Shouldn't Adar Alef be Sh'vat Bet?

I'm not the only Israeli living in the Biblical Heartland, where our Jewish History and Religion developed who has been on a shikaydia alert, checking for those pink and white flowers on the almond trees. The trees are supposed to start blooming in the beginning of the Jewish Month of Shevat, but in years like this year, when there are two months of Adar, you don't have flowers in Shevat in Shiloh. Certainly not anything to sing about.

Before there was a fixed calendar, the new moons were announced when they were spotted from a mountain southeast of Shiloh, near today's Kochav Hashachar. If the end of Shvat seemed too middle of winter, and the winter hadn't been long enough, then there was a good chance that at the end of Adar, there would be another Adar. Today when my friends and I were down in Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh for our Rosh Chodesh Prayers, we discussed it. Many of us agree that especially since there now is a fixed calendar, and nobody is in suspense whether it is a leap (pregnant as it's said in Hebrew) year or not, I think two months of Shvat make more sense.




The trees and flowers today seem much more like Shvat than Adar.

If you look carefully, you'll see some flowers

Chodesh tov! May this month be filled with joy for all!