The Two-Day Rosh Chodesh (2)

Translated and adapted by Rav Eliezer Kwass

 

 

          Last week's article discussed the approach of the Tosafot and the Rambam to the need for two days of Rosh Chodesh after a thirty-day month (even on a biblical level).  Rosh Chodesh is linked up with two different aspects of reality, nature and history.  On the one hand, it is the day within which the twenty-nine-and-a-half day lunar cycle, an astronomical phenomenon, ends.  This always takes place within the thirtieth day after the previous Rosh Chodesh and becomes the first day of Rosh Chodesh.  However, the count of the days of the month, useful for the human calendar, only begins on the next day.  This is the second day of Rosh Chodesh, linked up, like the rest of the holidays, with history.  The holidays and their Mussaf sacrifices celebrate historical events while Rosh Chodesh creates the framework for measuring history.  The Rosh Chodesh Mussaf sacrifice, as well as the Levites' song for Rosh Chodesh in the Temple, were performed only on the second day of Rosh Chodesh according to some opinions.

 

DAY 1: AN ALTERNATE APPROACH -

KEDUSHAT YISRAEL AND KEDUSHAT HA-ZEMAN

 

          Another way of viewing the first day of Rosh Chodesh is possible.  A passage in Pesachim 117b deals with the text of berakhot recited on Shabbat and the holidays. 

 

 

Rav said: I found the elders of Pumbedita sitting and           saying, "On Shabbat one should end the berakha of both prayer (the Amida) and kiddush with 'Mekadesh Ha-shabbat;' on Yom Tov one should end with 'Mekadesh Yisrael Ve-hazemanim.'"  I told them, "On the contrary, in prayer, whether on Shabbat or on Yamim Tovim - 'Mekadesh Yisrael;' in kiddush on Shabbat one should end 'Mekadesh Ha-shabbat' and on Yom Tov 'Mekadesh Yisrael Ve-hazemanim.'"

 

          Rava sees two separate issues expressing themselves on the Yamim Tovim in prayer and in berakhot: 1. KEDUSHAT YISRAEL, the sanctity of Israel; and 2. KEDUSHAT HA-ZEMANIM, the sanctity of the holidays.  On Yamim Tovim (and also on Shabbat - see Rav Soloveitchik's Shiurim Le-zekher Abba Mari vol. 2, Shiur 8) the day's holiness manifests Israel's own holiness.  God has given Israel the power to sanctify other things, places and times.  Each of these two sanctities is mentioned in the appropriate framework.  Prayer does not focus on the holiness of the day.  However, in communal prayer the Jewish people stands as a congregation before God, so the sanctity of Israel is emphasized.  Kiddush made over wine, on the other hand, is devoted to the sanctity of the day, so kedushat ha-yom is mentioned in kiddush. 

 

          Even though Rava's approach to the text of prayer is rejected, his assumption about the relationship between kedushat Yisrael and kedushat ha-zemanim stands. 

 

ROSH CHODESH: DAY 1 VS. DAY 2

 

          These two elements, the sanctity of Israel and that of time, are both present on Rosh Chodesh, but in a different way than on the holidays.  Unlike on the holidays, these two elements stand independently on Rosh Chodesh.  The holiness of time is connected to the second day of Rosh Chodesh, designated as the first day of the calendar month.  It is on the first day of Rosh Chodesh, though, that the new moon appears and is sanctified.  Israel's holiness is then expressed when the nation uses its power to sanctify time, in order to determine the months and years of the Jewish calendar. 

 

          Based on this understanding we might be able to come to a richer understanding of R. Eliezer son of R. Tzaddok's statement (Sanhedrin 10b) that:

 

"In its time (the thirtieth of the month, the proper time for the new moon to appear) the Beit Din sanctifies the new month, whereas not in its time (the thirty-first day) they do not sanctify it, because it has already been sanctified by Heaven (and automatically becomes the first day of the next month)."

 

          In other words, kiddush ha-chodesh, where Beit Din actively sanctify the month, is only connected with the first day of Rosh Chodesh.  The second day of Rosh Chodesh does not relate to sanctifying the month, but rather to its calendar beginning. 

 

          The first and second days of Rosh Chodesh, then, each manifest a different aspect of the holidays - the first, kedushat Yisrael, and the second, kedushat ha-zeman.  In this scheme, the first day of Rosh Chodesh is its main day.  Unlike the other holidays, nothing external to the day happened or happens on Rosh Chodesh.  The only event of the day is the bringing about of the existence of a holy day.  Here Rosh Chodesh has an advantage over the rest of the holidays.  Their holiness was also Israel-determined, but via the mechanism of kiddush ha-chodesh.  The main day of Rosh Chodesh is the first, when holiness is created, not the second, which exists as a holy day only after having been passively affected by the first day. 

 

          We might qualify, though, that the first day of Rosh Chodesh is central only now that we work with a fixed, predetermined calendar.  The first day of Rosh Chodesh is the day of the new moon, celebrating the ability to create holiness, and the second is the first of the month.  However, when the calendar was actively sanctified by the Beit Din month after month, this was not necessarily the case.  When witnesses did not come on the first day (the thirtieth of the previous month), the second day was automatically made into Rosh Chodesh.  The first was not the day of sanctification.  It was merely a day of marking when the month was expected to have begun

 

          Indeed, the Rambam clearly indicates that his explanation of the two day Rosh Chodesh relates to the permanent calendar.  [See Sanhedrin 10b - a dispute between the tana'im about the relationship between "kiddush by Heaven" and "kiddush by the Beit Din".  See also the Tosafot s.v. "She-k'var," and the Responsa Or Gadol #58:9-11.]

 

 

KEDUSHAT HA-YOM ON ROSH CHODESH:

BAVLI AND YERUSHALMI

 

          The status of Rosh Chodesh as a day with kedushat ha-yom seems to be a matter of dispute between the two Talmuds.  The Bavli (Chagiga 18a) explicitly states that "Rosh Chodesh is not called 'mikra kodesh.'"  It views the Ya'aleh Ve-yavo prayer as a way of relating to what happens on the day ("mei'ein ha-me'ora"), but not as reflecting any holiness, as on the holidays (see Beitza 17a and Shabbat 24a).  The Yerushalmi (Berakhot 9:2), on the other hand, records a dispute about the text of Mussaf on Rosh Chodesh.  One opinion says that "Ve-hasi'einu" should be said.  The other says that "zeman" should.  The Pnei Moshe explains that "zeman" refers to opening the main section of Mussaf with "va-titen lanu" ("You gave us this Rosh Chodesh day...").  This second formulation is akin to that of the holidays, relating to kedushat ha-yom, holiness.  [Our text of the opening of the prayer only relates to the sacrifices brought on Rosh Chodesh, and is a verbal replacement of the offering ("u-neshalma parim sefateinu").]  The Machzor Vitri (p. 361) goes so far as to explain that the berakha should end "Mekadesh Yisrael Ve-hazemanim"(!). 

 

          Even if one does not take it as far as the Machzor Vitri, it is clear that the Yerushalmi connects Rosh Chodesh with the holidays.  Likewise, the Tosefta (Berakhot 3:14) refers to Ya'aleh Ve-yavo, even with regard to Rosh Chodesh, as "kedushat ha-yom" (the prayer that speaks of the holiness of the day) [see Tosefta Kifshuta]. 

 

 

ERETZ YISRAEL AND BAVEL

 

          The Machzor Vitri points to this issue, whether Rosh Chodesh is considered as having kedushat ha-yom, as one of the differences between the community in the Land of Israel and that of Bavel.  He writes (p. 361):

 

The custom of the Land of Israel is different from that of Bavel... for they have different customs, traditions, and halakhic rulings.  According to them [those in Israel] "Ve-hasi'einu" should be said on Rosh Chodesh ... and even end "Barukh ata Hashem... Ha-zemanim..." and we in Bavel do not say that on Rosh Chodesh.

 

          Based on the above, we suggest the following: The difference between the custom of the community in Israel and that of Chutz La-aretz is rooted in their different status with regard to kiddush ha-chodesh in general (at least according to the Rambam - see especially Sefer Ha-mitzvot, Aseh #153, and Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Kiddush Ha-chodesh 5:1).  Not only the act of kiddush ha-chodesh must be done in Israel, but the kiddush itself relates exclusively to the people living in Eretz Yisrael.  According to the Rambam even the present, predetermined, fixed calendar is dependent on a continuous Jewish presence in Israel, for kiddush ha-chodesh works through the kedusha of the Jews living in Eretz Yisrael.  Even if the present kiddush ha-chodesh is seen as being effected by all of Israel, the ACT of kiddush might still be viewed as only relating to Eretz Yisrael. 

 

          Perhaps, then, Rosh Chodesh is seen in Eretz Yisrael as having kedushat ha-yom; the text of its Mussaf, according to one opinion in the Yerushalmi, is similar to that of the holidays and the recitation of "Ya'aleh Ve-yavo" reflects its kedusha.  The custom of the Eretz Yisrael community (spoken of by the Machzor Vitri) and the approach brought up by the Yerushalmi reflect a difference in the status of Rosh Chodesh in Eretz Yisrael, not just an opinion that was prevalent there.  Only in Eretz Yisrael where kiddush ha-chodesh takes place, and only for the B'nei Eretz Yisrael on whom it is dependent, is Rosh Chodesh considered a day with kedushat ha-yom.  This suggestion is, of course, speculative, and demands further working out.

 

POSTSCRIPT

 

          This article and the previous one were originally given as a shiur in the yeshiva (in Alon Shvut) on Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Tammuz 5753.  A number of students' questions dealt with how the ideas presented here affect our understanding of Mussaf on Rosh Chodesh.  We present them as open questions for our readers:

 

          According to the approach based on the Shibbolei Haleket and the Tosefta, the Mussaf sacrifice was only offered on one of the two days, even though the need for two days is not based on doubt about the real day of Rosh Chodesh (sfeika deyoma).  If so, two questions arise:

1.  Why do we also say Mussaf on the first day of Rosh Chodesh? 

2.  Why do we say the verses pertaining to Rosh Chodesh on the second day of Rosh Hashana (the SECOND of Tishrei)?

 

 

[Adapted from an article in Daf Kesher #403, Elul 5753, vol. 4, pp. 439-441.]

 

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FOR FURTHER THOUGHT:

QUESTIONS FROM THE RESPONSA (Answer and sources will appear with the next article): 

- If one only realizes that he forgot Ya'aleh Ve-yavo in Shacharit after having already finished Mussaf, need he repeat Shacharit?

 

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*Answer to last week's "Questions from the Responsa":

          Can one skip Ya'aleh Ve-yavo of the Ma'ariv Shemoneh Esrei on Rosh Chodesh in order to quickly finish and be able to answer Kaddish with the tzibbur?   [The answer might be intuitively obvious, but - which two halakhic principles are relevant?]

 

          No, one cannot, says Rav Ovadia Yosef in Yechaveh Da'at 1:76, p. 222.  Why might one have thought to skip? 

1. Ya'aleh Ve-yavo is not repeated if forgotten at night (because kiddush ha-chodesh is not done at night).

2.  According to the Tashbetz (2:163), saying kedusha with the community is a biblical mitzva ("I will be sanctified in the midst of Israel"), while Ya'aleh Ve-yavo is rabbinic.

 

          Nevertheless, even one who is involved in a rabbinic mitzva need not leave it in order to fulfill a biblical mitzva - based on the principle "Ha-osek bi-mitzva patur min ha-mitzva" (while one is involved in one mitzva, he is absolved from any others.)