This literally must be true - At the end of Adar, at the new moon, the condition of the barley is assessed. If the barley is declared 'aviv', Passover and First Fruits are two weeks away. If the barley is not 'aviv' at that time, it will not be in a condition to be parched at the time of the First Fruits offering. If the barley is not 'aviv', the month of Adar II is declared instead, pushing the whole calendar forward 29(?) days, at which time the barley will assuredly be near ripe.
What is interesting is what to do with Purim - IIRC. Purim is to be celebrated in Adar Bet if it exists, which suggests that the Jews had formalized their calendar away from Torah fairly early on, for they would have passed Purim if they waited for the new moon to determine the barley and declare Adar Bet accordingly... Go figger.
Google ‘when is passover 2020’.. or pick any year...
Somebody has a really good farmers almanac because they already have it set..
So, if somebody can calculate that far out so calendars can be printed, how on earth can the crop be the determining factor?
Answer- it isn’t.. it is based on the sun and the moon, at least that is why people can know, with confidence, months before somebody gets out there to assess the harvest..
Or those calendar kiosks in the malls during Gregorian December are really blessed...
>> “What is interesting is what to do with Purim - IIRC. Purim is to be celebrated in Adar Bet if it exists, which suggests that the Jews had formalized their calendar away from Torah fairly early on, for they would have passed Purim if they waited for the new moon to determine the barley and declare Adar Bet accordingly... Go figger.” <<
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The “Wormwood” people, such as Tim McHyde, ( http://www.escapeallthesethings.com/ ) have another answer for that.
They postulate that the original year was exactly 360 days. thus no “Adar Bet” was needed, until the Earth’s orbit was perturbed by another “passing planet,” creating the present conditions.