Jódesh: Filología e Ingeniería Cronológica del Calendario en Israel

This study examines the philological and chronological structure of the Israelite and early Jewish calendar as a central element in the organization of religious and communal life. Through a comparative analysis of the Northwest Semitic root associated with renewal, the paper distinguishes between the astronomical phenomenon of the new moon and the ritual proclamation that marked the beginning of the month.

The research traces the historical development from an observational system based on witness testimony to more stabilized methods of calendrical calculation, including the later adoption of the nineteen-year Metonic cycle. Particular attention is given to the disputes over calendrical authority between the Jerusalem Temple establishment and sectarian groups such as the Qumran community, where competing systems of timekeeping functioned as markers of communal identity.

The study also explores the rabbinic reconfiguration of calendrical authority following the destruction of the Second Temple, when the proclamation of the tribunal assumed responsibility for the sanctification of the monthly cycle. The paper concludes that the Jewish calendar developed as a complex institutional mechanism that combined Near Eastern astronomical knowledge with distinctive theological interpretations of sacred time, enabling communal continuity within the diaspora.