Every year — and especially in years when a 13th month is added — questions and challenges arise about the biblical calendar. Why is your assembly keeping Pesach in May when others are keeping it in April? Why not go by Israel’s sighting? Why not follow the Enochian calendar, the Zadokite (Zadok priests) calendar, the solar calendar, or the fixed rabbinic calendar? Shouldn’t we just go by what Google says, or what the rabbinic Jewish tradition has established?
These are real questions — ones many of us have had at one stage in our walk or another — and they deserve real answers from Scripture. Our goal is simply to rightly divide the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) — to go by what Yahuah says in His Word, nothing more and nothing less. Questions are always welcome here, especially when they come from a sincere desire to understand. When the goal is understanding, every question has value. They are the questions of people who want to get it right before Yahuah rather than simply go along with the crowd — and that is exactly the right posture.
The good news is that Yahuah did not leave us to figure this out alone. He built the answer into creation itself — into the sun, the moon, and the harvest. What is truly remarkable is that He encoded His appointed times into the very fabric of the heavens He created. The answers are literally written in the sky. “Precept upon precept, line upon line” (Isaiah 28:10) — His calendar is self-confirming, with multiple witnesses built right into creation. We are not being asked to follow a human system. We are being asked to observe what He already designed and declared. This article is simply an invitation to look up and see what He already put there — and a resource for your own study as you seek to understand Yahuah’s Way and Truth for yourself. We are not here to tell you what to believe. We are here to share what Scripture says and what the luminaries show, so that you, like the Bereans, can search these things out before Yahuah (Acts 17:11).
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Before diving into the March 2026 sighting question, let’s establish the two things that must align for Abib 1 to begin: a confirmed naked-eye crescent sighting, and the spring equinox must have already passed. If you’d like the full scriptural foundation for how we determine the biblical new year — including word studies, all three scriptural witnesses, and the 2026 feast dates — that is covered in depth in a companion article.
📖 Start Here If You’re New to This
For this article, the two essentials to keep in mind:
🌿 The Two-Part Test for Abib 1
1. First visible crescent — by naked eye. The biblical new month (Rosh Chodesh) begins with the first visible sliver of the moon seen with the unaided eye shortly after sunset. The Hebrew word chodesh (חֹדש, Strong’s H2320) comes from the root meaning to renew — the month begins when the moon’s light is visibly renewed. Not calculated. Seen. Moshe (Moses) did not have a telescope. Neither did Adam. They looked up.
2. After the spring equinox. The month of Abib (אָבִיב, Strong’s H24) means fresh, young spring grain. A moon cycle that begins before spring cannot be Abib — by definition. Devarim/Deuteronomy 16:1 commands: “Observe the month of Abib.” If the crescent appears before the equinox, we are not yet in Abib. We wait for the next crescent.
Both conditions must be met. Either alone is insufficient.
☀️ What Is the Spring Equinox — and Is It in Scripture?
If you’ve ever wondered what the equinox actually is, where the word comes from, whether Moses could have known about it without instruments, or why some teachers object to using it as a calendar marker — we have a dedicated article that answers all of those questions in depth from Scripture, including the Hebrew word tekufah (Strong’s H8622) and four key passages where Yahuah references the sun’s annual circuit.
Read: What Is the Biblical Equinox? Scripture, History & Common Questions → (link coming soon)
This is perhaps the most important concept in this entire article. Read it slowly.
🚨 Stop Here — This Is the Key to Everything
The spring equinox does not happen at different times for different people. It is not “morning in America and evening in Israel.” It is a single moment that occurs once, simultaneously, for the entire planet. Only the local clock reading differs by timezone — the actual event is the same instant worldwide.
When March 20, 2026 at 3:46 PM (UTC) arrived, every person on earth crossed that threshold at the same time — whether their clock said 10:46 AM, 5:46 PM, or 11:46 PM. The clocks said different things. Creation did not.
Yahuah set this pattern at creation itself. The same luminaries that “rule the day” and “rule the night” (Bereshit/Genesis 1:16) govern all of creation from one position. There are not multiple suns for multiple time zones. The sun’s relationship to the earth at the equinox — the moment when day and night are equal across all creation — is a single creation event, not a sliding experience. This is how Yahuah built it.
In March 2026, that one global moment was:
| Location |
Local Clock Reading |
Time Zone |
| 🌍 The Actual Moment (UTC) |
March 20 — 3:46 PM |
UTC (world reference point) |
| United States (Eastern) |
March 20 — 10:46 AM |
EST (5 hours behind UTC) |
| United States (Pacific) |
March 20 — 7:46 AM |
PST (8 hours behind UTC) |
| Israel / Jerusalem |
March 20 — 5:46 PM |
IST (2 hours ahead of UTC) |
💡 Think of It Like a Starting Gun
Imagine a race where a starting gun fires at exactly noon. People in different countries hear it at different times because sound travels — but the gun still fired at one moment. Timezones work the same way. The equinox “fires” once. Your local clock just tells you what time it was at your location when that single global event occurred.
So when someone says “the equinox was at 5:46 PM in Israel, and Israel saw the crescent after that, so it qualifies” — they are confusing the clock with the event. The equinox threshold passed for the entire earth at one moment. What matters is whether the crescent was first seen anywhere before or after that single global threshold.
The bottom line: When you ask “Did the new moon appear before or after the equinox?” you are asking a question with one correct answer — not an answer that varies by location. The threshold is fixed by creation. Moon sightings can be measured against it plainly.
“The question is not ‘When did I see it?’
The question is ‘When was it first visible anywhere?’”
This distinction is everything. When Scripture and historical Hebrew practice speak of the new moon being “seen,” the standard has never been seen by you personally, or seen in your city, or even seen in Israel.
The crescent moon becomes visible first in the west — in the Americas — before it becomes visible in the Middle East, because of how the moon’s angle relates to the horizon at sunset moving eastward. A crescent photographed from Texas on Thursday night is not a “lesser” sighting than one seen from Jerusalem on Friday night. It is simply an earlier one.
❓ But Wait — Doesn’t the Moon Rise First in the East?
This is a genuinely common question, and it comes from a very reasonable place. A quick Google search will tell you that the moon is generally seen first by countries in the Far East and Pacific — Japan, Australia, China — before Europe, Africa, and finally the Americas. So how can we say America saw the crescent before Israel?
The answer is that Google is describing two completely different things:
Daily moonrise — the moon rising over the horizon each day — does travel east to west, just like the sun. Japan sees the moon rise before Europe, and Europe before America. This is about the moon’s daily arc across the sky.
New crescent visibility after conjunction is a completely different situation. The new crescent is only visible in a narrow window just after sunset, low in the western sky. The question is not “who sees the moon rise first?” but “whose sunset comes at the right moment for the crescent to be far enough from the sun to be seen?”
Israel’s sunset arrives approximately 7 hours before America’s sunset. On March 19, 2026, when Israel’s sunset came, the crescent had not yet separated far enough from the sun to be visible from that location. Seven hours later, when America’s sunset came, the moon had moved just enough further to cross the visibility threshold — and observers in New York and Arkansas saw it. The following evening, when Israel’s sunset came again (Friday, March 20), the crescent was now clearly visible there too — but it was the same crescent, now one day older. Israel being 7 hours ahead did not mean they saw it first. It meant their observation window opened too early the first evening, and they caught up the following night.
🔥 An Illustration to Remember
If a fire is lit in a field, the fact that some people notice the smoke before others does not mean the fire started later for those who noticed it later. The event is the same event. Only the observers differ.
The same moon cannot have two “first appearances.” There is one first appearance: the moment it became visible to human eyes anywhere on earth.
⚠️ What About What Google Says?
Some people have Googled this question and received an AI-generated answer stating that both Israel and America first sighted the crescent on Friday, March 20th, 2026 — and that the new year therefore began on that evening. This is understandable, and we want to address it directly.
Google treats the Hillel II rabbinic fixed calendar as the authoritative standard for all feast days and appointed times. When you search for any biblical calendar date on Google, the answer comes pre-filtered through Rabbinic Judaism — a tradition that does not acknowledge Yahusha as the Son of Yahuah and that follows man-made mathematical formulas rather than observing the actual luminaries Yahuah placed in the sky.
This is why Google surfaced Friday’s widely-reported sightings and missed Thursday’s documented, photographed sightings entirely — those Thursday sightings did not align with the calendar framework Google considers authoritative.
Google is not the authority on Yahuah’s appointed times. His Word is. His luminaries are.
📖 Go Deeper on This Topic
Not all reports are equal. Here is a practical, biblical framework for weighing them.
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1
Look for multiple independent witnesses
A single report, even a sincere one, carries less weight than multiple reports from different observers who did not coordinate beforehand. When several witnesses in different locations independently report seeing the crescent on the same night, that convergence is significant — consistent with the Torah standard of two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15).
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2
Look for photographic evidence
A photograph with a reliable timestamp and geolocation carries substantial weight. Combined with witness testimony, it dramatically strengthens a report. In March 2026, multiple photographs from verified sources showed the crescent on Thursday night, March 19 — the night before the equinox.
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3
Note the geographic distribution of sightings
Sightings from multiple geographic locations on the same night are stronger evidence than a single sighting from one city. The crescent becomes visible first in the west, then later in the east — geography explains the delay, not a different moon cycle.
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4
Distinguish between visibility and observation
There is a meaningful difference between when the moon could have been seen and when someone did see it. Atmospheric conditions, light pollution, observer experience, and geographic location all affect whether a person successfully spots a very thin crescent. A failed sighting in one location does not mean the moon was not visible — it may mean conditions were unfavorable, the observer was not actively watching, or the visibility window closed before they looked up. See the case study below for a real-world example of how this played out in March 2026.
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5
Apply your assembly’s standard consistently
Whatever methodology your assembly has adopted, apply it the same way every year. Consistency is not rigidity — it is integrity. The assembled body cannot maintain peace and trust if the calendar is reinterpreted year to year based on varying reports.
This question comes up often, and it matters more than people realize. The short answer: no, a binocular-assisted sighting is not the same as a naked-eye sighting.
Moshe (Moses) did not have binoculars. The witnesses called to declare the new month in ancient Israel did not either. The biblical and historical standard for new moon declaration was the unaided human eye — looking directly into the sky after sunset, without optical enhancement.
✅ Naked Eye Sighting
Observer looks westward after sunset without any optical device. They see the thin crescent directly. This is the historical and biblical standard. The crescent may be as faint as a 1%–5% sliver — barely there, requiring patience and a clear horizon.
⚠️ Binocular-Assisted Sighting
Observer uses binoculars, a telescope, or night-vision equipment to locate or confirm the crescent. This may reveal a moon that is not yet visible to the unaided eye. A sighting achieved only with optical aid cannot be used as a primary declaration of the new month.
🌙 Why This Matters Practically
A very young crescent — 1% to 5% illuminated — can sometimes be found with binoculars but remain completely invisible to the naked eye from the same location. If binocular sightings are treated as equivalent to naked-eye sightings, the effective threshold for declaring the new month shifts earlier than the biblical standard allows.
When evaluating sighting reports, always note how the crescent was seen. A report that says “confirmed with binoculars” carries a different weight than one that says “seen with the naked eye and then confirmed with binoculars.”
Photographic evidence presents a similar nuance. Cameras with long exposures can capture a crescent that the naked eye cannot detect. Photographs are valuable for documentation and confirmation, but a photograph alone — especially one requiring extended exposure — does not automatically establish that the crescent met the naked-eye visibility standard.
A question came up in our community after the March 2026 sightings: “Some people in California said they didn’t see the moon on Thursday night — doesn’t that mean it wasn’t visible?” This is worth addressing directly, because it is a perfect real-world example of the difference between visibility and observation.
The short answer is: no. A failed California sighting does not mean the crescent was not there. There are several well-understood reasons why a 1–2% sliver can go unseen in California even when it is genuinely visible elsewhere.
1
The California Marine Layer
This is almost certainly the biggest factor. Coastal California — Los Angeles, the Bay Area, San Diego — regularly experiences a marine layer: a band of low coastal fog and haze that rolls in from the Pacific right around sunset. The new moon sliver sits just above the western horizon in that narrow post-sunset window — which is exactly where the marine layer sits. It can be completely clear overhead and still be a wall of haze at the horizon, making the crescent invisible to any observer in that region.
2
A Very Short Visibility Window
A new crescent sits just above the western horizon and sets quickly after the sun — often within 30 to 45 minutes of sunset. If an observer stepped outside even a little late, looked in the wrong direction, or scanned the wrong part of the sky, the window closed before they found it. This is true everywhere, but it is compounded by every other factor on this list.
3
Light Pollution at the Western Horizon
Major California metro areas carry heavy light pollution, and that glow concentrates along the horizon — exactly where you need to be looking. A 2% crescent in a polluted western sky is nearly impossible to spot without being in a deliberately dark location with a clear, low horizon view. Most urban and suburban observers never find these conditions.
4
Not Actively Watching
This one is the simplest and probably the most common. Most people are not moon-watchers. Unless someone deliberately went outside at the right time, faced west, and actively scanned for a faint sliver with an unobstructed view, they would never see it — even if conditions were perfect. The crescent does not announce itself. It has to be sought.
🌍 Why Arkansas Saw It When California Didn’t — Including One of Our Own
Reports of the Thursday night crescent came from inland states like Arkansas, where evening skies are clearer, drier, and free from marine layer interference. An observer in Arkansas who knew what to look for, faced west at the right moment with a clear horizon, stood a significantly better chance of spotting a 1–2% sliver than someone in coastal California under the same night sky — simply because of geography and atmospheric conditions.
We can say this with particular confidence: a family member of one of our own assembly members, located in the Arkansas area, personally beheld the crescent sliver on Thursday night, March 19. We have a witness within our own assembly community who confirmed this sighting firsthand. This is not a secondhand report from a stranger on the internet — it is a direct account from someone connected to our body.
This is why geographic distribution matters when evaluating sighting reports. A crescent confirmed from multiple inland observers in different states is not weakened by the fact that coastal observers in heavy haze could not find it. The conditions differ. The moon does not.
🌙 Going Forward: We Will Document Every New Moon Sighting
Beginning now, the Assembly of Yahuah plans to post photographs of the first visible new moon crescent each biblical month as it is sighted and confirmed. Our goal is to build a growing, transparent record of crescent sightings that our assembly and the broader community can reference — so that no one has to rely solely on distant reports or unfamiliar sources.
If you sight the new moon crescent from your location, we encourage you to photograph it and share it with the assembly. Two or three witnesses, with photographic confirmation, is exactly the standard Scripture calls us to apply.
Many believers turn to websites and phone apps to help track the moon. These tools are widely shared in Torah-observant communities — and they can be genuinely helpful, if you understand exactly what they are showing you and what they are not. Misreading them has caused real calendar confusion.
The single most important thing to understand about nearly every moon phase tool available is this:
⚠️ Critical Distinction: The World’s Definition vs. the Biblical Definition
The word “new moon” means two completely different things depending on who is using it.
By the world’s scientific definition, “new moon” refers to the conjunction — the moment when the moon sits directly between the earth and the sun, completely hidden from view. At this point, the moon is completely dark and invisible. This is what websites like Moon Giant and virtually every moon phase app mark as “New Moon.”
Biblically, the new moon (chodesh, H2320) is the first visible crescent — the thin sliver of light that becomes visible to the naked eye 1–3 days after the conjunction, once the moon has moved far enough from the sun to be seen at sunset. These two events are not the same, and conflating them is a frequent source of calendar error.
Moon Giant is one of the most widely used lunar calendar websites in Torah-observant circles — and for good reason. It presents a clean, easy-to-read monthly calendar view with moon phase images for each day, and many sincere believers use it faithfully as part of their calendar practice. If you use Moon Giant, you are in good company. The key is simply knowing how to read it correctly so it serves you well.
Like all moon phase tools, Moon Giant is built on the scientific definition of the moon’s cycle — meaning its “NEW” label marks the conjunction, the moment the moon is dark and not yet visible. This is standard across all moon tracking tools. Once you understand this, Moon Giant becomes even more useful, because you know exactly what you are looking at.
Moon Giant — March 2026: How to Read It Correctly
March 19 — Labeled “NEW”
Moon Giant marks Thursday March 19 as the “NEW” moon. This is the conjunction — the moon is between the earth and the sun and not yet visible. This is your cue to begin watching: the biblical crescent will appear 1–3 evenings after this marker. Think of “NEW” on Moon Giant as your starting gun, not your finish line.
March 20–21 — Crescent Images Begin
Moon Giant begins displaying thin crescent graphics on March 20 and 21. These images show the moon growing in visibility day by day. What is worth knowing: in March 2026, a faint crescent was actually confirmed by naked-eye observers on Thursday night, March 19 — the same evening as the conjunction, because it had occurred earlier that day. Moon Giant’s day-based display does not capture this same-day window, which is why knowing when to go outside and look is so important.
💡 The key insight: When the conjunction (“NEW”) occurs early in the day, the crescent may already be visible that same evening — before Moon Giant’s display updates to show crescent images. This is why naked-eye observation in the days around the “NEW” marker is so valuable. Moon Giant points you to the right window; your eyes confirm what Yahuah put in the sky.
✅ Moon Giant: What It Does Well
Conjunction timing: Tells you when the dark moon (conjunction) occurred — your signal to begin watching for the crescent in the 1–3 evenings that follow.
Monthly overview: A clean, at-a-glance view of the full month’s cycle that many find easy to follow.
Crescent progression: The sliver images that appear after conjunction give a helpful visual sense of how the crescent is growing each day.
Free and accessible: No account required, simple to use, easy to share with others in the assembly.
📖 What to Keep in Mind
“NEW” = dark moon, not biblical new moon: The “NEW” marker is the conjunction — the starting point to watch from, not the declaration of the new month.
No evening visibility window: Moon Giant shows phases by calendar date, not by the specific evening window when the crescent first becomes visible to the eye.
Same-day sightings: If conjunction occurs during the day, the crescent may appear that same evening — before Moon Giant shows crescent images for that date.
Images are illustrative: The crescent graphics show phase progression, not confirmed sighting times. Your naked eye is still the standard.
Used with this understanding, Moon Giant is a solid, reliable reference tool — a helpful companion to naked-eye observation, not a replacement for it.
The following apps are practical tools for tracking lunar phases and planning when to watch for the crescent. A word of caution applies to all of them: every app listed uses the scientific definition of “new moon” — meaning their “New Moon” marker is the conjunction (dark moon), not the biblical first crescent. Keep that distinction in mind as you use them.
Also be aware that many moon apps are marketed with astrology content — zodiac signs, horoscopes, and ritual timing. We mention this not to alarm you, but to encourage discernment. The moon phase tracking data in these apps can be useful for planning observation nights; the astrological content is not part of our practice and should simply be disregarded.
One of the most practical options for biblical calendar watchers. Shows the moon’s illumination percentage in real time, moonrise and moonset times for your exact location, and a cloud cover forecast so you know whether conditions are favorable for watching. You can set notifications for specific phase events. The illumination percentage is particularly useful — a reading of 1%–5% on the night after conjunction is your signal to go outside and look.
✔ Best for: daily tracking, knowing when conditions favor crescent watching
A clean, cross-platform app that displays all eight named phases, illumination percentage, moonrise and moonset times, and a monthly calendar view. Uses precise lunar cycle calculations for reliable predictions. The monthly calendar layout is similar to Moon Giant but includes more data points, making it easier to identify the nights closest to conjunction when a thin crescent might first appear.
✔ Best for: month-at-a-glance planning, cross-platform use
A visually detailed app with realistic 3D moon rendering that shows the actual orientation of the crescent relative to your horizon — helpful for knowing which direction to look and at what angle. Includes moonrise and moonset times, illumination percentage, distance from earth, and location selection so you can check visibility conditions for any place on earth, not just your current location. Also includes Apple Watch support and home screen widgets.
✔ Best for: visualizing crescent orientation, checking other locations globally
Displays moon age (days since conjunction), illumination percentage, moonrise and moonset times, and exact phase times — updated in real time. Moon age is a particularly useful metric: a moon that is 1–2 days old has the best chance of producing a visible crescent, and this app makes that easy to see at a glance. A minimal one-time unlock fee opens the full calendar view.
✔ Best for: tracking moon age, real-time phase data
📌 A Note on Using All These Tools Together
No single app or website replaces actual observation. Think of these tools as scouts, not authorities. Use them to identify the 1–3 nights after conjunction when a crescent is most likely to appear, plan your observation around moonset time and cloud cover, then go outside and look with your own eyes. That naked-eye confirmation is the biblical standard — everything else is preparation.
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📍 The March 2026 Situation at a Glance
Thursday Night
March 19, 2026
❌ Before Equinox
Crescent confirmed by multiple witnesses with photo evidence in New York and other western locations — but the equinox had not yet occurred. This moon cycle is the 13th month of the outgoing year.
≠
Friday Night
March 20, 2026
⚠️ Same Crescent
Israel and Middle East observers saw the crescent Friday evening, after the equinox by their local clock — but this is the same moon already sighted Thursday. It did not become a new cycle because Israel saw it later.
≠
Abib 1 — April 18
Sunset April 18, 2026
✅ Abib 1
The next new moon crescent, appearing after the spring equinox has been fully established. This is Abib 1. Pesach falls on May 1–2, 2026.
With the methodology in hand, let us walk through March 2026 clearly.
Thursday, March 19
🌙
Crescent First Sighted
- Multiple witnesses
- Photographic evidence
- New York & western locations
BEFORE
EQUINOX
❌ 13th Month — Not Abib
Friday, March 20 — 3:46 PM UTC
⚖️
Spring Equinox
- One global moment
- Every clock reads differently
- The creation threshold
THE
BOUNDARY
⚖️ The Fixed Marker
Friday, March 20 (evening)
🌙
Israel Sees Crescent
- After equinox by local clock
- Same crescent as Thursday
- Observed later due to location
SAME
MOON
⚠️ Still 13th Month
Abib 1 — April 18, 2026
🌟
Next New Crescent
- After equinox ✔
- New moon cycle ✔
- Barley confirming spring ✔
ABIB 1
✅ Biblical New Year
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⚖️
The Equinox Threshold — Friday, March 20 at 3:46 PM UTC
This is the fixed, global marker. Everything is measured against this single moment. The crescent must appear after this threshold to qualify as Abib.
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❌
Thursday Night, March 19 — First Crescent Sighted
Multiple confirmed sightings with photographic evidence from New York and other western locations. Real and credible — but BEFORE the equinox. This moon cycle is the 13th month of the outgoing year. It does not qualify as Abib.
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⚠️
Friday Night, March 20 — Same Crescent Sighted in Israel
Israel and Middle East observers saw the crescent Friday evening — after the equinox by their local clock. But this is the same crescent already sighted Thursday night. It did not become a new moon cycle because Israel observed it later. Geography explains the delay, not a new moon.
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✅
Abib 1 — Evening of April 18, 2026 — Next New Crescent
The next crescent, appearing after the equinox is firmly established. This is Abib 1. Pesach falls on May 1–2, 2026.
⚠️ The Confusion Explained
Many people concluded from the Friday night Israel sightings that the new moon occurred after the equinox and that Abib 1 began Friday night. This is understandable — Israel holds great significance for Torah-observant believers, and a sighting dated “after the equinox in Israel” feels authoritative.
But the crescent Israel saw Friday night was the same crescent already photographed Thursday night elsewhere. It did not become a new moon cycle because Israel observed it later. Geography explains the delay. The moon does not restart for each time zone.
“The sun did not rise when you observed it. It rose when it rose. Your observation was simply later.”
— The same logic applies to every new moon sighting
✅ Conclusion for March 2026
Because the first visible crescent appeared before the equinox — confirmed by multiple witnesses and photographic evidence on Thursday night, March 19 — this moon cycle is the 13th month of the outgoing year, not Abib 1.
The next new moon, appearing on the evening of April 18, 2026, will be the first new moon after the spring equinox. That will be Abib 1. Pesach falls on the evening of May 1, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread runs through the evening of May 9.
This is a genuinely perceptive observation — and rather than complicating the picture, it actually strengthens it. Here is why.
Biblical days run from sunset to sunset, as established in Bereshit/Genesis 1:5 — “evening and morning.” Under this reckoning, Thursday evening’s crescent sightings in New York and Friday morning’s equinox (10:46 AM Eastern) are both on the same biblical day. And here is what that means for the Israel argument:
🌙 Israel Did Not See It “The Next Day” — They Saw It Later in the Same Day
Some have argued: “Israel saw the crescent on Friday, which is after the equinox — so it counts.” But under biblical evening-to-evening reckoning, Thursday night and Friday morning are the same biblical day. There is no “next day” gap between the American Thursday sighting and the Israeli Friday evening sighting. They are both on the same biblical day.
What this means: the crescent first appeared at the beginning of that biblical day — Thursday at sunset, when observers in New York saw it. The equinox moment arrived later in that same day — Friday morning at 10:46 AM Eastern. And Israel’s sighting came even later still — Friday evening. All three events are on the same biblical day, in that sequence.
⚖️ The Sequence Within the Day Still Determines Everything
The crescent appeared at the start of that biblical day. The equinox arrived later in that same day. The crescent therefore still preceded the equinox — it inaugurated a moon cycle that began before spring arrived, even on the same day spring arrived. You cannot name a month “Abib” (fresh spring grain) when the crescent that opened that month appeared before spring began.
Think of it simply: if a new season begins at noon, and the moon appeared at 6:00 AM that morning, the moon appeared before the season — even if we call them both “the same day.” Abib requires not just proximity to spring, but a moon cycle that is genuinely in spring from its very beginning.
✅ The Evening-to-Evening Truth Actually Closes the Argument
If anything, evening-to-evening reckoning removes the one argument that seemed to give Israel’s Friday sighting a different standing. Once we apply the biblical day correctly, Thursday night in America and Friday evening in Israel are on the same day — just different points within it. The crescent appeared first. The equinox came later. Israel observed the same crescent later still. None of this changes what moon cycle it is. It is the 13th month.
This is one of the most thoughtful questions that comes up, and it deserves an honest, clear answer rather than a dismissal. The challenge goes like this: “You say the barley and the spring season are tied to Israel — so why would you accept a moon sighting from New York but not defer to Israel on the moon?”
The answer lies in understanding that these are two fundamentally different types of events. And there is a beautiful piece of internal consistency here worth appreciating.
🌍 The Key Distinction: Universal vs. Progressive
The Torah instructions about Abib, the barley, and the spring season were given to a people Yahuah intended to live in one specific land — where spring arrives at the equinox, where barley ripens in that season, where the feasts align with the agricultural calendar of that land. Today, the whole world keeps those instructions — but by reference to the Land, not by each person’s local seasons.
That is why a believer in Virginia (where it is indeed spring in April) and a believer in South Africa (where April is autumn) both keep Pesach in May 2026. They are both aligning to the Land’s seasons — not their own. Abib means spring in the Land.
The equinox fits perfectly into this same framework: it is not “Israel’s spring” but a universal creation moment that marks the turn of spring for the Land where the appointed times were given. The whole world uses it as the threshold — just as the whole world defers to the Land’s barley, not their own local grain.
☀️ The Equinox: A Universal Event
The spring equinox is not “Israel’s spring.” It is a creation event that occurs at one moment for the entire earth simultaneously. Every person on earth crosses that threshold at the same instant — only the local clock reading differs. We do not defer to Israel on the equinox either. We use the UTC moment because it belongs to all of creation equally. There is no geographic preference in this at all.
🌙 The Crescent: A Progressive Event
The new crescent’s first visibility is not simultaneous — it travels. As sunset moves from west to east each evening, the crescent becomes visible first in western regions, then progressively later moving eastward. This is consistent and observable every month. The crescent did not appear in New York and Israel at the same time — it appeared in New York first, then in Israel approximately a day later, because that is how Yahuah designed the relationship between the movement of sunset and the moon’s position.
💡 Why This Is Internally Consistent
We are not privileging America over Israel. We are applying the same principle to both events: what happened first? The equinox is not “first” anywhere — it is simultaneous everywhere. The crescent is first visible in the west — that is simply the observable reality of how Yahuah built creation. We follow the first sighting from anywhere on earth, which happened to be in the west on Thursday night. Had the first sighting been in Israel, that would have been the qualifying sighting.
The reason we do not “wait for Israel” on the moon is not that Israel does not matter — it is that waiting for Israel means consistently missing the actual first appearance of the crescent by approximately one day, every single month. That is not waiting for Yahuah’s sign. That is waiting for a later observation of a sign that already appeared.
It would be dishonest not to acknowledge that sincere, biblically serious assemblies have reached different conclusions about this month. Some began their new year in March. Others, like ours, are waiting for the April new moon.
We do not believe those who landed on March are insincere. We believe they are working through the same questions with the same love for truth. In some cases, the difference comes down to which sighting reports they received first, how much weight they give to Israel-centric versus global sightings, and how their assembly’s standard is defined and applied.
🕊️ Our Position: Consistent, Principled, and Verifiable
We do not begin the year with a moon that was first sighted before the equinox. This is not legalism — it is order. It protects us from the confusion of chasing reports that are neither complete nor coordinated. It roots our calendar in an objective creation-based marker that does not shift with geography or individual observation capacity.
“Let all things be done decently and in order.”
— 1 Corinthians 14:40
Calendar-keeping is an act of communal worship. It requires communal agreement, applied consistently, year after year. Our goal is not to debate but to walk in order, consistency, and unity as we seek truth together.
As you encounter future new moon seasons, work through these five steps in order. Every year, same sequence:
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1
Find the equinox moment in UTC
Not your local clock — the actual UTC time. This is your fixed global threshold. Everything else is measured against it.
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2
Look for credible crescent reports
Multiple independent naked-eye witnesses, ideally with photographic confirmation. One person’s report is a starting point. Multiple independent reports are evidence.
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3
Note where and when the earliest sightings occurred
Which locations? What time in UTC? The crescent travels from west to east — the earliest confirmed sighting, anywhere on earth, is the one that counts.
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4
Did that earliest sighting fall before or after the equinox?
This is the decisive question. One answer. Not negotiable by timezone. If before — 13th month. If after — potential Abib 1.
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5
Apply your assembly’s standard consistently and move forward in unity
Methodology is not for winning arguments. It is for giving the body a shared, principled foundation for walking together in the appointed times — year after year, from new moon to new moon.
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One of the most common sources of calendar confusion in Torah-observant communities is the weight given to moon sightings specifically from the modern State of Israel. In March 2026, this was front and center: some in Israel reported sighting the crescent on Friday evening, March 20 — after the equinox by their local time — and many assemblies accepted this as the qualifying sighting for Abib 1. But what is often not mentioned in those same reports is that there were also sightings from Israel and the surrounding region on Thursday night, and well-documented sightings with photographic evidence from western regions — specifically from locations like New York — also on Thursday evening, March 19, before the equinox.
The crescent did not appear for the first time in Israel on Friday. It appeared for the first time on Thursday night — and the Friday sightings in Israel were simply observers in that time zone catching up to what had already been confirmed elsewhere. Yet for many people, only the Israeli report counted. Why?
The practice of looking to Israel for moon sighting authority has a genuine historical basis rooted in Scripture — and understanding it helps explain why so many sincere people say “I go by what Israel reports.”
In biblical and Second Temple times, the new month was declared by the appointed council of elders in Jerusalem — known historically as the Sanhedrin. Witnesses who had seen the crescent would travel to Jerusalem and give testimony before the court. After examining the witnesses, the council would officially declare Rosh Chodesh, and the declaration would be communicated outward via signal fires on the hilltops and, later, messengers. This is historically documented and had a legitimate scriptural basis: Yahuah placed His name in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 12:5; 1 Kings 8:29), and all Israel was to appear before Him there at the appointed times (Deuteronomy 16:16). The authority of that declaration was real — because the institution behind it was real.
📜 Why People Still Say “I Go By Israel”
Many Torah-observant communities today continue this practice — waiting for moon sighting reports from Israel before declaring the new month — because they are following the pattern established in Scripture and carried forward in Rabbinic Jewish tradition. Judaism, which does not acknowledge Yahusha (the Son of Man) or the New Testament, has preserved and systematized this practice through the Talmud and rabbinical law. For those coming from or influenced by that tradition, deferring to Israel on moon sightings feels like honoring the biblical pattern.
We understand and respect where that instinct comes from. But as a Torah-observant assembly that does not follow Rabbinic Judaism or the Talmud as our authority, we need to ask: does that system still apply today? And the answer, examined honestly through Scripture, is no — because the institution that gave it authority no longer exists.
⚠️ What That System Required — and What Is Missing Today
The Jerusalem-based declaration system depended on several things that are not present today:
1. A functioning council of elders with lawful, Torah-established authority to examine witnesses and issue binding declarations — as described in the pattern of Numbers 10:10 where trumpets announced the new month.
2. A standing Temple and priesthood to whom the firstfruits wave offering could actually be brought (Leviticus 23:10–11). Without the Temple, there is no institutional center for the declaration.
3. A covenant nation gathered in the Land, for whom Jerusalem was the central gathering place for all three pilgrimage feasts (Deuteronomy 16:16).
None of these exist in the modern State of Israel. The political entity established in 1948 is not the restored Kingdom of Israel under Yahuah’s governance. There is no Torah-authorized council, no Temple, and no mechanism for issuing a binding new moon declaration to the covenant people. What we have today are individual observers — sincere as they may be — reporting what they see. And a private observer in Israel carries no more authority than a private observer in New York.
⚠️ The Practical Problem With Israel-Only Sighting Standards
Because of where Israel sits geographically, an Israel-only or Israel-first standard actually means you are consistently waiting for later sightings of the crescent. The crescent becomes visible first in the west — in the Americas — then progressively later moving eastward. A standard that only accepts Israeli sightings will routinely miss the first night the crescent is visible, because that first night will almost always occur further west.
This creates a recurring pattern: western observers sight the crescent on night one, Israel sights the same crescent on night two, and groups that only accept Israeli reports end up one day behind the actual first appearance — every single month.
⚖️ What We Can and Cannot Affirm
We can affirm: The Land of Israel has permanent biblical significance. The barley ripens there. The seasons described in Torah play out there. Sightings from that region are valuable data points and the Land itself remains Yahuah’s reference point for the agricultural calendar.
We cannot affirm: That a private observer’s report from modern Israel overrides confirmed, photographed sightings from multiple witnesses elsewhere. There is no Scripture-based authority structure operating in Israel today that can issue a binding new moon declaration.
The bottom line: A sighting confirmed by photograph and multiple witnesses on Thursday night, wherever it occurred, stands on its own merit. The moon does not know national borders or modern political designations.
For March 2026 specifically: the first documented crescent report came from Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York and points westward on Thursday evening, March 19. Israel sightings were reported the following evening — the same crescent, one night later. Thursday’s sighting was the first. And Thursday was before the equinox.
The barley question is one that some Torah-observant communities treat as the primary determination for the new year, while others treat it as a confirmatory layer alongside the equinox and moon sighting. Our assembly uses the equinox-moon method, with barley serving as an additional confirmation of the season — the barley does not determine when spring begins, but it naturally ripens in spring because that is how Yahuah designed His creation, confirming we are in the right season. The practice of waiting for physical barley inspection reports before declaring the new year is a modern tradition that emerged in recent decades within Hebrew Roots movements; it is not the primary biblical method. Either way, what the barley in the Land is doing in March 2026 is worth addressing directly — because several groups have pointed to barley reports as a reason to declare Abib now.
The Hebrew word aviv (אָבִיב) describes a specific stage of barley development — not fully ripe, but far enough along that the grain can be parched in fire and eaten. It is sometimes described as the “dough stage” — the point where the grain has filled with enough substance to be usable, even though it has not yet hardened to full maturity. This matters because:
- The wave sheaf offering (Yom HaNafat HaOmer) must be brought from barley in this state on the Sunday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread — approximately 15–21 days after Abib 1.
- If you declare Abib 1 too early, the barley will either not yet be at the aviv stage when the wave sheaf is due, or — worse — it will have fully ripened and shattered to the ground before the offering can be made.
- If you declare Abib 1 too late, the firstfruits have already passed and the harvest has begun without the offering.
Timing matters in both directions. Aviv is a window, not a fixed date.
Multiple teams conducted barley searches in Israel in February and March 2026. Some groups declared that barley has reached the aviv stage and that the month of Abib is now. Others have been more cautious. A careful reading of the actual field reports reveals an important nuance.
🔍 What the Reports Found
Teams searched fields across Israel in late February and into March. Searchers found some ripe barley beginning in late February, with conditions varying by region — warmer weather in the Jordan Valley ripened barley faster, while other regions remained cold and wet.
One field documented by a researcher named Rivkeh Biderman appeared to be approximately 90–95% aviv, with consistent growth throughout — described as the strongest evidence thus far of qualifying barley in a natural setting. However, this finding was confirmed after the previous renewed moon and therefore cannot establish that such conditions were present or verifiable at the required time — namely, at the start of the twelfth month.
⚠️ The Critical Problem: Timing of the Confirmation
This is the detail that gets buried in the excitement of a “barley is ready!” announcement: barley found in mid-to-late March cannot retroactively confirm that Abib conditions existed at the start of the 12th month in February.
The biblical standard is not merely that barley exists somewhere in the Land in some state of readiness. The question is whether, at the time the 12th new moon began, the barley was developed enough to be at or near aviv stage by the time the wave sheaf offering would be due — 15–21 days after Abib 1. You cannot look backward and say “well it’s aviv now in March, so February’s new moon was Abib 1.” That is not how the confirmation works.
If the April new moon is Abib 1, that places Passover (the 14th of Abib) on May 1–2, 2026. First Fruits (the wave sheaf offering) begins Sunday, May 10 and ends Monday, May 11. Will barley in Israel still be in the right condition by May 10? This is a legitimate question, and the historical data on Israeli barley ripening suggests it absolutely can be.
📈 Historical Context on Barley Timing
Historical data shows that barley in Israel has been found in the aviv stage as early as March 8 and as late as early April in different years, with the median discovery date falling around March 22. The wave sheaf offering timing from that point typically falls in the range of late March through late April.
Importantly, barley harvesting in Israel was possible as early as the end of March, according to multiple historical sources. Barley develops much faster than wheat and is less sensitive to weather variation. This means that barley being at the right stage for a May 10 First Fruits offering is well within the normal range — not a problem to be solved, but an expected outcome in a 13th-month year.
✅ The Barley Confirms, Not Contradicts, a 13th Month
Here is the honest summary: the barley reports from March 2026 show grain that is ripening — which is exactly what you would expect in a normal late-winter-to-spring cycle. The presence of some aviv barley in late March does not mean Abib had to begin with the March new moon. It means the Land is tracking normally toward spring.
For a Passover that falls on May 1–2, the wave sheaf offering (First Fruits) begins Sunday, May 10 and ends Monday, May 11 — well within the harvesting window, not too early and not too late. The barley, rightly understood, supports waiting for the April new moon as Abib 1. It does not demand that we use the March moon.
🌾 A Principle Worth Holding Onto
As one scholar noted, the state of the barley harvest can perhaps cause the start of the year to be postponed to the following new moon — giving the previous year a 13th month — but it was never intended as a tool to start the year as early as possible. Using barley to push the calendar earlier than the equinox-and-moon standard allows is to misapply the intent of the instruction entirely.
Abib is not the earliest possible month. It is the right month — the one when the appointed times align with the season as Yahuah designed them.
📖 Why First Fruits Falls on May 10 in 2026
Scripture establishes that the wave sheaf offering (First Fruits) is brought on the day after the weekly Sabbath that falls during the Feast of Unleavened Bread — making it always a Sunday (Leviticus 23:11, 15–16). In 2026, the Feast of Unleavened Bread runs from the evening of May 2 through the evening of May 9. The weekly Sabbath within that feast falls on May 9. The first Sunday after that Sabbath is May 10, which is why First Fruits begins at sunset May 10 and ends at sunset May 11.
For the full explanation of how we determine feast dates from Scripture, see How Yah’s Appointed Times Are Determined →
The California marine layer is not the only geographic challenge to new moon observation. There are places on this earth where spotting a thin crescent is structurally difficult or even impossible — and places where the sun’s behavior raises much deeper questions about how the biblical calendar applies at all. These are not trick questions or reasons to dismiss the Torah. They are honest observations that deserve honest answers.
The following locations face regular, structural challenges to naked-eye crescent observation. A failure to sight the moon from these areas tells us very little about whether it was visible elsewhere. These are not excuses — they are geography.
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Alaska & High Latitudes
Extreme twilight conditions, especially in summer, mean the sky never fully darkens and the contrast needed to spot a thin crescent against the horizon is lost. In winter, persistent cloud cover and polar weather dominate. Extended twilight can make the crescent invisible even when it is technically above the horizon.
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Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington)
Similar marine layer dynamics to coastal California, combined with one of the cloudiest and rainiest climates in North America. Seattle and Portland are consistently overcast during spring months — prime new moon season.
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United Kingdom & Ireland
Notoriously overcast and prone to low cloud banks at the western horizon. Historical sighting records from this region are sparse for exactly this reason.
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Iceland, Norway, Northern Canada
Midnight sun in summer means the sky never fully darkens. In winter, the sun barely rises, and extended polar twilight creates abnormal horizon conditions that make crescent detection unreliable without specialized equipment.
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Amazon & Congo Basin Rainforests
Near-daily afternoon cloud cover and persistent equatorial haze make the western horizon obscured most evenings during the rainy season.
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Major Polluted Megacities (Beijing, Delhi, Cairo, Lagos)
Heavy air pollution and particulate haze create an artificial “marine layer” effect year-round. A 2% crescent in a severely polluted sky is essentially invisible without optical aid.
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Equatorial Regions
Near the equator, the new crescent moon sits at a steeper angle relative to the horizon at sunset, which can actually help visibility — but persistent cloud cover along the equatorial belt often offsets this advantage.
💡 The Practical Lesson
The best places in the world for consistent naked-eye crescent sighting share common characteristics: clear, dry air; minimal light pollution; a flat or low western horizon; and moderate latitudes. This describes much of the ancient Near East — the Negev, the Jordan Valley, the Arabian Peninsula — precisely the geographic world in which the biblical calendar was given and practiced. It is not a coincidence that Moshe received the Torah in a region well-suited for following it.
This is a genuinely fascinating question and one that deserves a straight answer rather than a dodge. In Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska — the northernmost city in the United States — the sun does not set for approximately 82 consecutive days in summer, and does not rise for about 67 days in winter. What does sunset-to-sunset Sabbath observance look like there?
⚠️ The Honest Answer: Scripture Doesn’t Address It
The Bible, in all its wisdom, does not speak to this situation — because the people to whom it was given had never been there and had no framework for it. The commands regarding sunset, sunrise, and the new moon were given to people living in the Land of Israel, at regions where day and night function normally, where day and night function as Yahuah designed them. Polar extremes simply were not part of that world.
This is not a weakness of Scripture. It is a reflection of its geographic context — and a reminder that the Torah was given to a people called to live in one specific land, not scattered to the ends of the earth.
Those living in or visiting these regions must use practical wisdom, elder guidance, and the spirit of the command. Some approaches communities have used:
- Use the nearest city where normal day/night cycles occur — observe Sabbath according to sunset times of the closest community where normal day/night cycles occur (e.g., Anchorage for northern Alaskan communities).
- Use the Land of Israel as the reference point — since the biblical calendar is rooted in the Land, some observe appointed times according to sunset in Jerusalem, treating the Land as the fixed reference for all time-based observance.
- Use a clock-based 24-hour cycle — maintain a strict seven-day cycle by clock, declaring Sabbath from a consistent local hour regardless of solar position.
- Divide the day proportionally — where the day extends abnormally, divide the day into equal 12-hour periods of “day” and “night” and observe accordingly, as if the sun were behaving normally.
🤔 What This Really Tells Us
The fact that these situations require creative, extrapolated solutions points to something important: the Torah was given to a people in a specific land, at a specific latitude, in a specific climate. The commands involving sunset, sunrise, the new moon, and the harvest seasons assume a creation-based context that does not exist at extreme latitudes — and did not exist in the wilderness where Israel received the Torah.
This is not a reason to abandon Torah observance if you live in Alaska. It is a reason to exercise humility, seek eldership guidance, and apply the spirit of the command — a regular rhythm of six days of work and one day of rest — in a context the text never anticipated.
This one cuts deep. Abib literally means fresh young grain. It is anchored to spring — the season when new life emerges, barley ripens, and the agricultural year begins. But in the southern regions of the earth — South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Argentina — March and April are autumn, not spring. Harvest there happens in September and October. So what does Abib mean for a believer living in those places?
📜 The Calendar Is Land-Centric by Design
This is the key that unlocks all of these geographic puzzles. The biblical calendar — with its new moons, its Abib barley, its spring feasts, its fall feasts, and its agricultural rhythm — was given to a people Yahuah intended to live in one specific land: the Land of Israel. The feasts are called “pilgrimage feasts” for a reason — they were appointments at which all Israel was to appear before Yahuah in one place (Deuteronomy 16:16).
The agricultural calendar of the Torah — barley ripening at Passover, wheat at Shavuot, the ingathering of the harvest at Sukkot — describes the agricultural cycle of that specific land, not the growing seasons of every nation on earth.
This means several things worth sitting with:
- Spring in the Land of Israel is spring — the equinox-plus-moon standard works because the Land of Israel experiences spring at the equinox, sitting between approximately 29°N and 33°N in a Mediterranean climate. Abib barley ripens there at that season. That is the reference point Yahuah built into the command.
- The barley standard is Israel’s barley — not Australia’s. The wave sheaf offering was brought from grain ripening in that land in that season. Using barley from lands where spring comes at a different time would invert the entire agricultural symbolism of the feasts.
- A believer in Cape Town observing Passover in April is keeping the appointed time of the Land — even though April is autumn where they live. They are aligning to the Land’s seasons, not their own local growing cycle. That is the correct posture.
🌾 The Bigger Picture This Reveals
The geographic edge cases — Alaska’s midnight sun, California’s marine layer, the inverted seasons of the southern regions — all point to the same underlying truth: the Torah was given in a geographic context, to a people called to a specific land, with specific climate conditions built into the commands themselves.
The Diaspora condition — scattered among the nations, living in climates the Torah never addressed — is itself part of what Scripture calls a consequence of covenant unfaithfulness (Deuteronomy 28:64). The calendar’s friction with extreme geographies is not a design flaw. It is a reminder of where we are supposed to be, and a quiet invitation to long for the restoration of all things.
Until that day, we do our best — applying the standard of the Land as our reference, moving together in unity, and holding these hard questions with humility rather than using them as reasons to abandon the appointed times altogether.
Walking in Order Together
The appointed times are not a burden — they are a gift. They are Yahuah’s calendar written into creation itself: the sun marking seasons, the moon marking months, and the barley of the Land confirming the intersection of both (Bereshit/Genesis 1:14; Devarim/Deuteronomy 16:1).
When we take the time to understand how to evaluate these things — not just what to conclude — we become more confident, more unified, and more grounded as a body. You do not need a degree. You need a clear, consistent methodology applied with patience and humility, and a community of believers willing to walk together even when the details are complex.
For more on how we determine the biblical new year from Scripture, see our foundational article: How Appointed Times Are Determined.
May Yahuah grant us wisdom, unity, and a heart that delights in His appointed times — year after year, from new moon to new moon.
Biblical Calendar
New Moon Sighting
Spring Equinox
Abib
Rosh Chodesh
Appointed Times
Moon Methodology
Torah Calendar
