Adar, Adar I and Adar II: birthdays, Purim and Pisces
Adar is the twelfth month in the ordinary sequence counted from Nisan. It has 29 days. A leap year inserts Adar I, with 30 days, before Adar II, with 29. A record that merely says “Adar” can therefore omit information needed for a birthday or anniversary.
Prepared by Mazalogy · Published · Our editorial approach
| Hebrew name | אדר |
|---|---|
| Order counted from Nisan | 12 |
| Days in the fixed calendar | 29; Adar I has 30 |
| Gra letter | ק · Qof |
| Gra zodiac correspondence | Pisces |
| Gra faculty, concise gloss | Laughter |
Keep the original Adar before calculating an anniversary
In an ordinary year, Shevat is followed by Adar and then Nisan. In a leap year, the sequence is Shevat, Adar I, Adar II, Nisan. Preserve the actual month returned for the birth year. A later anniversary rule does not change which of those months contained the original event.
Hebcal documents separate birthday and yahrzeit algorithms, including special Adar cases. Our birthday guide names the convention being used rather than presenting one recurrence rule as every community’s practice. For a religious observance, the event and your community’s custom are relevant details.
Sources: Chabad · The Jewish Month: order and fixed-calendar lengths
Purim and Purim Katan are different entries
Chabad’s Adar I introduction explains that Purim falls in Adar II in leap years, while 14 Adar I is marked as Purim Katan. A leap-year calendar should preserve those labels. They are not two identical occurrences that can be freely swapped in an event plan.
Compare an ordinary-year calendar and a leap-year calendar, locating the named Adars and Purim. Keep the year and observance schedule with the dates. This shows how adding a month affects the arrangement without turning a twelve-row symbolic table into a complete thirteen-month calendar.
Sources: Chabad · Adar month introduction · Chabad · Adar I, Purim and Purim Katan
Qof, Pisces and the Gra version
The Gra source supplies a twelvefold pattern and an Adar–Qof–Pisces correspondence, with laughter as the faculty gloss. Mazalogy groups both Adar I and Adar II under that Adar correspondence as an explicit editorial convention. The source does not provide separate personality schemes for the two modern month labels.
Sources: Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version, chapter 5:10 · Sefer Yetzirah · Compare another version, chapter 5:1–2
Use it in a calendar or birthday record
Make a three-part birthday note: original date, chosen anniversary convention and future date calculated under that convention. If the original month is uncertain, retain that uncertainty. As our contemporary reflection, ask when shared laughter helps people feel included; keep the question distinct from both the calendar calculation and the historical source.
Sources: Hebcal · Birthday and yahrzeit calculation conventions
Continue from Adar
Explore the Hebrew calendar · Find your Hebrew birthday · Study the correspondence system
Sources and approach
Prepared with AI assistance using the linked sources and original reading exercises. Calendar facts, named textual correspondences and contemporary applications are kept distinct. The Gra version is the reference for this table; other versions can assign faculties differently.