Can someone please explain the Jewish calender and why it is used?
The Jewish calendar is used for religious purposes by Jews all over the world, and it is the official calendar of Israel. The Jewish calendar is a combined solar/lunar calendar, in that it strives to have its years coincide with the tropical year and its months coincide with the synodic months. Lunisolar calendars use months to approximate the tropical year. Examples are the Jewish and Chinese calendars. Since 12 months are about 11 days shorter than the tropical year, a leap month (also called intercalary month) is inserted about every third year to keep the calendar in tune with the seasons.
