Jewish calendar? Do Jews use it today? How do they reconcile it with the Christian calendar?

Answer 1

Yes, we still use it.

However, most Jews use it mainly to figure out when in the Christian calendar the Jewish holidays will be.

For example, I know the Jewish New Year is the first day of the Jewish year, but to find out when that comes out in terms of Christian months, I have to consult a calendar with both Jewish and Christian dates. It usually comes out in Sept or Oct.

For all other purposes, most Jews simply use the Christian calendar.

No need to reconcile the two calendars.

Instead of B.C., we say B.C.E. -- Before the Common Era
Instead of A.D., we say C.E. -- Common Era.

Answer 2

Yes, the Jewish or Hebrew calendar is in use today.

By Christian calendar, I assume you mean the Gregorian calendar.
It is "reconciled" the same way you would reconcile any other calendar. Its merely a job of calculating what days fall on where in the other calendar.
Very roughly speaking, the Hebrew calendar is a lunar solar calendar. Meaning, lengths of months are either 29-30 days thus losing aprox 9-11 days compared to the solar year. Thus, roughly, every 3 years there is a leap year in which an entire month (30 days) is added to bring it in line with the solar year.

Answer 3

For clarification, Jewish calendars record days & time in the same way G-d uses it. If you look back in Genesis, it says "the evening & the morning were the first day; etc". It doesn't say 'from sunrise to sunset', as most people think of a day, but from sunset to sunrise, placing the way to tell time different. This is why Jewish calendars follow the lunar cycle, while Gregorian calendars follow the solar calendar. For us, our months always start on a new moon.
My calendar has both Hebraic & Gregorian dates on it, so I can refer to one or the other, depending on my need. Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Yes, on Israeli coins you will find the year in their calendar. And why should they want to reconcile it? There are several other calendars out there.

Answer 5

excellent answer by veronica, though I might add that many jews do live day by day with the jewish calendar (in addition to the gregorian calendar).