Rabbi & Rebbetzin's Corner February 2024

Shalom Mishpocha,

It’s hard to believe how fast January went by! February comes from the Latin word februa, which means “to cleanse.” The month was named after the Roman Februalia, which was a month-long festival of purification and atonement that took place this time of year. The old Roman calendar had only ten months, starting in March and ending with December (Latin for “the tenth month”). When the two winter months January and February were added, February became the last month of the year and was given 28 days to fit into the calendar. To keep up with the seasons, the Romans introduced a leap month they called “Intercalaris”. The extra month was added every couple of years after February, which was shortened to 23 or 24 days to make room for the thirteenth month.

In the year 46 BCE, Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar system—the Julian calendar. He abolished the “Intercalaris” and instead introduced what would become the leap year, where every fourth year, February had 29 days instead of 28. This was the beginning of the modern leap year.

February is Black History month. Black History Month is an annually observed month-long celebration of African American life, History, and culture. Founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in February 1926, what was Formerly known as Negro History Week became a month-long celebration as a way to promote, research, preserve, interpret, and disseminate information about Black life, History, and culture to the global community.

Woodson chose February for reasons of tradition and reform. It is commonly said that Woodson selected February to encompass the birthdays of two great Americans who played a prominent role in shaping black history, namely Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, whose birthdays are the 12th and the 14th, respectively. More importantly, he chose them for reasons of tradition. Since Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, the black community, along with other Republicans, had been celebrating the fallen President’s birthday. And since the late 1890s, black communities across the country had been celebrating Douglass’. Well aware of the pre-existing celebrations, Woodson built Negro History Week around traditional days of commemorating the black past. He was asking the public to extend their study of black history, not to create a new tradition. In doing so, he increased his chances for its success. This then grew into a month-long observation.  Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month.

February 1st is National Freedom Day! It celebrates the freedom and liberties endowed upon us by the Constitution of the United States. America stands as a symbol of freedom around the world. No object symbolizes our freedom more than the Liberty Bell.

National Freedom Day, established in 1948, reminds us that America stands for, and is a symbol of freedom for all people. The roots of this special day come directly from the end of slavery and the signing of the 13th amendment outlawing slavery.

Lastly, Monday February 17th, 2025 is Presidents Day. Presidents' Day, officially Washington's Birthday at the federal governmental level, is a holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February. It is often celebrated to honor all those who served as presidents of the United States and, since 1879, has been the federal holiday honoring Founding Father George Washington, who led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War, presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and was from 1789 to 1797 the first U.S. president. George Washington was born on February 22, 1732. Washington's Birthday was celebrated on this date from 1879 until 1970. To give federal employees a three-day weekend, in 1968 the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved it to the third Monday in February, which can occur from February 15 to the 21st. The day soon became known as Presidents Day and provides an occasion to remember all the U.S. presidents, to honor Abraham Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays together, or any single president of choice!

Love and Shalom,

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Carlson