What are Hebrew Dates?


The Jewish Calendar, according to Chabad.org, is based on lunar cycles. The entire cycle takes 29 1/2 days. Since a month needs to consist of complete days, a month is sometimes twenty-nine days long and sometimes thirty days long. Knowing exactly when the month begins has always been important in Jewish practice because the Torah schedules the Jewish festivals according to the days of the month. 


 For example, Nissan is the first month of the Jewish Calendar; it occurs during the Passover typically during March-April of the Gregorian Calendar.  However, calendar Jewish New Year begins on Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the month of Tishrei, but Tishrei is not the first month.  Rosh Hashanah is actually referred to in the Torah as the first day of the seventh month.  Tishrei occurs during September-October of the Gregorian Calandar. 


Hebrew date boxes, when chosen, will display directly underneath the set of birth and death date boxes on the form.


How do I transcribe Hebrew dates in the form?


We kindly ask that you not transcribe Hebrew dates on the form, unless you are proficient in Hebrew. Just as we require with any other language that is not your native language.  


Day

  • Select the arrow to see a dropdown menu. Select the day listed. 
  • Or type the day in the field.
  • If no day is listed, leave the field blank.
  • To change the order of the dates, go to the bottom of the form and select “form settings”. In the “date order” section, select the dropdown arrow to choose from “Month-Day-Year” or “Day-Month-Year”.


Month

  • Select the arrow to see a dropdown menu. Select the month listed.
  • Or type the name of the month in the field.
  • If no month is listed, leave the field blank.
  • To change the order of the dates, go to the bottom of the form and select “form settings”. In the “date order” section, select the dropdown arrow to choose from “Month-Day-Year” or “Day-Month-Year”.


Year

  • Enter the year in the field.
  • If no year is listed, leave the field blank.
  • If you can read some but not all of the numbers in the year, enter your best guess.


There are two methods to add Hebrew Dates to the form: 


Direction 1: To permanently add Hebrew Dates to all transcriptions


Step 1: To add Hebrew Dates, to the transcription currently being worked on and all future transcriptions, choose the "form settings" box under the transcription form. Once chosen, the alternative Hebrew Date boxes will appear under the Gregorian Calendar birth and death date boxes.


Step 2: Select the tab button to advance to the next field on the transcription form. 


Direction 2: To add Hebrew Dates to the current transcription form


Step 1: To add Hebrew Dates to the transcription in the current form only, choose the "add more information" button. Once chosen, the alternative Hebrew Date boxes will appear under the Gregorian Calendar birth and death date boxes for this transcription only. 


Step 2: Select the tab button to advance to the next field on the transcription form.