Not since February 2016 has the calendrical oddity known as a leap year occurred simultaneously in the Jewish and secular world. The Gregorian calendar adds an extra day every four years giving children born on February 29th, known as leaplings, an extra bureaucratic nightmare to deal with for the rest of their lives. The Hebrew calendar, established some 1800 years earlier in the 3rd Century BCE, adds an entire month 7 out of every 19 years in what is poetically called a shana me’uberet or ‘pregnant year’ given that it is more full than usual. Please note that pregnancies in ‘pregnant years’ still take the same amount of time as usual, important since several JCC members are preparing to welcome new additions.
Which month is repeated? Considering Adar has historically been lucky in Jewish history, this year and every ‘pregnant year’ contains an Adar I and Adar II with the month’s notable holiday of Purim falling in the latter. If the above sounds complicated, the 12th Century rabbi and medical doctor known as the Rambam/Maimonides will make you feel even worse by writing that “… the method of the fixed calendar is one which an average school child can master in 3 or 4 days.” So much for today’s education system compared to our ancestors in the Golden Era of Andalusia.
Whereas a leap year’s addition of February 29th raises small problems by comparison like how all salaried employees basically work one day for free every four years, a Hebrew ‘pregnant year’ contains practical ramifications for the community that had to be made consistent worldwide by the rabbis who fixed the calendar. The calculation of the extra month determines the observance of festivals so that a community in one part of the world is not celebrating Purim when another is hosting their Passover seder. On the personal and familial levels, the extra month of Adar complicates the observance of Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and yahrzeits. Maybe to make up for all that hassle, the Sages instituted a minor holiday known as Purim Katan or Little Purim in Adar I when the penitential prayer of Tachanun is omitted and some rabbis argue that it is forbidden to become upset.
Beyond the lunar calendar, how did we end up with an extra month? In an answer every mugicha-loving Nihonjin or even Gaikokujin can appreciate, the original determinant for whether a year had a second month of Adar or not depended on the early barley harvest in Israel, a sign of spring. If the main ingredient in mugicha/barley tea wasn’t ripening, a leap year was declared to delay the beginning of Nisan and make sure Passover fell in its proper month. Because really, what are spring and summer without an ice cold bottle of mugicha and a bowl of mushroom barley soup?
The most famous Jewish leapling? Cleveland Indians Third Baseman Al Rosen. After putting his career on hold to fight in the Pacific with the US Navy where he navigated an assault boat during the Battle of Okinawa, Al Rosen played ten illustrious seasons of professional baseball. Born February 29, 1924 or the 24th of Adar I 5684 depending on which calendar you are using, Al Rosen took over the title ‘Hebrew Hammer’ from Detroit’s Hank Greenberg. Not one to suffer antisemitic fools gladly, he once called time in the middle of a game to confront a Red Sox bench player shouting slurs in the dugout.
This Shabbat coincides with Shushan Purim Katan, or the ‘little’ version of Shushan Purim which is when Purim is celebrated in walled cities going back to the time of the Biblical Joshua ben Nun like Jerusalem or Shushan. That means the JCC’s Purim Party is exactly one month away. Frankly, we’re busier calculating how much food to make than intercalating the calendar. If you can’t wait until then, please stop by on Saturday 2/24 for services and what promises to be a festive Shushan Purim Katan Kiddush. Whether Adar I or Adar II, we can’t wait to celebrate together as a community.
Services
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, February 23rd
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Tetzaveh – Shushan Purim Katan
Kiddush sponsored by Izumi Sato in memory of her mother
Saturday, February 24th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, March 1st
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Lecture by Ayelet Razin Bet Or
Expert on women’s rights and gender equality; public policy specialist
Friday, March 8th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Shekalim – Parshat Vayakhel
Kiddush open for sponsorship
Saturday, March 9th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, March 15th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, March 22nd
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Zachor – Parshat Vayikra – Erev Purim
Kiddush sponsored by the Guyton Family in celebration of their 6th Wedding Anniversary
Saturday, March 23rd
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Friday Night Dinner Reservations can made on our website: https://jccjapan.jp/shabbat-meals-sign-up/
Events
Friday Night Lecture
Guest speaker Ayelet Razin Bet Or
Expert on women’s rights and gender equality; public policy specialist
Friday night, March 8th
Lecture: 8:30pm
The World’s Best Purim Party
Saturday night, March 24th
Megillah Reading: ~6:30pm
Klezmer: 8:00pm
Nijikai: 11:00pm
Sanjikai: 1:00am
Registration Details: https://jccjapan.jp/event-registration/
Stay tuned for film screenings, cooking classes and lectures
If you have an idea for an event or a topic you would like to share with others, please visit our website: https://jccjapan.jp/event-committee-inquiry/
Announcements
Thank you to the many members who showed up on Tuesday so that our visitor from the United States could recite Kaddish for his father. Both from the pulpit in our sanctuary and afterward, he shared how much everyone’s presence meant to him. As a 2003 JTA article immortalizes, we once made the minyan for Edward G Robinson. Over 20 years later, we’re still making the minyan albeit for an accountant from New Jersey who is welcome back anytime.
We will host a guest speaker from Israel after Friday night dinner on March 8th. You do not need to reserve dinner to attend the lecture. Details above.
Carmel Tanaka, founder of the Jewpanese Project, will be visiting in March 2024. The Jewpanese Project is an oral history initiative recording lived experiences and stories at the intersection of being Jewish and Japanese or what we at the JCC like to call our everyday lives. If you are interested in participating, please visit her website: https://www.tinyurl.com/jewpanese
JCC Member Jonathan Kushner will run the London Marathon on April 21. Jonathan is raising money for World Jewish Relief, an organization we have supported since 2021, as part of his race prep. If you would like to contribute, you may do on Jonathan’s personal fundraising page: https://worldjewishreliefus.enthuse.com/pf/londonmarathonusd-jonathan-kushner
Yiddish Club with Jack Halpern: Please contact Jack at jack@cjki.org if you are interested to join. All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. Much more than just language, the club’s monthly meetings explore Yiddish culture as well.
Shabbat Tetzaveh
Candle Lighting: 5:11pm
Havdala: 6:09pm