Kislev is the third month of the civil calendar, ninth in the religious, and has 29 or 30 days. The name is of Akkadian/Babylonian origin and is first mentioned in the Bible in Zechariah 7:1 and Nehemiah 1:1. Hanukkah commences on the 25th day of the month. In early times, if the new moon of Kislev arrived and no rain had yet fallen, the religious authorities called for a fast of petition.[*] On illustrated calendars (the only Jewish context where we find the signs of the zodiac), Kislev's zodiac sign corresponds with Sagittarius, the Archer; in Hebrew the symbol is called keshet, a bow). (More about the Zodiac in Jewish tradition)   [*] Ta'anit 1:5       KISLEV Table of Contents