[Avodah] The Molad of Tamuz

[Zev Sero]

On 01/07/18 22:14, Richard Fiedler wrote:
> The previous month the Molad of Sivan was Tuesday, 5:21 AM and 6 
> chalakim, which is 11 hours and 384 chalakim. That is 21 minutes times 
> 18 chalakim per minute plus 6 chalakim.
> 
>  From the Rambam this we know to get the next month we add 29 days 12 
> hours and 793 chalakim. Thus we would get Wednesday, 23 hours and 1,177 
> chalakim. There are 1080 chalakim in an hour so we would restate this as 
> *_Thursday_*, 0 hours, and 97 chalakim.


> Changing from Wednesday to Thursday is of course done at sunset which in 
> this case happened at 6:45 PM Jerusalem Standard Time.

No, it does not.  Wednesday and Thursday are English words referring to 
24-hour periods beginning and ending at midnight.  "Revi'i" and 
"Chamishi", in this context, are Ivrit words for exactly the same thing. 
  "Leil Chamishi" or "Or Leyom Chamishi", however, refer to Wednesday 
evening, and in this context are appropriate for that time of day 
regardless of when the sun set.

However, it's ironic that you raised the topic of errors in the 
announcement of this month's molad, because in many Chabad shuls it was 
announced as "Thursday 6:05:7 PM", which is just a blatant error, caused 
by a typo in the chart printed in some editions of the Tehilas Hashem 
siddur, where it is listed as "Yom H, Sha'ah 6 achh"tz, 5 dakot, ve7 
chalakim".  There's no complicated explanation, it's just a typo.

This is the first time, however, that I've ever heard of shuls where the 
molad is announced on a clock beginning at 6PM, and with the hour not 
broken up into minutes.  Is that really common?  And do more than 5% of 
those who hear it understand that they must deduct 6 hours in their 
heads from what is announced?  It just seems pointlessly awkward, merely 
to avoid using the timekeeping system we *all* use without the slightest 
compunction in the rest of our lives.



-- 
Zev Sero            A prosperous and healthy 2018 to all
zev at sero.name       Seek Jerusalem's peace; may all who love you prosper