Tekufah

Tekufot (Hebrew: תקופות, romanized: təqufoṯ, singular təqufā, literally, "turn" or "cycle") are the four seasons of the year recognized by Talmud writers.

Ibn Ezra ridicules the fear that the tekufah water will cause swelling and ascribes the belief to the "gossip of old women.

"[3] Hezekiah da Silva, however, warns his co-religionists to pay no attention to ibn Ezra's remarks, asserting that in his time, many persons who drank water when the tekufah occurred fell ill and died in consequence.

Da Silva says the principal danger lies in the first tekufah (Nisan), and the beadle made a special announcement of its occurrence of the congregation.

[5] Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin required that a new iron nail should be lowered using a string into the water used for baking matza during Tekufat Nisan.

Mosaic pavement of a 6th-century synagogue at Beth Alpha . Signs of the zodiac surround Helios , the central chariot of the Sun (a Greek motif), while the corners depict the 4 tekufot of the year, solstices and equinoxes , each named for the month in which it occurs-- Tishrei , Tevet , Nisan , Tamuz .