Whenever the first day of the month of Nisan coincides with any day past the 5th day of March, but in the Month of March, then the first day of each subsequent Hebrew month, until the end of the Hebrew year, coincides with its corresponding Gregorian day in a descending sequence. The sequence is an arithmetical progression in which the difference between each term is -1.
The descending sequence of the corresponding Gregorian days will be referred to as the Nisan descent.
The First Nisan Descent
The following table for the year 3H shows the first occurrence of the Nisan descent.
| The Moladot For 3H | ||
|---|---|---|
| Month | Moment of Molad | First Day Chodesh |
| Tishrei | Tue 22h 48m 12hl |
Thu 18 Aug -3758g |
| Heshvan | Thu 11h 32m 13hl |
*Sat 17 Sep -3758g |
| Kislev | Sat 0h 16m 14hl |
Sun 16 Oct -3758g |
| Tevet | Sun 13h 0m 15hl |
Mon 14 Nov -3758g |
| Shevat | Tue 1h 44m 16hl |
Tue 13 Dec -3758g |
| Adar | Wed 14h 28m 17hl |
*Thu 12 Jan -3757g |
| v'Adar | Fri 3h 13m 0hl |
*Sat 11 Feb -3757g |
| Nisan | Sat 15h 57m 1hl |
Sun 12 Mar -3757g |
| Iyar | Mon 4h 41m 2hl |
*Tue 11 Apr -3757g |
| Sivan | Tue 17h 25m 3hl |
Wed 10 May -3757g |
| Tammuz | Thu 6h 9m 4hl |
*Fri 9 Jun -3757g |
| Av | Fri 18h 53m 5hl |
Sat 8 Jul -3757g |
| Elul | Sun 7h 37m 6hl |
*Mon 7 Aug -3757g |
The Earliest Possible Nisan Descent
The earliest possible Nisan descent is formed when the first day of Nisan coincides with the 6th day of March. That first happened for 1 Nisan 9H, corresponding to 6 March -3751g. It last happened in 4424H, corresponding to 664g, and will not reoccur until March 6, 81993H (78234g). The following table shows the moladot for 9H.
| The Moladot For 9H | ||
|---|---|---|
| Month | Moment of Molad | First Day Chodesh |
| Tishrei | Fri 17h 52m 15hl |
Sat 9 Sep -3752g |
| Heshvan | Sun 6h 36m 16hl |
*Mon 9 Oct -3752g |
| Kislev | Mon 19h 20m 17hl |
*Wed 8 Nov -3752g |
| Tevet | Wed 8h 5m 0hl |
*Fri 8 Dec -3752g |
| Shevat | Thu 20h 49m 1hl |
Sat 6 Jan -3751g |
| Adar | Sat 9h 33m 2hl |
*Mon 5 Feb -3751g |
| Nisan | Sun 22h 17m 3hl |
Tue 6 Mar -3751g |
| Iyar | Tue 11h 1m 4hl |
*Thu 5 Apr -3751g |
| Sivan | Wed 23h 45m 5hl |
Fri 4 May -3751g |
| Tammuz | Fri 12h 29m 6hl |
*Sun 3 Jun -3751g |
| Av | Sun 1h 13m 7hl |
Mon 2 Jul -3751g |
| Elul | Mon 13h 57m 8hl |
*Wed 1 Aug -3751g |
The Last Nisan Descent
The last time, before Thursday March 6, 81993H (78234g), that the first day of Nisan will coincide with any day in the month of March will be in the year 10257H (6497g). The following table shows the first day of Nisan coinciding with the last day of March.
| The Moladot For 10257H | ||
|---|---|---|
| Month | Moment of Molad | First Day Chodesh |
| Tishrei | Fri 1h 58m 10hl |
Sat 6 Oct 6496g |
| Heshvan | Sat 14h 42m 11hl |
*Mon 5 Nov 6496g |
| Kislev | Mon 3h 26m 12hl |
Tue 4 Dec 6496g |
| Tevet | Tue 16h 10m 13hl |
Wed 2 Jan 6497g |
| Shevat | Thu 4h 54m 14hl |
Thu 31 Jan 6497g |
| Adar | Fri 17h 38m 15hl |
*Sat 2 Mar 6497g |
| Nisan | Sun 6h 22m 16hl |
Sun 31 Mar 6497g |
| Iyar | Mon 19h 6m 17hl |
*Tue 30 Apr 6497g |
| Sivan | Wed 7h 51m 0hl |
Wed 29 May 6497g |
| Tammuz | Thu 20h 35m 1hl |
*Fri 28 Jun 6497g |
| Av | Sat 9h 19m 2hl |
Sat 27 Jul 6497g |
| Elul | Sun 22h 3m 3hl |
*Mon 26 Aug 6497g |
Two Consecutive Nisan Descents
The following shows the Nisan descents for two consecutive years, which interestingly enough, are close to our own times.
| The Moladot For 5758H | ||
|---|---|---|
| Month | Moment of Molad | First Day Chodesh |
| Tishrei | Thu 4h 7m 3hl |
Thu 2 Oct 1997g |
| Heshvan | Fri 16h 51m 4hl |
*Sat 1 Nov 1997g |
| Kislev | Sun 5h 35m 5hl |
Sun 30 Nov 1997g |
| Tevet | Mon 18h 19m 6hl |
*Tue 30 Dec 1997g |
| Shevat | Wed 7h 3m 7hl |
Wed 28 Jan 1998g |
| Adar | Thu 19h 47m 8hl |
*Fri 27 Feb 1998g |
| Nisan | Sat 8h 31m 9hl |
Sat 28 Mar 1998g |
| Iyar | Sun 21h 15m 10hl |
*Mon 27 Apr 1998g |
| Sivan | Tue 9h 59m 11hl |
Tue 26 May 1998g |
| Tammuz | Wed 22h 43m 12hl |
*Thu 25 Jun 1998g |
| Av | Fri 11h 27m 13hl |
Fri 24 Jul 1998g |
| Elul | Sun 0h 11m 14hl |
*Sun 23 Aug 1998g |
| The Moladot For 5759H | ||
|---|---|---|
| Month | Moment of Molad | First Day Chodesh |
| Tishrei | Mon 12h 55m 15hl |
Mon 21 Sep 1998g |
| Heshvan | Wed 1h 39m 16hl |
*Wed 21 Oct 1998g |
| Kislev | Thu 14h 23m 17hl |
*Fri 20 Nov 1998g |
| Tevet | Sat 3h 8m 0hl |
*Sun 20 Dec 1998g |
| Shevat | Sun 15h 52m 1hl |
Mon 18 Jan 1999g |
| Adar | Tue 4h 36m 2hl |
*Wed 17 Feb 1999g |
| Nisan | Wed 17h 20m 3hl |
Thu 18 Mar 1999g |
| Iyar | Fri 6h 4m 4hl |
*Sat 17 Apr 1999g |
| Sivan | Sat 18h 48m 5hl |
Sun 16 May 1999g |
| Tammuz | Mon 7h 32m 6hl |
*Tue 15 Jun 1999g |
| Av | Tue 20h 16m 7hl |
Wed 14 Jul 1999g |
| Elul | Thu 9h 0m 8hl |
*Fri 13 Aug 1999g |
Understanding The Nisan Descent
The Nisan descent is easily explained once it is understood that the 5 Hebrew months from Nisan through Av alternate regularly between 30 and 29 days, while the 5 Gregorian months from March through July alternate regularly between 31 and 30 days.
First Paged 25 May 1998 Next Revised 2 Jun 1998