Adar is the last month of the Hebrew year counted from Nisan, and the last one before spring. It falls between February and March, when the rain is thinning out and the fields in Israel fill with anemones, and it carries a temperament that is hard to miss: this is the month tradition tied to good humour.
Adar has twenty-nine days, and almost all of its marked dates sit in the second half. It opens quietly and builds: the 1st, when public preparation for Nisan begins; the 7th, the day Moses was born and the day he died; and then the Fast of Esther, Purim and Shushan Purim.
In a leap year this month is doubled into Adar I and Adar II. Purim is always kept in the second one, the Adar next to Nisan.
The twelfth month
Like the rest of the Hebrew month names, Adar came back from Babylon, where the month was called *Addaru*. In the Bible the name itself surfaces only in the later books, above all in the Scroll of Esther, and there it is always pinned to its number: Haman cast a lot "concerning every day and every month, [until it fell on] the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar" 1.
That number explains where Adar sits. The Hebrew count of months begins in Nisan, which makes Adar the twelfth and last, the end of a full circuit, right before the month of spring starts it again. It is also why, in a leap year, the extra month is inserted here at the edge: a whole month is added before Adar so that Nisan keeps landing in spring.
The first of Adar: the day the city gets ready
The mishnah in tractate Shekalim describes the first of Adar not as a ceremony but as a day of announcements. The court proclaimed the collection of the half-shekel and the uprooting of forbidden mixtures from the fields; then a whole programme of public works began: "and they repair the roads and the streets and the cisterns, and attend to all public needs, and mark the graves" 2.
The picture is very concrete. Winter rain had washed out the roads, grave markers had eroded, cisterns had silted up. In six weeks entire towns would be walking to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festival. Adar is the month you resurface the roads before the season.
That is also the background to the four special Torah readings of Adar: Shekalim, Zachor, Parah and HaChodesh, each of them, in effect, a calendar reminder that it is time to start preparing.
The dates of Adar, in order
Rosh Chodesh Adar (30 Shevat and 1 Adar). Two days, because Shevat always has thirty. This is the day of the proclamation about the shekels and about repairing what the public needs.
The 7th of Adar. By tradition, the day Moses was born and the day he died. In Israel it is the memorial day for fallen soldiers whose burial place is unknown.
The Fast of Esther (13 Adar). A single short fast, dawn to nightfall, on the day before Purim.
Purim (14 Adar). The day the Scroll of Esther established, and the day that gives the whole month its character. Its dates and customs are on the Purim page.
Shushan Purim (15 Adar). Purim for cities walled since the days of Joshua, Jerusalem above all, which celebrates a day after everyone else.
And the day after the month ends, Nisan begins and the year opens again.
The lot that fell on the wrong month
According to the scroll, Haman did not choose the month for his plan; he drew for it. The Talmud tells what went through him when the lot landed on Adar.
"When the lot fell on the month of Adar he rejoiced greatly," it says, because he knew one thing about it: this is the month in which Moses died. Surely, he reasoned, such a month is unlucky for the Jews. "But he did not know that on the seventh of Adar Moses died, and on the seventh of Adar he was born" 3.
The whole story turns on an entirely ordinary fact: the same date can be a day of death and a day of birth. Haman looked at one half of it and read a bad omen; the Talmud points out that there is a second half. That, in short, is also this month's answer to the question of why it is considered a lucky one.
When Adar comes in
The line everybody quotes is phrased in the Talmud as one half of a comparison. Rav Yehuda says in the name of Rav: "Just as when Av begins we reduce rejoicing, so when Adar begins we increase rejoicing" 4. Adar, in other words, is the exact opposite of Av: two months to which the calendar assigned a mood, one at each end.
Which is slightly surprising, because joy is not something that can be ordered. What the month actually asks for is more modest: tilt the balance, find a reason, push the unpleasant things to next month. The Scroll of Esther puts it as a description rather than a command: this is "the month that had been turned about for them from grief to joy and from mourning to a festive day" 5. Not the day was turned about. The month.
Hence, too, the Hebrew shorthand *mazal dagim*, the sign of Pisces used as a synonym for good luck, and the habit of scheduling weddings and celebrations in Adar of all months.
Common questions about the month of Adar
When is Rosh Chodesh Adar?
It runs for two days, because Shevat always has thirty. The first of the two is still the 30th of Shevat; the second is the 1st of Adar. Both count as the new moon, and the civil date usually falls in February. This year it falls on 12-13/2/32.
What civil month does Adar fall in?
February into March. In a leap year, when there are two Adars, Adar I sits in February and Adar II runs into March.
How many days are in Adar?
Twenty-nine. In a leap year, when the month is doubled, Adar I has thirty days and Adar II has twenty-nine.
What dates fall in Adar?
The 7th of Adar (19/2/32), the Fast of Esther on the 13th (25/2/32), Purim on the 14th (26/2/32) and Shushan Purim on the 15th (27/2/32). None of them is an official day of rest, which makes Adar an almost entirely ordinary working month.
When does Adar end?
On the 29th of Adar, the eve of Rosh Chodesh Nisan. The next day is the 1st of Nisan (this year on 13/3/32), and the Hebrew count of months starts over.
Adar in the calendar: Hebrew and civil dates side by side
The grid at the top of this page shows Adar as the Hebrew calendar sees it: the large numerals are the days of the Hebrew month, with the matching civil date printed beneath each one. You can see at a glance which civil date the 1st of Adar falls on in the selected year, where the 7th, 13th, 14th and 15th sit, and which weekday each lands on.
Because Adar straddles February and March, a civil calendar splits it across two pages; here it appears as a single unit, so the run of dates at the end of the month can be read at once. The button above the grid prints it to one page, portrait or landscape, without the navigation or this text.
- Every date in the year in one table, and from there each festival's own page: Jewish holidays 2026
- The full printable calendar: printable Hebrew calendar
- For a civil-month view, in which February and March appear separately: monthly calendar
Related pages
References
- Esther 3:7 פרק ג', פסוק ז'
Pur — that is, the lot — was cast before Haman concerning every day and every month, [until it fell on] the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar
source - Mishnah Shekalim 1:1 מסכת שקלים, פרק א', משנה א'
On the first of Adar the court proclaims concerning the shekels and concerning forbidden mixtures... and they repair the roads and the streets and the cisterns, and attend to all public needs, and mark the graves
source - Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 13b מגילה י"ג ע"ב
When the lot fell on the month of Adar he rejoiced greatly, saying: the lot has fallen for me in the month in which Moses died. But he did not know that on the seventh of Adar Moses died, and on the seventh of Adar he was born
source - Babylonian Talmud, Ta'anit 29a (Rav Yehuda son of Rav Shmuel bar Shilat in the name of Rav) תענית כ"ט ע"א
Just as when Av begins we reduce rejoicing, so when Adar begins we increase rejoicing
source - Esther 9:22 פרק ט', פסוק כ"ב
and the month that had been turned about for them from grief to joy and from mourning to a festive day
source