זמן וזהות לאומית: הרקע ההלניסטי לנאום על לוח השנה בספר היובלים פרק ו

This paper explores the ideology underlying the calendar treatise in Jubilees chapter 6. In this chapter, for the first time in Hebrew literature, the
|calendar finds a central place as a marker of Jewish identity, departing from the biblical rhetoric. This idea continues in early rabbinic literature.
|The change in Jubilees 6 occurred as part of the effort to advance a new national identity throughout the Book of Jubilees. It is claimed here that
|the calendar has not been a national marker in previous texts. It is further claimed that previously, Jews counted their time according to the calendars of the empires (Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Seleucid) with no particular Jewish reckoning. The calendar became part of the discourse of identity as a reaction to the prominent theme of the calendar in Greek ethnological literature from Herodotus onwards. It is shown how a similar ideological move took place in Ptolemaic Egypt, in the famous Decree of Canopus (discussed here in some detail). The 364-day calendar tradition should thus be conceived as part of the construction of Jewish identity under the Hellenistic cultural crisis, with the Book of Jubilees playing a significant part in this endeavor.