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Relative hour ( Hebrew singular: shaʿah zǝmanit / שעה זמנית; plural: shaʿot - zǝmaniyot / שעות זמניות), sometimes called halachic hour, temporal hour, seasonal hour and variable hour, is a term used in rabbinic Jewish law that assigns 12 hours to each day and 12 hours to each night, all throughout the year. A relative hour has no fixed length in absolute time, but changes with the length of daylight each day - depending on summer (when the days are long and the nights are short), and in winter (when the days are short and the nights are long). Even so, in all seasons a day is always divided into 12 hours, and a night is always divided into 12 hours, which invariably makes for a longer hour or a shorter hour. [1] [2] [3] At Mediterranean latitude, one hour can be about 45 minutes at the winter solstice, and 75 minutes at summer solstice. [4] All of the hours mentioned by the Sages in either the Mishnah or Talmud, or in other rabbinic writings, refer strictly to relative hours. [5]
Another feature of this ancient practice is that, unlike the standard modern 12-hour clock that assigns 12 o'clock pm for noon time, in the ancient Jewish tradition noon time was always the sixth hour of the day, whereas the first hour began with the break of dawn according to many Halachic authorities, [6] and with sunrise according to others. [7] Midnight (12:00 am local official clock time) was also the sixth hour of the night, which, depending on summer or winter, can come before or after 12:00 am local official clock time, whereas the first hour of the night always begins after sunset, when the first three stars appeared in the night sky.
During the Spring (באחד בתקופת ניסן) and Autumnal (באחד בתקופת תשרי) equinox (around 20 March and 23 September), the length of a day and night are equal. [8] However, even during the summer solstice and winter solstice when the length of the day and the length of the night are at their greatest disparity, both day and night are always divided into 12 hours.
Temporal hours were common in many cultures. A division of day and night into twelve hours each was first recorded in Ancient Egypt. A similar division of day and night was later made in the Mediterranean basin from about Classical Greek Antiquity into twelve temporal hours each ( Ancient Greek: ὥραι καιρικαί, romanized: horai kairikai). [9]
In Western culture they were adopted from the Roman calendar and were adopted in the European Medieval era. They had particular relevance in the fixed daily schedule of the monastic orders. This division of time allowed the work of the day -such as eating, praying, or working -to always be performed at the same (temporal) hour, regardless of season ( Prayer of the Hours). [9]
The earliest reference to the use of temporal hours in Jewish literature comes from Abraham bar Hiyya, and, later, elaborated further by Maimonides.
The prevailing opinion is that each day begins at the rise of dawn (Heb. עלות השחר), [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] which is about 72 minutes before sunrise, [15] yet, for practical reasons in some biblically related commandments, some scholars begin counting the hours of the day from sunrise (Heb. הנץ החמה), [16] [17] [18] such as for the recital of Shema' which, as a first resort, must be recited when a person rises from his sleep in the morning, a time that is traditionally linked with sunrise, and continuing thereafter until the beginning of the 4th hour of the day, [19] [20] [21] or, for example, when burning leaven on the 14th day of the lunar month Nisan, which must be burnt in the 6th hour of the day when counting from sunrise. At this time, the sun is nearly at its apex. [22]
The commencement of nightfall is not as divisive in Jewish law:
Rabbi Pinchas said in the name of Rabbi Abba bar Pappa: One star is certainly day; two [stars] is a doubtful case; three [stars] is certainly night. [23]
The precise, intermediate time between day and night, or what is termed in Hebrew bayn ha-sh'meshot, has been discussed by Talmudic scholars in great detail. Some describe the time as when the evening sky turns a silverish-grey color. The same time is described by Moses Alashkar as "from the moment that the entire circle of the sun sets [below the horizon] until there appear [in the sky] three medium-sized stars." [24] [25] The duration of this time is generally held to be about 12 minutes, but which, with respect to the Sabbath day, is given a more stringent application, namely, 13.5 minutes after sunset. [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] Rabbeinu Tam, disputing, held the time of bayn ha-sh'meshot to be 58.5 minutes. [31] A third opinion is that of Maimonides who puts the time of bayn ha-sh'meshot at the time it takes to walk 3⁄4 of a biblical mile, a time which Maimonides estimates at about 18 minutes (temporal hours), according to what they have understood from the words of Maimonides, namely, that a person traverses a biblical mile in 24 minutes. [32] This was the custom of the cities of Yemen. [32]
In old times, the hour was detected by observation of the position of the sun, [33] or when the first three stars appeared in the night sky. During the first six hours of the day, the sun is seen in the eastern sky. At the sixth hour, the sun is always at its zenith in the sky, meaning, it is either directly overhead, or parallel (depending on the hemisphere). [34] Those persons living in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun at noon time will appear overhead slightly towards the south, whereas for those living in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun at noon time will appear overhead slightly towards the north (an exception being in the tropics, the sun can sometimes be directly overhead). From the 6th and a half hour to the 12th hour, the sun inclines towards the west, until it sets. The conclusion of a day at the end of twilight may slightly vary in minutes from place to place, depending on the elevation and the terrain. [35] Typically, nightfall ushers in more quickly in the low-lying valleys, than it does on a high mountaintop. [36]
There are two major opinions how to calculate these times:
In the Modern Age of astral science and of precise astronomical calculations, it is now possible to determine the length of the ever-changing hour by simple mathematics. To determine the length of each relative hour, one needs but simply know two variables: (a) the precise time of sunrise, and (b) the precise time of sunset. Since according to the first opinion, the day begins approximately 72 minutes before sunrise and ends approximately 72 minutes after sunset (and according to the variant understanding of this opinion, ends approximately 13½ or 18 minutes after sunset), or begins at sunrise and ends at sunrise according to the second opinion, by collecting the total number of minutes in any given day and dividing the total number of minutes by 12, the quotient that one is left with is the number of minutes to each hour. In summer months, when the days are long, the length of each hour during daytime can be quite long depending on one's latitude, whereas the length of each hour during nighttime can be quite short again depending on one's latitude. It should also be noted that according to those opinions that the 72 minutes are computed according to 16.1 degrees, the further one goes from the equator, the longer it will get, such that in northern latitudes it could become 2 hours or longer.
In Jewish Halacha, the practical bearing of this teaching is reflected in many halachic practices. For example, according to Jewish law, the morning recitation of Kriyat Shema must be made between slightly before sunrise and the end of the third hour of the day, a time that actually fluctuates on the standard 12-hour clock, depending on the time of year. [63] Its application is also used in determining the time of the Morning Prayer, which must be recited between sunrise until the end of the fourth hour, [64] but post facto can be said until noon time, [65] and which times will vary if one were to rely solely on the dials of the standard 12-hour clock, depending on the seasons.
On the eve of Passover, chametz can only be eaten until the end of the fourth-hour of the day, and must be disposed of by the end of the fifth hour. [66]
In Jewish tradition, prayers were usually offered at the time of the daily whole-burnt offerings. [67] The historian, Josephus, writing about the daily whole-burnt offering, says that it was offered twice each day, in the morning and about the ninth hour. [68] The Mishnah, a compendium of Jewish oral laws compiled in the late 2nd-century CE, says of the morning daily offering that it was offered in the fourth hour, [69] but says of the late afternoon offering: "The daily whole-burnt offering was slaughtered at a half after the eighth hour, and offered up at a half after the ninth hour." [70] Elsewhere, when describing the slaughter of the Passover offerings on the eve of Passover (the 14th day of the lunar month Nisan), Josephus writes: "...their feast which is called the Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour to the eleventh, etc." (roughly corresponding to 3 o'clock pm to 5 o'clock pm). [71] Conversely, the Mishnah states that on the eve of Passover the daily whole-burnt offering was slaughtered at a half past the seventh hour, and offered up at a half past the eighth hour. [70]
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)Be apprised that all of the hours that are mentioned throughout all the Mishnah are none other than relative hours, and the word relative has the connotation of those hours wherein there are twelve in the daytime, as also at night.
At sunrise, the principal part of the day begins, and [as a first resort] it is one's duty to pray when the sun comes out, as it says: 'They shall fear you while the sun endures' (Psalm 72:5). [...] Even though the break of dawn (ʻamūd ha-shaḥar) is considered day for all things, just as we say in chapter 2 of Megillah [20a], as a first resort, the principal part of day is reckoned from the moment the rays of the sun appear and the majority of people have risen [from their sleep] at that hour, for we call [that time] 'and when you rise up' (Deut. 6:7)
We have reckoned the day from the rise of dawn, since it says in [the Book of] Ezra 'from the break of dawn until the stars came out' (Nehemiah 4:15 [21]). Now he called this [time] 'day', when he said of it, 'in the night they were unto us a guard, while the day [was spent in] labour'
The opinion of our Rabbi, the Vilna Gaon, as well as of many other poskim, is that in all the halachic matters touching on the hours [of the day], we reckon [the day] from sunrise until sunset, such as the latest time [one is required to recite] Kiryat Shema, [being] a quarter of the day (a third of the hours), and the latest time of the [morning] prayer, [being] a third of the day (four hours), and the latest time [permitted in] eating leaven on the eve of Passover, [being] a third of the day, and the burning of leaven [which follows] in another relative hour – all [hours being reckoned] from sunrise until sunset. ...The practice is to be stringent in accordance with the Vilna Gaon's method when it comes to the latest time [in which a person recites] Kiryat Shema, and [says] the [morning] prayer, and when it comes to eating and burning the leaven [on the eve of Passover].
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
It is known that bayn ha-sh'meshot [= twilight] is a case of doubt whether it is day or night, and they treat it with stringency in every place, the estimation of which time being approximately one-third of an hour after sunset (18 minutes), being from the moment the sun has completely gone down [over the horizon] until the appearance of three stars, just as it has been explained in chapter 5 of Hilkot Shabbat (sect. 4).
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link), s.v. part IV, responsum # 1353 (reprinted in Israel, n.d.)
The opinion of our Rabbi, the Vilna Gaon, as well as of many other poskim, is that in all the halachic matters touching on the hours [of the day], we reckon [the day] from sunset until sunset, such as the latest time [one is required to recite] Kiryat Shema, [being] a quarter of the day (a third of the hours), and the latest time of the [morning] prayer, [being] a third of the day (four hours), and the latest time [permitted in] eating leaven on the eve of Passover, [being] a third of the day, and the burning of leaven in another relative hour – all [hours being reckoned] from sunrise until sunset. ...The practice is to be stringent in accordance with the Vilna Gaon's method when it comes to the latest time [in which a person recites] Kiryat Shema, and [says] the [morning] prayer, and when it comes to eating and burning the leaven [on the eve of Passover].
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
Part of a series on |
Jews and Judaism |
---|
Relative hour ( Hebrew singular: shaʿah zǝmanit / שעה זמנית; plural: shaʿot - zǝmaniyot / שעות זמניות), sometimes called halachic hour, temporal hour, seasonal hour and variable hour, is a term used in rabbinic Jewish law that assigns 12 hours to each day and 12 hours to each night, all throughout the year. A relative hour has no fixed length in absolute time, but changes with the length of daylight each day - depending on summer (when the days are long and the nights are short), and in winter (when the days are short and the nights are long). Even so, in all seasons a day is always divided into 12 hours, and a night is always divided into 12 hours, which invariably makes for a longer hour or a shorter hour. [1] [2] [3] At Mediterranean latitude, one hour can be about 45 minutes at the winter solstice, and 75 minutes at summer solstice. [4] All of the hours mentioned by the Sages in either the Mishnah or Talmud, or in other rabbinic writings, refer strictly to relative hours. [5]
Another feature of this ancient practice is that, unlike the standard modern 12-hour clock that assigns 12 o'clock pm for noon time, in the ancient Jewish tradition noon time was always the sixth hour of the day, whereas the first hour began with the break of dawn according to many Halachic authorities, [6] and with sunrise according to others. [7] Midnight (12:00 am local official clock time) was also the sixth hour of the night, which, depending on summer or winter, can come before or after 12:00 am local official clock time, whereas the first hour of the night always begins after sunset, when the first three stars appeared in the night sky.
During the Spring (באחד בתקופת ניסן) and Autumnal (באחד בתקופת תשרי) equinox (around 20 March and 23 September), the length of a day and night are equal. [8] However, even during the summer solstice and winter solstice when the length of the day and the length of the night are at their greatest disparity, both day and night are always divided into 12 hours.
Temporal hours were common in many cultures. A division of day and night into twelve hours each was first recorded in Ancient Egypt. A similar division of day and night was later made in the Mediterranean basin from about Classical Greek Antiquity into twelve temporal hours each ( Ancient Greek: ὥραι καιρικαί, romanized: horai kairikai). [9]
In Western culture they were adopted from the Roman calendar and were adopted in the European Medieval era. They had particular relevance in the fixed daily schedule of the monastic orders. This division of time allowed the work of the day -such as eating, praying, or working -to always be performed at the same (temporal) hour, regardless of season ( Prayer of the Hours). [9]
The earliest reference to the use of temporal hours in Jewish literature comes from Abraham bar Hiyya, and, later, elaborated further by Maimonides.
The prevailing opinion is that each day begins at the rise of dawn (Heb. עלות השחר), [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] which is about 72 minutes before sunrise, [15] yet, for practical reasons in some biblically related commandments, some scholars begin counting the hours of the day from sunrise (Heb. הנץ החמה), [16] [17] [18] such as for the recital of Shema' which, as a first resort, must be recited when a person rises from his sleep in the morning, a time that is traditionally linked with sunrise, and continuing thereafter until the beginning of the 4th hour of the day, [19] [20] [21] or, for example, when burning leaven on the 14th day of the lunar month Nisan, which must be burnt in the 6th hour of the day when counting from sunrise. At this time, the sun is nearly at its apex. [22]
The commencement of nightfall is not as divisive in Jewish law:
Rabbi Pinchas said in the name of Rabbi Abba bar Pappa: One star is certainly day; two [stars] is a doubtful case; three [stars] is certainly night. [23]
The precise, intermediate time between day and night, or what is termed in Hebrew bayn ha-sh'meshot, has been discussed by Talmudic scholars in great detail. Some describe the time as when the evening sky turns a silverish-grey color. The same time is described by Moses Alashkar as "from the moment that the entire circle of the sun sets [below the horizon] until there appear [in the sky] three medium-sized stars." [24] [25] The duration of this time is generally held to be about 12 minutes, but which, with respect to the Sabbath day, is given a more stringent application, namely, 13.5 minutes after sunset. [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] Rabbeinu Tam, disputing, held the time of bayn ha-sh'meshot to be 58.5 minutes. [31] A third opinion is that of Maimonides who puts the time of bayn ha-sh'meshot at the time it takes to walk 3⁄4 of a biblical mile, a time which Maimonides estimates at about 18 minutes (temporal hours), according to what they have understood from the words of Maimonides, namely, that a person traverses a biblical mile in 24 minutes. [32] This was the custom of the cities of Yemen. [32]
In old times, the hour was detected by observation of the position of the sun, [33] or when the first three stars appeared in the night sky. During the first six hours of the day, the sun is seen in the eastern sky. At the sixth hour, the sun is always at its zenith in the sky, meaning, it is either directly overhead, or parallel (depending on the hemisphere). [34] Those persons living in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun at noon time will appear overhead slightly towards the south, whereas for those living in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun at noon time will appear overhead slightly towards the north (an exception being in the tropics, the sun can sometimes be directly overhead). From the 6th and a half hour to the 12th hour, the sun inclines towards the west, until it sets. The conclusion of a day at the end of twilight may slightly vary in minutes from place to place, depending on the elevation and the terrain. [35] Typically, nightfall ushers in more quickly in the low-lying valleys, than it does on a high mountaintop. [36]
There are two major opinions how to calculate these times:
In the Modern Age of astral science and of precise astronomical calculations, it is now possible to determine the length of the ever-changing hour by simple mathematics. To determine the length of each relative hour, one needs but simply know two variables: (a) the precise time of sunrise, and (b) the precise time of sunset. Since according to the first opinion, the day begins approximately 72 minutes before sunrise and ends approximately 72 minutes after sunset (and according to the variant understanding of this opinion, ends approximately 13½ or 18 minutes after sunset), or begins at sunrise and ends at sunrise according to the second opinion, by collecting the total number of minutes in any given day and dividing the total number of minutes by 12, the quotient that one is left with is the number of minutes to each hour. In summer months, when the days are long, the length of each hour during daytime can be quite long depending on one's latitude, whereas the length of each hour during nighttime can be quite short again depending on one's latitude. It should also be noted that according to those opinions that the 72 minutes are computed according to 16.1 degrees, the further one goes from the equator, the longer it will get, such that in northern latitudes it could become 2 hours or longer.
In Jewish Halacha, the practical bearing of this teaching is reflected in many halachic practices. For example, according to Jewish law, the morning recitation of Kriyat Shema must be made between slightly before sunrise and the end of the third hour of the day, a time that actually fluctuates on the standard 12-hour clock, depending on the time of year. [63] Its application is also used in determining the time of the Morning Prayer, which must be recited between sunrise until the end of the fourth hour, [64] but post facto can be said until noon time, [65] and which times will vary if one were to rely solely on the dials of the standard 12-hour clock, depending on the seasons.
On the eve of Passover, chametz can only be eaten until the end of the fourth-hour of the day, and must be disposed of by the end of the fifth hour. [66]
In Jewish tradition, prayers were usually offered at the time of the daily whole-burnt offerings. [67] The historian, Josephus, writing about the daily whole-burnt offering, says that it was offered twice each day, in the morning and about the ninth hour. [68] The Mishnah, a compendium of Jewish oral laws compiled in the late 2nd-century CE, says of the morning daily offering that it was offered in the fourth hour, [69] but says of the late afternoon offering: "The daily whole-burnt offering was slaughtered at a half after the eighth hour, and offered up at a half after the ninth hour." [70] Elsewhere, when describing the slaughter of the Passover offerings on the eve of Passover (the 14th day of the lunar month Nisan), Josephus writes: "...their feast which is called the Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour to the eleventh, etc." (roughly corresponding to 3 o'clock pm to 5 o'clock pm). [71] Conversely, the Mishnah states that on the eve of Passover the daily whole-burnt offering was slaughtered at a half past the seventh hour, and offered up at a half past the eighth hour. [70]
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)Be apprised that all of the hours that are mentioned throughout all the Mishnah are none other than relative hours, and the word relative has the connotation of those hours wherein there are twelve in the daytime, as also at night.
At sunrise, the principal part of the day begins, and [as a first resort] it is one's duty to pray when the sun comes out, as it says: 'They shall fear you while the sun endures' (Psalm 72:5). [...] Even though the break of dawn (ʻamūd ha-shaḥar) is considered day for all things, just as we say in chapter 2 of Megillah [20a], as a first resort, the principal part of day is reckoned from the moment the rays of the sun appear and the majority of people have risen [from their sleep] at that hour, for we call [that time] 'and when you rise up' (Deut. 6:7)
We have reckoned the day from the rise of dawn, since it says in [the Book of] Ezra 'from the break of dawn until the stars came out' (Nehemiah 4:15 [21]). Now he called this [time] 'day', when he said of it, 'in the night they were unto us a guard, while the day [was spent in] labour'
The opinion of our Rabbi, the Vilna Gaon, as well as of many other poskim, is that in all the halachic matters touching on the hours [of the day], we reckon [the day] from sunrise until sunset, such as the latest time [one is required to recite] Kiryat Shema, [being] a quarter of the day (a third of the hours), and the latest time of the [morning] prayer, [being] a third of the day (four hours), and the latest time [permitted in] eating leaven on the eve of Passover, [being] a third of the day, and the burning of leaven [which follows] in another relative hour – all [hours being reckoned] from sunrise until sunset. ...The practice is to be stringent in accordance with the Vilna Gaon's method when it comes to the latest time [in which a person recites] Kiryat Shema, and [says] the [morning] prayer, and when it comes to eating and burning the leaven [on the eve of Passover].
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
It is known that bayn ha-sh'meshot [= twilight] is a case of doubt whether it is day or night, and they treat it with stringency in every place, the estimation of which time being approximately one-third of an hour after sunset (18 minutes), being from the moment the sun has completely gone down [over the horizon] until the appearance of three stars, just as it has been explained in chapter 5 of Hilkot Shabbat (sect. 4).
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link), s.v. part IV, responsum # 1353 (reprinted in Israel, n.d.)
The opinion of our Rabbi, the Vilna Gaon, as well as of many other poskim, is that in all the halachic matters touching on the hours [of the day], we reckon [the day] from sunset until sunset, such as the latest time [one is required to recite] Kiryat Shema, [being] a quarter of the day (a third of the hours), and the latest time of the [morning] prayer, [being] a third of the day (four hours), and the latest time [permitted in] eating leaven on the eve of Passover, [being] a third of the day, and the burning of leaven in another relative hour – all [hours being reckoned] from sunrise until sunset. ...The practice is to be stringent in accordance with the Vilna Gaon's method when it comes to the latest time [in which a person recites] Kiryat Shema, and [says] the [morning] prayer, and when it comes to eating and burning the leaven [on the eve of Passover].
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)