Free Printable Jewish Calendars and Calendar Converters

Calendars help mark time, but not everyone follows the same calendar. The Jewish luni-solar calendar dates time differently than the western Gregorian calendar. Here are free printable lunisolar Jewish calendars and calendar converter tools. Calendars are marked with Jewish holy days. You can print monthly calendars for each month of the Jewish year. You can also print calendars cross-referenced with the western Gregorian calendar.

For free printable Jewish calendars, visit Printable Jewish Calendar. The 12 Jewish months of the calendar include: Nissan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul, Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar I (found only in leap years) and Adar. These months are listed in the order they occur within the Jewish calendar year. Their western equivalents are March-April: Nissan, April-May: Iyan, May-June: Tammuz, etc. Free printable Jewish calendars are dated for 5776, the current year in the Jewish calendar. Get equivalent free printable western calendars for 2016 and updated ones as each new year arrives. Free printable Jewish calendars include Hebrew holidays. You can print lunisolar Jewish calendars, with or without a calendar converter of western dates.

The Jewish calendar begins with Pesach or Passover in Nissan, but the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah takes place in Tishri (the seventh month which is equivalent to September-October in the western calendar). This is when the new year is numbered. It is difficult to make direct comparison between western Gregorian and Jewish calendars as the two calendars differ by orientation. The older Julian calendar which Orthodox Christians use and the later Gregorian calendar (western calendar now used) are solar calendars. They are based upon the earth's path around the sun. The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar. It is also called lunisolar calendar because the Hebrew calendar reconciles the phases or cycles of the moon with the earth's orbit around the sun. See Abdicate for details on how the Jewish and Gregorian (western) calendars coincide and mark time. This site also has a free calendar converter tool to convert calendars written in English or Hebrew.

Jew FAQ or Judaism 101 explains the Hebrew calendar on several levels, from basic to more advanced. Sources agree that the Hebrew calendar has the least degree of error of all the calendars. Formulab has a free calendar converter tool with converts date in the Western Gregorian calendar to dates in Jewish calendars and from the lunisolar Hebrew calendar to Gregorian solar calendar. Use these free printable calendars and calendar converter tools in Hebrew school or in social studies classes for multicultural lesson plans. 

Homemade Advent Calendar

Easy Homemade Advent Calendar Craft to Countdown to Christmas Advent is the four week period before Christmas. Advent calendars make a great way to countdown the days until Christmas. You can purchase an Advent calendar, print of of the many free Advent calendars or make your own using this easy pattern.
advent calendar craft

Advent Countdown to Christmas Activities for Catholic Families and Homeschoolers

 We homeschooled our four children for over 10 years. As a Catholic family, the month of December was devoted to Advent. Advent begins on the 4th Sunday before Christmas and countdowns to the feast of Christmas. Here are Advent countdown activities. Parents can use these activities to raise awareness, teach generosity, develop empathy with the world church. Kids learn compassion through gospel poverty and living in solidarity with the poor, as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Feast Day, September 5) taught. As a lesser penitential season, Advent activities should focus on missionary outreach. Some kids missions work activities I've listed may count toward their school-required student volunteer service credit hours too.  Read More Advent Countdown to Christmas Activities 

Free Printable Advent Calendars to Countdown to Christmas

Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas. During Advent we focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving in preparation for the Feast of Christmas. Many people use an Advent calendar to countdown to Christmas. Here are free printable advent calendars. Read More Free Printable Advent Calendar Countdown to Christmas Crafts