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Ubi
Think about this:
July used to be called SEXtember = 6th month
SEPTember = 7th month
OCTober = 8th month
NOVember = 9th month
DECember = 10th month
Jan = 11th
Feb = 12thThats why February was left holding the bag as the shortest month. It a leap year they simply added a day to the “end” of the year.
All this shows how ancient out mesorah is. history of 2500 years ago is reflected in the way we do mitzvos.
Actually the goyishe leap year is not the cause of us pushing off VTUM to Dec 6. The reason we push it off to Dec 6 is because according to our Cheshbon of tekufas which we have been counting for 5780 years, the sequence of fall tekufa falls out 3am, next year, 9am, next year 3pm, next year 9pm. In every 4th year when it falls out at 9pm, is it technically the next day already according to our reckoning of the start of the day at 6pm. So we push off VTUM to Dec 6. It just so happens that it follows the same pattern as the Julian calendar leap years, so we use that as a reference. The way it works out is when the NEXT year has a Feb 29, we push off VTUM the year earlier.
The Avudraham writes that if THAT year is a Julian leap year we push off a day. But he wrote that only according to the ancient calendar in which the year started March 1. According to that calendar we add a day the same year as the goyish leap year. But according to the currently universally accepted convention that the year starts Jan 1, we have to look to the NEXT year to determine if we should add a day.