[Avodah] Calendar Drift (was: Zayin adar)

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, February 24, 2008 12:07 pm, R David E Cohen wrote:
: R' Micha Berger wrote:
:> When the calendar was made, Adar II would always be the last month
:> before the vernal equinox, and thus always be mazal Dagim.

: When the calendar was made, yes, but probably not before the calendar
: was made (when the Sanhedrin was declaring shanim me`ubaros) -- at
: least certainly not when the Mikdash was still in existence....

Rashi associates the months with the mazalos they had at the time of
the mabul, linking it to medrashim about the mazalos? /
constellations? changing due to the mabul.

I could see the latter... If air humidity and clouds changed
dramatically, that would explain why (contra Ramban, I admit) rainbows
would be newly associated with the end of rain -- either because until
then it didn't take rain or because until then the conditions were
wrong for them to happen. And, it would change which stars are visible
from the ground.

SheTir'u baTov!
-micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "Man wants to achieve greatness overnight,
micha at aishdas.org        and he wants to sleep well that night too."
http://www.aishdas.org     - Rav Yosef Yozel Horwitz, Alter of Novarodok
Fax: (270) 514-1507