The calendar described in the Mishnah and Tosefta (early third century c.e.) is purely empirical, both in its intercalation procedure and in its determination of the new moon. But in the Amoraic period (third–fifth centuries), as attested in the Talmud, calendrical rules were introduced, which eventually led to the transformation of the rabbinic calendar into a fixed, calculated scheme. A fixed rabbinic calendar is unlikely to have been formally instituted, e.g. in 359 c.e. by Hillel, as is commonly believed. Rabbinic sources indicate that, even in the Geonic period, the calculated calendar had not reached its final form; this only came about in the ninth century.
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
