The thesis is that there is a connection between the traditional Hebrew dating and the two Mahzorim (cycles) that are observed in Jewish tradition - the "small" 19-year cycle which is the basis of the Jewish calendar, and the "big" 28-year cycle which determines the year in which Birkat HaHammah, the Blessing of the Sun, is recited. Mathematically, if one knows the position of a certain year in both cycles, one can compute the number associated to the year modulo 532 (19 times 28), given that the starting point of both cycles is year 1.
The story really starts with the biblical account of Creation, according to which the Sun was created on the fourth day. Jewish tradition commemorates the creation of the Sun by reciting a special Blessing when the Spring equinox is thought to be occurring at nightfall before the fourth day of the week, the moment the Sun is assumed to have been created (Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 59b). Jewish law stipulates that the Blessing be said every 10,227 (28 times 365.25) days. The next date set is April 8 2009 (Hebrew year 5769). Because the astronomical year is slightly shorter than 365.25 days, the date of the Blessing shifts away from the Spring equinox as history proceeds. A simple astronomical calculation shows that 84 cycles of 28 years before 5769, in the Jewish year 3417, the Spring equinox was in the beginning of the night before the fourth day of the week as stipulated by the Talmud.
It seems that the astronomically astute Jewish sages of the time concluded that the Jewish year 3417 was a first year in the cycle of 28 years. Moreover, these same Jewish sages would have reasoned that year 3421 was a first year in the 19-year cycle, in accordance with an ancient tradition that the world was created in the first week of the month of Nissan. They would have concluded this from the Spring equinox occurring early in the night leading to the fourth day of the Jewish month of Nissan in the Jewish year 3421.
And so, the Jewish sages at the time could argue for a determination of the position of their years in both cycles and could therefore compute the absolute year-count modulo 532 years. They were left with a number of options, 532 years apart from each other, and they chose the dating closest to what seemed to be the truth according to a literal interpretation of biblical accounts. The sages legally defined future equinox times by instituting the 28-year cycle, to protect the Hebrew dating against future change, and to leave a remembrance to what they had done.
The bottom line: A thorough look at the Jewish calendar and in particular at issue of the Blessing of the Sun shows that the Jewish year-count is not really from the creation of the world. We have no dispute with Science about the age of the Universe.
It follows that the Nissan and Tishrei datings of Creation are halachic inventions. Regarding these datings, although I presented things in the opposite fashion, I actually propose that the Nissan dating was an adaption to the year count. In other words, the year count was determined prophetically, and the Nissan dating was invented to support it. The Tishrei dating contradicts such support and must have been invented much later, to support the Baharad system.
In other words, the prophets and the sages tell us artificial stories about Creation to make sure that we would know in which year we live. Clearly, then, the year count is very important. Clearly, then, the importance of the year count does not derive from its historical correctness. Rather, the year count is important because it is the calendar of the redemption.
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