Nisan: the first Hebrew month and its Aries correspondence
Nisan is the first month when Hebrew months are counted from the spring. It has 30 days in the fixed calendar and contains Passover. Its position as the first month is compatible with the numbered year changing in Tishrei: month order and the year boundary answer different questions.
Prepared by Mazalogy · Published · Our editorial approach
| Hebrew name | ניסן |
|---|---|
| Order counted from Nisan | 1 |
| Days in the fixed calendar | 30 |
| Gra letter | ה · Heh |
| Gra zodiac correspondence | Aries |
| Gra faculty, concise gloss | Speech |
Why Nisan is first while the year changes in Tishrei
Nisan follows Adar in an ordinary year and Adar II in a leap year; Iyar follows it. The spelling Nissan also appears in English sources. Neither spelling makes Nisan a fixed equivalent of April. To find its civil dates, choose a Hebrew year and use a calendar that preserves the actual month boundaries.
A useful comparison is 1 Nisan and 1 Tishrei within the same numbered year. Locate both, then note which date begins the Nisan-based month sequence and which begins the next numbered year. This prevents a common mistake when reading a source that calls Tishrei the seventh month.
Sources: Chabad · The Jewish Month: order and fixed-calendar lengths
Passover and the start of the Omer
Passover starts on 15 Nisan, with the festival opening the preceding evening. Its duration differs between Israel and the Diaspora. The Omer count begins on the second night of Passover and continues toward Shavuot in Sivan. Nisan therefore begins a sequence that crosses three named months.
For a planning note, record the Hebrew date, civil daytime date, opening evening and selected observance schedule. A date from last year cannot simply be copied into this year’s civil calendar. Our Passover and Omer guides show how to read those details together.
Sources: Chabad · Nisan month introduction
Heh, Aries and the Gra version
In the Gra version of Sefer Yetzirah, Nisan is associated with Heh (ה) and Aries; Mazalogy renders the connected faculty as “speech.” This is a named textual correspondence, not a calculated natal Sun position.
Read the Heh entry in the linked Gra passage. Keep the letter, month and sign together in your note before turning “speech” into a question. As an original exercise, rewrite one vague intention as a sentence describing an action, a time and the person it involves.
Sources: Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version, chapter 5:7 · Sefer Yetzirah · Compare another version, chapter 5:1–2
Use it in a calendar or birthday record
If your converted birthday is in Nisan, save the complete day, month and year. A birthday near the civil evening boundary can have two candidate Hebrew dates. Keep both when the time is unknown, then use the month reference as a study aid rather than a reason to discard uncertainty.
Continue from Nisan
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.