Tevet

Tevet (טֵבֵת) is the fourth month of the civil calendar on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month with 29 days. The month of Tevet corresponds to late December-January on the Gregorian calendar. In the year 2011, Tevet began at sundown on December 27.

The final days of Chanukah are in Tevet. The 10th of Tevet is a fast day (Asara b’Tevet).

Other events that occurred in Tevet include:

8 Tevet 246 BCE: According to legend, Emperor Ptolemy gathered 72 Torah sages and ordered them to translate the Torah into Greek. Each sage independently translated the Torah, which became known as the Septuagint, meaning “70” for the 70 or so rabbis worked on the translation.

10 Tevet 588 BCE: Asara b’Tevet. This is a fast day to commemorate the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Emperor Nebuchadnezzar.

11 Tevet 1728: Descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardic Jews who first settled in New Amsterdam purchased a plot of land in what is now Lower Manhattan for the erection of the first synagogue of New York. This synagogue was called the Congregation Shearith Israel, meaning Remnant of Israel.

19 Tevet 1854: Judah Touro (1775 – 1854) died. Touro was a wealthy American Jewish philanthropist, who supported caused in New England (where the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island is located), as well as New Orleans.

20 Tevet 1204: Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, known as Maimonides or the Rambam, died. Maimonides was one of the greatest Jewish physicians and philosophers.

22 Tevet 1496: Jews were expelled from Portugal during the Inquisition.

24 Tevet 1852: Mount Sinai Hospital, the first Jewish hospital in America was founded in New York.

26 Tevet 1826: Maryland was a state that was founded as a haven for Catholics, thus the denial of Christianity was a capital crime under state law. Judaism was legalized in 1776, but until the laws were changed on 26 Tevet 1826, Jews were not allowed to hold public office.