Israel Matzav

"Thanksgivukkah Pie", Holiday Tribute by Benji Lovitt

I  have so many Thanksgivukah posts lined that I figured I'd better start posting them or you'll miss out. But first, a word of explanation.

Thanksgiving is set as the fourth Thursday in November, meaning the latest it can be is 11/28. 11/28 is also the earliest Chanukah can be.

The Jewish calendar repeats on a 19-year cycle, and Thanksgiving repeats on a 7-year cycle. You would therefore expect them to coincide roughly every 19x7 = 133 years. Looking back, this is approximately correct – the last time it would have happened is 1861. However, Thanksgiving was only formally established by President Lincoln in 1863. So, it has never happened before.

Why won't it ever happen again?

The reason is because the Jewish calendar is very slowly getting out of sync with the solar calendar, at a rate of 4 days per 1000 years. This means that while presently Chanukah can be as early as 11/28, over the years the calendar will drift forward, such that the earliest Chanukah can be is 11/29. The next time Chanukah falls on 11/28 is the year 2146, which is a Monday. Therefore, 2013 is the only time Chanukah will ever overlap with Thanksgiving.

Of course, if the Jewish calendar is never modified in any way, then it will slowly move forward through the Gregorian calendar, until it loops all the way back to where it is now.

So, Chanukah would again fall on Thursday, 11/28...in the year 79,811.

It has never happened before, and it will never happen again.

Here's "Thanksgivukkah Pie", Holiday Tribute by Benji Lovitt.

Let's go to the videotape.



Chanuka starts Wednesday night, and if you want to send me some Chanuka gelt (money), I'd be thrilled.... Just click the PayPal on the side.

Labels: Benji Lovitt, Chanuka, humor, Thanksgiving

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:33 AM