The Gregorian calendar is the most commonly used calendar system worldwide given that it is also the international standard. The Jewish calendar, on the other hand, is still used today by the Jews for religious purposes. The Gregorian calendar is used for secular matter and civil purposes. Aside from the Jews, the dates written in certain passages in the bible are in Jewish calendar setting. Check out the differences between the two calendar systems below.
The Jewish calendar is based on a lunar calendar system. The first day of the week in the Jewish calendar is on Yom Rishon which is Sunday in the Gregorian calendar. The last day of the week on the Jewish calendar is the Yom Shabbat or Sabbath Day is on Saturday. The Jewish calendar’s first month is Nissan which begins in either March or April. The Jewish calendar only has 354 days but adds an additional month seven times in 19 years to keep in sync with the solar year.
The Jewish calendar also dictates the age of the earth since its creation according to the Bible in the Book of Genesis. As of the Jewish calendar today, it is year 5779 since the creation of the earth. The Jewish holidays also follow the Jewish calendar only since using the Gregorian calendar would result to a different date every year. The Three Pilgrimage Festivals (Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot) begins in the first month of the Jewish calendar until the third month. The Jewish calendar also remained the same since the Old Testament.