The first mitzvah we received as a nation is consecrating the Jewish month. The Jewish calendar, as we are all well aware, does not coincide with its secular counterpart, and many ignore it in their daily lives, only checking the date when holidays come into view. What does halachah have to say about using the secular dates? When were secular dates first used? Were those dates ever used in halachic Teshuvos? Is it ok to write the secular date on a matzavah [tombstone]? What about on a get [divorce document]? Is it ok to buy Sifrei Torah, Tefillin and Mezuzos from a sofer [scribe] who uses the secular date in his letters? What’s the halachah when writing cheques, letters etc.? Which secular dating system is preferable – names or numbers? Of this, and more, in this week’s write-up.
The Opinion of the Ramban That One Is Obligated to Count the Months Staring from Nissan
In this week’s parsha, we have the first mitzvah that was given to the Jewish people as a nation – the mitzvah of Kiddush HaChodesh. The pasuk says:החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים ראשון הוא לכם לחדשי השנה - “This month is for you the first of months, it is the first for you, among the months of the year” (Shemos 12:2). Although the actual mitzvah of setting and sanctifying the month is unfortunately not practiced today, the interpretation the Ramban gives to this pasuk hints to an application of the mitzvah, which is applicable even today.
According to Ramban, the pasuk not only teaches the mitzvah of sanctifying the month, but also teaches us the correct order of the months of the year. The Torah informs us that the month that we were liberated from Mitzrayim is the first month of the year, with the other months following consecutively. By numbering the months of the year in this method, the calendar itself serves as a means for remembering Yetziyas Mitzrayim.
The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah (7a) also seems to learn like the Ramban. The Gemara says: “The first of Nissan is Rosh Chodesh for the months”. Rashi explains, that we start counting the months from it, i.e. Nissan is the first month.
Based on the teaching of Ramban and later meforshim, some are particular to mention the Hebrew date on letters and other documents, as well as in everyday affairs. Below we will discuss the halachic requirement of doing so. Is there such an obligation? Is it simply a praiseworthy thing to do? Or can the secular date suffice?
Why Do the Mitzvah Counters Not Bring This Mitzvah
The Minchas Chinuch (Mitzvah 311:5) asks, that if there is a mitzvah to count months starting from Nissan, why doesn’t the Rambam mention this mitzvah?
R’ Yerucham Perla (Sefer HaMitzvos of R’ Sadya Gaon, Vol. 1, Mitzvas Aseh 56, pg. 236) cites the Rashbah and Ran in Rosh Hashanah (7a) who learn that when the Gemara says that Nissan is “Rosh Chodesh for the months”, it means for working out when the Yomim Tovim are, however, it doesn’t mean that there is a mitzvah to count months starting from Nissan like the Ramban learns. He adds (pg. 237b), that the reason the Ramban (and Rambam) never counted this as one of the 613 mitzvos, is because the mitzvah is only according to R’ Eliezer (Rosh Hashanah 10b) who learns that the world was created in Tishrei, however, according to R’ Yehoshua that the world was created in Nissan, there is no mitzvah to start counting from Nissan, as obviously that is when one would count, as when else would one start from. R’ Perla suggests, that perhaps the Ramban retracted and learns like the Ran that the halachah is like R’ Yehoshua that the world was created in Nissan, therefore, there is no mitzvah. (See Rashbam on the pasuk in this week’s parsha who seems to already learn like this.)
Obligation Only Upon Beis Din When Sanctifying the New Month
The Shu”t Binyan Shlomah (22) is mechadesh, that even according to the Ramban, there is no mitzvah incumbent upon each individual to count the months starting from Nissan, rather it is a mitzvah incumbent upon Beis Din when sanctifying the new month. When Beis Din sanctifies the new month, they should count the months starting from Nissan. With this idea, the Binyan Shlomah answers why the Ramban never counted this mitzvah in his mitzvah count.
However, he asks on himself, that according to this, on Shabbos MeVorchin when we announce the new month and make a remembrance of what happened in Beis Din, we should mention the number of the months it has been since Nissan, and we don’t. He then concludes, it must be that not everyone agrees with the opinion of the Ramban.
The Minchas Asher (Parshas Bo, siman 14) points out, that we don’t find anywhere that when Beis Din sanctified the new moon they mentioned anything about which number month it was, they simply said, “mekudash”, it is sanctified, and that was it. Therefore, he is mechadesh that we see from Rashi and the Ramban, that they held that there was a general mitzvah to count Nissan as the first of the months, and not specifically related to Kiddush HaChodesh [sanctifying the month], not like the Binyan Shlomah.
So Why Do We Call the Months Nissan, Iyar, Sivan?
After stating the basic instruction to number the months of the year after the event of Yetziyas Mitzrayim, the Ramban addresses the question of the names of the months commonly used today. If there is a mitzvah to number the months of the year in accordance with our redemption from Mitzrayim, why do we use the name Nissan, Iyar, Sivan in the Jewish calendar instead of numbers?
The Ramban begins his answer with an explanation of how this became the common practice. Although the mitzvah was initially to count the months of the year in accordance with the redemption from Mitzrayim, after the Jews returned from Bavel, they began referring to the months by their Persian names, as we know today. This is based on the prophecy in Yirmiyahu: “It will no longer be said, ‘Hashem, who redeemed the Children of Yisroel from the land of Egypt,’ but rather ‘Hashem, who rescued and brought forth the Children of Yisroel from the northern land” (Yirmiyahu 16:14-15). Although we used to use numbers for the months, we now call them by their Persian name to serve as a reminder that Hashem was with us in Bavel, and he redeemed us and brought us back to Eretz Yisroel.
The Severity of Counting the Date Using the Non-Jewish Year
According to the Chasam Sofer (Toras Moshe, Parshas Bo), there is an obligation to begin one’s letters with the number of the day of the week (counting from Sunday), and the number of the month (counting from Nissan): “This is an explicit rebuke [to those who do not use the Jewish calendar]: We should write in our letters and similar documents the first day of the week, first month of the year, and so on, to testify that Hashem created the world in six days, ‘and He rested on the seventh,’ and to remember the redemption from Egypt—and not Heaven forbid, the date of the nations.”
The Chasam Sofer reiterates his stance in Droshas (new version, Vol. 2, pg. 374), where he writes: “When we count the days of the week and the months from when the world was created, we are connecting and showing emunah in the creation of the world ... not like the new custom where people count the months from the birth of the Christian messiah, they are an embarrassment to Klal Yisroel.”
He adds (Vol. 5, pg. 114): “Not like the new custom where people count the months from the birth of the Christian messiah Those who do so are writing and signing that they have no portion in the G-d of Yisroel, woe to them for they are causing bad for themselves, in the Torah of Hashem they despise, and where is their wisdom.”
This principle is clearly illustrated in the writings of the Maharam Shick (Yoreh De’ah, no. 171) a leading disciple of the Chasam Sofer. He explains that besides the prohibition of using non-Jewish months (as drawn from Ramban), using the secular count of years transgresses the prohibition of “You shall not mention the names of other gods,” because the count is based on the Christian idolatry. Based on this ruling, he writes that a matzavah [tombstone] on which the secular date is inscribed must be removed, and if possible should be taken out of the beis hakevoras [cemetery], or at least it should be covered over with thick mud that sticks and won’t fall off.
The Yefeh Lev (Vol. 5, Yoreh De’ah 178:3) brings from R’ Chaim Palagi that if one signs using a non-Jewish date, he violates the prohibition of: ובחוקותיהם לא תלכו – “You shall not go in their ways”.
Secular Date on a Get
The Get Poshut (127, end of s.k. 30) writes: “Those who write divorce documents using the secular date, are very likely to be disqualifying the document. Like the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam (Tosfos, Gittin 34. d.h. v’hu) who writes that if one writes a non-Jewish name on a divorce document it disqualifies it. Even when writing a regular mundane letter, one must be careful to use the date from when the world was created – not like those foreigners who write letters using the secular date, using their months and years. It is incorrect to do so.”
The Levush (Even HaEzer 127:11) also writes: Nowadays, the custom is to use the Jewish date counting years from when the world was created. If one changes and uses some other count, there is a big question about the validity of the document.”
Secular Date on a Kesubah
Seemingly using a secular date on a kesubah is no worse then a get. One of the main reasons one must write a kesubah correctly is so people don’t learn from it to gittin, therefore, certainly one must be careful not to use a secular date when writing a kesubah.
Writing a Secular Date on a Cheque
In Eretz Yisroel it is possible to fill out a cheque using the Jewish date, however, in Chutz La’aretz this is not possible, in Chutz La’aretz what should one do?
The poskim advise, that it is better to write the name of the month, i.e. January, instead of writing 1, and this way at least one won’t be saying that the 1st month is January. However, in Eretz Yisroel, when there is no need to write the secular date, why would you? Especially when writing letters to friends, why would one use the secular date? We are the special nation of Klal Yisroel and we have our own calendar, why would one want to associate himself with the non-Jews.
Some Poskim Are Lenient with Counting Months According to the Secular Calendar
A number of poskim are more lenient and hold there is nothing wrong with using the secular date. They learn the prohibition of, “You shall not mention the names of other gods,” means to literally mention their name, however, if one just counts years, since he never actually mentions the name of Oisoi Ha’Ish there is no prohibition.
We find in many gedolei haposkim, that when they needed to mention the secular date in their letters they did. The Beis Yosef (Orach Chaim 117, d.h. u’kesav) writes in the name of the Avudraham when discussing starting, ותן טל ומטר, sixty days after the tekufah, that this could be in November or December. Similarly, the Shu”t Rema (51) writes: “In the year 1546, in the month of December according to their counting”. We also find this in various other poskim (see below).
The truth is, R’ Moshe Sternbuch in Shu”t Teshuvos V’Hanagos (1:830) writes: “I don’t see any reason to forbid writing the secular date, and we find in Chazal that they wrote documents according to the Greek number of years.” (It’s hard to understand why R’ Moshe seems to ignore the Maharam Shik and other poskim we mentioned above).
Rav Ovadia Yosef’s Teshuvah
One of the most interesting and comprehensive halachic discussions of the subject is found in Yabia Omer (Vol. 3, Yoreh De’ah, no. 9). Rav Ovadia Yosef challenges the very premise whereby the secular count of years dates back to the birth of the Christian ‘savior’. Citing numerous proofs from Talmudic and other writings, Rav Yosef demonstrates that Yeshu lived long before [and at the very least four years before] the beginning of the Gregorian calendar. Quoting from Otzar Yisroel (vol. 5, p. 277) he proves that their year-count dates back to the Roman Empire, and not to the birth of Oisoi Ha’Ish.
He adds that even if we do assume that those who use the secular dating system implicitly refer to the common presumption that the year refers to the birth of Yeshu, there would still be no prohibition of “going in their ways,” because this prohibition applies only to cases in which we do not know the rationale behind the non-Jewish ways, or cases in which the custom involves immodesty (Beis Yosef, Yoreh De’ah 175). With regard to the dating system, these concerns do not arise.
He also notes that we find many Jewish leaders over the generations who used non-Jewish dates in their letters, such as Shach (who dates a letter February 3rd, 1660), Maharam Padwa, and others. Moreover, the publication details of Torah volumes always made reference to non-Jewish dates, and never was an objection heard. Indeed, there is known to be a letter from the Chasam Sofer on which the non-Jewish date appears. The letter was addressed to the secular government, and it was, of course, appropriate and necessary to use the secular date, yet we nonetheless see that the prohibition is not absolute. Regarding the strong wording of Chasam Sofer, Rav Ovadia explains that he was referring specifically to those who were seeking to “reform” the traditional Jewish ways, and his strongly worded response was intended for them alone.
Finally, Rav Ovadia concludes: “It is therefore clear that there is no prohibition whatsoever in using the secular date. Nonetheless, there remains a virtue [of using the Jewish date], and whenever there is no great need, the months and years should be written according to the Jewish date — and particularly in our Holy Land. When there is a need to write the secular date, it is good to also make mention of the count of years from Creation.”
Is It Better to Write the Secular Month with a Name or a Number?
A very similar position to the Yabia Omer was taken by the Tzitz Eliezer (8:8). Yet, the two disagree over the preferable way in which non-Jewish months should be written. According to the Yabia Omer, it is preferable to write out the name of the secular month in full (January, February, and so on), and not to mention the number of the month, so as not to uproot the number of the month counting from Nissan. The Tzitz Eliezer, however, writes that it is better to use the number of the month, and not to mention its name, because one should make no mention of the names of non-Jewish months, since these names stem from idolatry.
R’ Shlomah Ganzfried in his commentary Lechem HaPanim on the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (62:1) writes that it is better to mention the month, than it is to mention a number.
R’ Shlomah Zalman Auerbach in one place is quoted as saying one should use the month and not a number (Shalmay Simcha pg. 687). However, in another place (Halichos Shlomah – Purim, Perek 19, he’orah 73) he writes that if one has no other choice he can write the number of the month. (These two pesokim seem contradictory, unless we say the second time he is referring to a case when one has no choice but to write a number)
Writing the Year in Short
The Steipler (Orchos Rabbeinu, Vol. 5, pg. 8) brings that if one needs to use the secular date, he should write it in short, for example when writing 1973 he should just write 73.
Adding on “Leminyanam” [According to Their Count]
Although he opines that no prohibition is involved, the Tzitz Eliezer writes that one who uses the non-Jewish count of years should append the word leminyanam or lemisparam [according to their count]. If the Jewish count is also mentioned, he writes that the practice of mentioning both dates is unquestionably permitted.
The Minchas Asher’s Distinction Between Using the Secular Date on Invitations and Cheques
R’ Asher Weiss when looking for a limud zechus [merit] for those who use the secular date, explains, that the main mitzvah is that one considers Nissan to be the first of the months, however, there is no mitzvah to constantly count it as the first month every time one does something. As long as one knows in his mind that Nissan is the first month, it doesn’t matter how one writes the date. Therefore, when one is dating something which is important and there is no need to use the secular date, such as a wedding invitation, or a bar mitzvah, then it is fitting to use the Jewish date. However, when writing a cheque and the like there is nothing wrong with using the secular date. He then adds what we brought from the Tzitz Eliezer that if one adds leminyanam or lemisparam it is certainly ok as one is showing that the secular date in not important in his eyes.
Why Do the Poskim in Their Teshuvos Not Count the Months from Nissan?
If there is a mitzvah to count the months from Nissan, i.e. “Nissan is the first month”, “Iyar is the second month” etc. why don’t we find that when the poskim date their Teshuvos that they do this? Normally, they just write “Nissan” or “Iyar”, why don’t they mention how many months from Nissan? It must be, that there is no mitzvah to count the months from Nissan, rather if one is coming to count the number of months, he shouldn’t fix a count starting from a month other than Nissan, i.e. one shouldn’t count the first month starting from “Cheshvan”, however, if one isn’t counting the number of months, then there is no need to mention any number.
Ordering Tefillin from a Sofer Who Writes the Secular Date
There is a story with the Tzadik Baron Binyomin Rothschild, that he ordered Tefillin and Mezuzos from an expert sofer. When the sofer completed the job, he sent a letter to R’ Rothschild that he had finished, however, the date on the letter was the secular date. R’ Binyomin was very angry, and he sent him back a letter, “I have no choice, I work for the authorities and have no choice but to use the secular date, but why are you using it?” He then sent him money for the Tefillin and Mezuzos, however, he told the sofer to keep them.
In light of the above story, R’ Yitzchok Zilberstein (Chasukei Chemed, Sanhedrin 63b) writes, that one should check out the level of yiras Shomayim of his sofer, and if one finds that he is not on the required level, he has a right to annul the sale.
Summary
Ideally one should write the date using the months Nissan, Iyar etc. and not use the secular months. If, however, there is a big need, i.e. in Chutz La’aretz, or in Eretz Yisroel when needed, one should write January, February, and not use the number of the month.
Even if there is a mitzvah to say that Nissan is the first month, one doesn’t need to write “Such and such a date in the month of Nissan which is the first month”, as all the poskim who sign off their Teshuvos with dates don’t do this.
The Chasam Sofer was very particular against those who used the secular date, however, we saw that Rav Ovadia learns that he was referring specifically to those who were seeking to “reform” the traditional Jewish ways, and his strongly worded response was intended for them alone.
If one needs to write the year, i.e. 2025, then we saw from the Steipler that it’s better to write 25, then 2025.
If one writes the secular date on a matzavah, the Maharam Shik is very stringent, and he writes that the matzavah should be removed, or at least the date should be covered over.
(Based on a halachah write-up from R’ Yom Tov Sanger, and Torah and Hora’ah)
