial rituals took place, such as the sacrifice of the lamb for Passover. The Hebrews believed that these sacrificial rituals took place "in the presence of the L-rd". A brass laver or basin also stood in the courtyard which was used by the priests to wash their hands and feet before performing their duties in the outer sanctum of the Tabernacle called the "Holy Place". After the Tabernacle was set up, each of the different chieftains of the Hebrew tribes brought identical sacrifices and gifts, each on a separate day, for twelve consecutive days. The Tabernacle stood at the center of the camp where the Hebrews settled. The Levites camped around the inner perimeter surrounding the Tabernacle and the other Hebrew tribes camped around the outer perimeter. After the lamb sacrifice was brought by each family chieftain for Passover and roasted on the altar, the lamb meat was taken back to the tent of each family chieftain where the Passover Seder was celebrated. Therefore, from the first day of the second year after the Hebrews left Egypt - meaning the second Passover - when the Tabernacle was dedicated as a place of worship to G-d by the Hebrews until the time of the first Temple built by King Solomon in Jerusalem in the 10th century B.C.E., Passover and the Passover Seder was celebrated by the Hebrews using the Mishkan or Tabernacle and offering lamb sacrifices to G-d on the outer altar in the courtyard, by eating the bitter herbs known as maror, and by baking and eating matzah. When King Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem, the Tabernacle was superceded as a place of worship and this was seen as a sign that G-d had given rest to the wanderings of the Hebrews by the establishment of King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem as a fixed location for the worship of G-d by the Hebrews.
During Temple times (the first and second Temple periods, from about the 10th century B.C.E. to the early part of the 6th century B.C.E., and from the latter part of the 6th century B.C.E. until the 1st century C.E., respectively), the location of the Passover celebration changed. As mentioned, prior to the Temple periods, Passover was celebrated by each Hebrew family in their tents, or as a combination of families, but with no uncircumcised persons in attendance. The Passover Seder consisted of the flesh of the broiled lamb being eaten with bitter herbs (maror) and unleavened bread (matzah) in a community meal. The lamb was to be eaten whole, and no flesh was allowed to remain on the following day. The Passover Seder practice of eating a broiled lamb with maror and matzah continued from the latter part of the first Temple period through the second Temple period. After the establishment of the Hebrews in Judea, Passover was celebrated by Hebrew families in their households. The head of each family household brought their paschal lamb back to their household to be sacrificed on the eve of Passover, meaning on the eve of the 14th of the Hebrew month of Nisan or Nissan. As was required by the Torah, the lamb was sacrificed by roasting it whole. In the first Temple period, during the rule of King Josiah in the Kingdom of Judah which was in the region of Judea in the 7th century B.C.E., Passover was kept with great solemnity as evidenced by the following quote from the second Book of Kings: "The king commanded all the people, saying: 'Keep the Passover unto the L-rd your G-d, as it is written in this book of the covenant. For there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; but in the eighteenth year of King Josiah was this Passover kept to the L-rd in Jerusalem.'" (II Kings 23:21-23). This quote indicates that Passover was not always celebrated prior to the time of King Josiah, and it was King Josiah who persuaded the Hebrews in his realm to revive and maintain the Passover celebration during the first Temple period. King Josiah also centralized the Passover sacrifice, transferring it to the first Temple in Jerusalem. This resulted in each Hebrew family bringing their paschal lamb to the Temple in Jerusalem to be slaughtered, prepared, and eaten in the forecourts of the Temple, as could reasonably be done due to distance from the Temple. The transfer of the Passover celebration from the household to the Temple also resulted in the transfer of the practice of spreading the doorposts and lintel of one's household with the blood of the paschal lamb to the pouring of the blood of the paschal lamb on the base of the altar in the Temple, as had been the case for other types of sacrifices. The centralization of the Passover sacrifice and Passover celebration in this manner was maintained even after the Exile of most of the Jews from the Kingdom of Judah in the region of Judea by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.E. or 586 B.C.E. However, later on, with the return of many Jews from exile in Babylonia and Persia and the building of the second Temple, the Jewish population in the Kingdom of Judah in the region of Judea grew again, and it became impractical for the Temple administrators to accommodate so many people for the Passover celebration because there was not enough space on the Temple grounds to accommodate so many people. As a result, the head of each family household continued to bring their paschal lamb to the Temple in Jerusalem to be sacrificed, but after the lamb was sacrificed on the altar at the Temple, the head of each household took the slaughtered lamb back to their household to be boiled and eaten with their family.
The practice of performing paschal lamb sacrifices and the pouring of the paschal lamb's blood on the base of the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem ended with the establishment of the Mishnah of the Talmud after the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 C.E. According to the Mishnah of the Talmud, the first Passover is known as "Pesach Mitzrayim" or "Pesach Mizrayim", meaning the "Passover of Egypt" in Hebrew. The Mishnah of the Talmud states that the first Passover is distinguished from other Passovers as the "Passover of Egypt" because it was meant to be the only time when: (1) the paschal lamb was to be set aside four days before the start of Passover; (2) the blood of the paschal lamb would be sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of each Hebrew household; and finally, (3) that the lamb should be eaten in "haste" (Pesachim 9:5).
Despite Passover not being celebrated for the first part of the first Temple period, Passover was celebrated throughout the second Temple period, as far as it is known. There is a quote from the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (37 C.E. - circa 100 C.E.), who estimated the number of participants who gathered for the Passover sacrifice in Jerusalem in 65 C.E. were "not less than three millions" (Josephus, Wars, 2:280). After the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. by the Romans, the practice of sacrificing a lamb was ended, however, the rituals of Passover and the Passover Seder continued on as before. A new "sacrifice" was added to the Passover Seder meal to replace the sacrifice of the lamb in the former Temple in Jerusalem: the hard-boiled or roasted egg. The hard-boiled or roasted egg had many symbolisms. In addition to replacing and reminding the Jews of the Passover lamb sacrifice, the hard-boiled or roasted egg also reminded the Jews of the destruction of the Second Temple. On a more positive note, the hard-boiled or roasted egg also symbolized the renewal of Springtime, rebirth, and the start of the grain harvest season. This symbolically connected the hard-boiled or roasted egg with the two pre-Passover of Egypt customs that were adapted, historicized, and traditionalized to the Passover of Egypt by the Hebrews. Since the hard-boiled or roasted egg represents Springtime and renewal, it connected with both the agricultural festival in pre-Passover of Egypt times and the Passover of Egypt itself (start of the grain harvest season and hence, close in time to the Exodus from Egypt). This agricultural festival was celebrated by eating matzah. The hard-boiled or roasted egg also symbolized the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, and as a result, it also connected with the pastoral festival of pre-Passover of Egypt times, meaning the sacrifice and eating of the paschal lamb or the "Passover" to ensure a safe migration from the G-ds, which in turn connected with the migration of the Hebrews out of Egypt. To summarize, Passover before the time of the Exodus from Egypt was originally celebrated as two distinct festivals: (1) a pastoral festival, known as the "Passover", which involved the sacrifice and eating of a paschal lamb to ensure a safe journey to cultivated lands from winter pastures; and (2) an agricultural festival, where unleavened bread was baked and eaten to celebrate the start of the grain harvest season. It was only after the events of the first Passover in Egypt that these two distinct festivals became associated with the "Passover of Egypt"; in the case of the "Passover" festival, with the Hebrews' Exodus from Egypt (a migration event, similar to the earlier migration of the nomadic sheep and goats breeders) and the slaying of the first-born son in each Egyptian family (the spreading of the doorposts and lintel with the blood of the paschal lamb in both the pastoral festival of pre-Passover of Egypt times, and in the Passover of Egypt story), respectively; and in the case of the unleavened bread festival, with the Exodus from Egypt (with the time of the pre-Passover unleavened bread festival coinciding with the time of the Exodus from Egypt in the Passover of Egypt story), although they remained separate festivals until 587 B.C.E. or 586 B.C.E. when most of the Hebrews were forced into Exile when the Babylonians conquered the Kingdom of Judah in the region of Judea. From this point onward, the two festivals were combined into one festival known simply as Passover. As mentioned, before the Exodus from Egypt, Passover was not known as a pilgrimage feast, but was a domestic ceremony that involved the slaughtering and eating of a paschal lamb, where the lamb itself was known as the "Passover". Migration to the cultivated lands came after the ceremony and was not part of the ceremony. It is according to many references in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible where G-d states that the paschal lamb to be slaughtered must be a one year-old lamb or kid. Other references in the Hebrew Bible mention that the animal should be a sheep or goat, and still other references in the Hebrew Bible state that the animal should be a sheep or a bovine animal.
According to the biblical Book of Numbers, a person who could not attend the Passover celebration to sacrifice the paschal lamb because they lived too far away from the Temple in Jerusalem or because they were ritually impure or ill, could celebrate a "Second Passover" or "Minor Passover" called "Pesach Sheini" or "Pesach Sheni" in Hebrew, which was to take place exactly one month after the start of the first Passover, on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Iyyar or Iyar (Numbers 9:1-14, Numbers 9:9-25). Only one instance of observing Pesach Sheini is recorded in the Hebrew Bible, that by King Hezekiah, after consulting with the "princes of the congregation in Israel" (2 Chronicles 30:2). Pesach Sheini is observed today by the omission of supplicatory prayers, called "Tahanun" ("Tahanun" means "supplication" in Hebrew, and refers to penitential prayers.). However, in some communities, Pesach Sheini is marked by the eating of a piece of matzah. In addition, some Orthodox Jews will put aside three pieces of matzah on Pesach or Passover and save them for Pesach Sheini, when they eat the three pieces of matzah.
The number of rituals performed in the Passover celebration and the Passover Seder up until the Roman period in Israel were not nearly as detailed as the Passover celebration and Passover Seder as we know it today. It was in Talmudic times, about from 10 C.E. to 500 C.E., that the modern Passover celebration and Passover Seder as we know it today began to take shape with the development of a structured framework for conducting the Passover Seder based on the Passover Seder conducted in Bnei Brak, Israel during the Roman occupation of Israel by a number of Rabbis. This structured framework became known as...(Drum roll, please!)...the Passover Haggadah. Click the following link to read about the Origin of the Passover Haggadah. Later on, folk-songs, hymns, benedictions, and educational stories that taught lessons about the messages of Passover were added over time up to and including the Middle Ages, and organized into the "instruction manual" for conducting the Passover Seder celebration we know today as the Passover Haggadah.
* King Josiah ruled the Kingdom of Judah in the region of Judea from either 641 B.C.E. to 609 B.C.E. or from 640 B.C.E. to 609 B.C.E., depending on which historical analysis one follows.
The above discussion described the Passover celebration and the Passover Seder meal from its pre-Passover of Egypt origins to Roman times in Israel, when the modern version of the Passover celebration and the Passover Seder began to develop. So how is the contemporary version of the Passover Seder celebration celebrated? I think that was the next logical question, so to find out, just mosey on down to our Passover Seder web page and add to your knowledge of Passover! To continue reading about the development of the modern version of the Passover seder meal from Roman times in Israel through the Middle Ages, when Rabbinic authorities established the modern version of the Passover Haggadah, which is the "instruction manual" to conduct the Passover Seder meal, just go over to the section in our Passover Haggadah web page that discusses the Origin of the Passover Haggadah.
Footnote regarding the dates on this Passover Seder Meal web page: all dates discussed on this website are based on the modern Gregorian calendar, however, these dates are but one secular scholarly deduction; there are many other secular scholarly deductions as well as traditional Jewish chronological dates in addition to modern Hebrew/Jewish calendar dates regarding the timeline of events in Jewish history. To see a table of some important events in Jewish history discussed on this website and their various dates deduced from traditional Jewish sources, the modern Hebrew/Jewish calendar, and secular historical timelines, check out our Jewish History Timeline web page.
