Presence

Those of you familiar with the Hebrew calendar know that there is a 19-year cycle. That is to say, if all things work out correctly, the Hebrew date and the Gregorian date should coincide every 19 years. It follows that ones 19th Hebrew and Gregorian birthdays would coincide as well. That is, of course, unless you are me.

For some strange reason, I am a cosmic anomaly. According to every Hebrew to English calendar converter that I have consulted, although in 1977, February 7th and 19 Shevat fell out on the same day, nineteen years later, in 1996, they did not. My 19th birthday was off by not one, but two whole days (February 7th 1996 was 17 Shevat). The reason for this, based on an examination of the calendar, is that 5756 (1996, as it were) was shleimah, meaning it had 355 days, one more than a normal year, due to both Cheshvan and Kislev having 30 days. 5737 (or 1977) was actually chaserah, 353 days. So by the time Shevat 5756 rolled around, the calendars were off by two days.

Interestingly, the fact that 1996 was a leap year helped somewhat to set things back into place; the extra day in February left a single days' difference between the Gregorian and Hebrew calendars. The calendars were finally realigned on December 11, 1996, as 5757 was chaserah, while 5738 was k'sidrah. So, for those of you playing along at home, if you were born:

• From Nov. 23, 1976-Dec. 21, 1976: Your Gregorian 19th birthday was off by one day from your Hebrew birthday.


• From Dec. 22, 1976-Feb. 28, 1977: Your Gregorian 19th birthday was off by two from your Hebrew birthday.


• From Mar. 1, 1977-Dec. 10, 1977: Your Gregorian 19th birthday was off by one day from your Hebrew birthday.

The reason this happens is that, while the Hebrew calendar follows the 19-year metonic cycle, this only accounts for leap years. It does not determine the number of days in a year, which is instead determined by the day of the week on which Rosh Hashannah falls out (and some other stuff). I'm sure there is a way of combining the two to come up with a formula for figuring when things fall out when, but I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, it just so happens, through another strange series of events, that this year, on my 30th birthday, both my Hebrew and Gregorian birthdays coincide (although not on the same day of the week as originally - which would be asking too much). So for all you '77ers who felt cheated back in '96, this year, you shall at last have satisfaction. Enjoy it; the next time the two will coincide is the year 2053.