Rosh Chodesh

 

In order to understand the special symbolism of Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon, let us examine the very origin of the moon's special luminance and of its phases.

 

We commonly understand that the world was perfect in its adherence to God's plan until the sin of Adam and Chava in eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.  However, our Sages inform us that there was an aspect of sin even before the creation of man, and they tell us of the "sin of the moon."

 

The Torah records that on the fourth day God created "the two great luminaries," seemingly equal.  Yet the verse goes on to refer to the "greater luminary" and the "lesser luminary."  Rashi explains that while originally the sun and the moon were equal, the moon became jealous and was punished by being diminished into the "lesser luminary" (Bereshit 1:16).

 

One understanding is that all along true radiance originated only with the sun.  However, originally the moon was able to reflect and transmit the full might of the sun, and therefore shone like sunlight.  The moon mistakenly thought that it itself could radiate light!  In order to clarify matters, God was obliged to diminish the moon, so that its light was both less and also varied depending on its angle to the sun.

 

The human analog is that at the beginning of time the whole earth was filled with the glory of God.  Every aspect of creation radiated spirituality.  Ironically, it was this very profusion of Godliness that led people to mistakenly think that spirituality could originate in the material world itself.  This belief is the root of idolatry or pantheism.  So, the roots of jealousy and idolatry were established already on the fourth day of creation!

 

The moon's phases are a reminder and a caution to always keep in mind that all light and all good have their source only in the One God.  He is unchanging, but all His creatures, whose splendor is derivative, wax and wane depending on whether they are oriented towards holiness or away from it.

 

(1) YOM KIPPUR KATAN:  Many communities have a custom to fast on the day before Rosh Chodesh, or at least to say special penitential prayers at mincha, and they call this "Yom Kippur Katan" - a miniature Day of Repentance.

 

When a person sins, he turns away from God, and his guilt occludes the Divine light which otherwise permeates our existence.  This is symbolized by the eve of Rosh Chodesh, when the moon reflects no light in our direction.  In the following days, the moon slowly begins to turn towards the sun, and to direct more and more of its light to earth.  This corresponds to the process of repentance, where we reject wrongdoing and slowly begin to turn towards God until we actually shine with holiness.

 

(4) A YOM TOV FOR WOMEN:  The Torah singles out Rosh Chodesh as a festive day with a special sacrifice, but not as a Yom Tov when labor is forbidden.  Even so, many places have a custom for women to celebrate Rosh Chodesh as a holiday of partial rest (SA OC 417; Yerushalmi Ta'anit 1:6).

 

The Midrash says that Rosh Chodesh was given to women as a holiday because they refused to participate in the sin of the Golden Calf.  For when the people demanded that Aharon make them "gods" that would go before then on the way, Aharon suggested that the men remove and bring the earrings "in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters" (Shemot 32:1-2).  But the next verse records that they brought the rings from their ears - not those of their wives.  We see that the women resisted their husbands' requests to contribute gold for the idol (Pirkei de-Rebbe Eliezer chapter 44; Rashi Megilla 22b).

 

Some commentators add that in donating for the Mishkan (Tabernacle) the women were more eager than the men, as the Torah says (Shemot 35:22) the men came "al ha-nashim" - "after the women" (Tashbetz II:244).

 

At the beginning of this chapter we explained that exactly because the world at the time of the creation was without sin, and all of God's works shone with Divine radiance, it was easy to fall into the error of idolatry - the misunderstanding that material creatures are an independent source of spirituality.  The first person to make this mistake was Chava.  She was tempted to eat of the tree of knowledge so that she could become "like God," ignoring the fact that any elevation she would receive from the fruit must itself come from God.  Chava, and to a lesser extent Adam, were like the moon reflecting the light of the sun and thinking that they themselves were true luminaries!

 

The decree of mortality on mankind reminded us that our own spiritual radiance is only derivative.  And this awareness is more acute among women who experienced an extra loss of status, becoming subordinate to their husbands (Bereshit 3:16).  This is like the diminishment that was decreed on the moon to remind it that its illumination is only reflective and originates with the sun.

 

Many men in the desert repeated the original mistake of the moon.  They forgot that holiness originates only with God, and thought that they could create holiness, that the golden calf, which was a human invention, could serve as a spiritual guide.  Some even preferred this kind of "spirituality" over that of the divinely-ordained Mishkan.  For them, the moon became an accuser, a reminder of their error.

 

The women, on the other hand, learned from the mistake of the moon.  They were not fooled into thinking that we human beings have our own spiritual radiance, which shines from our own creations.  They refused to take part in the making of the calf, and conversely participated eagerly in contributing to the Mishkan to demonstrate that God is the source of all holiness.  So for them the moon was a defender, a reminder of a hard-earned lesson.

 

Some commentators suggest that Rosh Chodesh was originally a holiday for men only, but after the sin of the calf became a holiday for women only (Tur OC 417).  Now we can understand why.  Before the calf, the moon was an accuser especially to the women, reminding them of the error of Chava that paralleled that of the moon.  Afterwards, the phases of the moon became a defender for the women but an accuser for the men, who failed to learn from its experience.

 

(7-15) SANCTIFYING THE MOON:  Every month when we see the new, waxing moon we say a special blessing that acknowledges that God "renews the months."

 

The blessing mentions that God "said to the moon that she will be renewed as a crown of glory to those borne from the womb." The expression "those borne from the womb," from Yishayahu 46:3, refers to the Jewish people, who as God's nation are borne and elevated by Him from birth.  So this blessing views the renewal of the moon as a symbol of the national renewal of the Jewish people, a sign that the light of our redemption is slowly waxing.

 

WOMEN'S LIBERATION

 

The Hebrew expression "amusei baten" which we translate "those borne from the womb" could also be translated "those who bear in the womb," thus referring to women.  The special prayers we say as part of the sanctification of the moon mentions that in the future the moon will be restored and shine like the sun; likewise, in the future the curse of Chava will be removed and the subordinate status of womankind will come to an end.

 

This is a common topic in Chasidic thought - that the female, who is currently subordinate to the male, will in the future rise up to be the "crown of her husband" (Mishlei 12:4). She will rise up to be above the male and encompassing him, as a crown is above the wearer and encompasses the head. 

 

SANCTIFICATION OF THE MOON AND SANCTIFICATION OF THE MONTH

 

When the Sanhedrin, the supreme legal body of the Jewish people, used to convene, then the months were determined not by a fixed calendar, but rather by actual observation.  Witnesses would come and testify that they had seen the new moon, and on this basis the judges would sanctify the month, declaring the day of testimony to be the first day of the new month.  The judges who examined the witnesses had to have a detailed understanding of astronomy, so that they could verify that the "new moon" seen by the witnesses had the correct size, orientation and position.

 

Jewish tradition confers immense importance on the observation and understanding of the movements of the stars and planets.  The Torah instructs us to:

"Keep and perform [its precepts], for this is your wisdom and insight in the eyes of the nations, who will hear of all these laws and say, What a wise and discerning nation!" (Devarim 4:6)

Our Sages learned from this that it is a mitzva to be expert in calculating the seasons and the movements of the stars (Shabbat 75a).

 

The precise, yet involved, movements of the heavenly bodies have always been considered a particularly awe-inspiring aspect of the natural world.  The heavens are so immense and so cowing, yet astronomy shows us that even the vast and distant stars are subject to precise laws.  By studying the movements of the stars and planets, we gain an appreciation of the awesome scope of God's sovereignty, and we are reminded that we, like the stars, are subject to precise laws that we should strive to adhere to faithfully.