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Perashat HaChodesh in Jewish Thought Source 1: Shemot Ch. 12 - Rashi

בחידושה לבנה הראהו - הזה החדש( ב) ראש לך יהיה מתחדש כשהירח לו ואמר על, פשוטו מידי יוצא מקרא ואין. חודש מנין לסדר ראש יהיה זה, לו אמר ניסן חדש

:שלישי סיון, שני קרוי אייר שיהא, החדשים

באיזו הלבנה מולד על משה נתקשה - הזה והראה, לקדש ראויה ותהיה תראה שיעור

כזה לו ואמר, ברקיע הלבנה את באצבע לו היה לא והלא, הראהו וכיצד. וקדש ראה

( כח ו שמות) שנאמר, ביום אלא עמו מדבר, צותו ביום( לח ז ויקרא', )ה דבר ביום ויהי

, והלאה' ה צוה אשר היום מן( כג טו במדבר) פרשה לו נאמרה החמה לשקיעת סמוך אלא

:חשכה עם והראהו, זו

“He showed him the moon at its moment of renewal and told him: ‘When the moon renews itself, it will be Rosh Chodesh - the advent of a new month. However, the verse should not be understood other than in accordance with the words themselves (kipeshuto). As regards the month of Nissan God told him ‘This will be the first of the system of months, Iyar will be called the second month, Sivan the third etc’. THIS MONTH: Moshe found it difficult to grasp the exact point and size at which one can sanctify the moon. God pointed to the moon with His finger and showed him saying; “look at this! when you see this, call it holy.” And how could he show him by night? Does God not restrict his communication to Moshe to the day? ... He spoke to him at sundown and the visual demonstration was at night.”

Rav Alex Israel: How does God respond to such a challenge? How might we expect God to react? Moshe is having some difficulty in understanding the concept when it is described to him in words. In response, God chooses to teach him “out of the classroom”. They go on a “field trip”. They leave the walls of the Beit Midrash and choose to look up at the moon Moshe has an educational need and “lo habayshan lamed - the bashful will not be a successful student.” He is not afraid to challenge God when he fails to understand a particular detail. And God in turn, is prepared to invent new modes of learning, new pedagogic frameworks, in order to teach his student. Rashi tells us that usually God did not appear to Moshe at night. This time he did. Why? Because Moshe is his student and Moshe needs to learn. Rashi teaches us here, a profound message. That in the teaching of Torah, we must be creative. We must use new methods. God could have told Moshe the Halakha that is quoted in other contexts that even a prophet will not receive Nevuah at night. Yes, this “field trip” breaks all the rules! But God doesn’t allow anything to get in the way of this “master class”. God invents a new framework in which Moshe can understand . And we too may learn a lesson. A teacher must always try to find new, more successful methods to teach Torah and a student must always be determined and unashamed when learning

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Source 2: Gemara Eiruvin 54b

R. Eliyahu Hoffman: Everyone has heard (but let us review...) the famous story (see Gemara Eiruvin 54b) of Rabbi Preida and his less than gifted (but very diligent) student, who needed to review each new concept he learned four-hundred times before fully grasping it. Patiently Rabbi Preida studied with him, day after day. One day, when they were in the middle of reviewing, someone came and told Rabbi Preida that he was needed at a communal function. "When we finish reviewing four-hundred times, I will come," he said. When they reached the four-hundredth time, however, Rabbi Preida saw that his student was still not fully understanding. "Why is it, my son," he asked, "that today, even after reviewing four-hundred times you remain unclear?" "From the time they asked the Rebbe to come," he answered, "I lost my concentration. Each moment I kept saying to myself, 'Now the Rebbe is going to get up, now the Rebbe is going to get up.'" "Put your mind back into the studies," Rabbi Preida said, "and I will teach it to you again." And they reviewed the concept another four- hundred times. [By virtue of Rabbi Preida's patience and diligence in studying with his student four-hundred times, he was granted four- hundred years of life, and his entire generation was granted everlasting life in Gan Eden. (Gemara ibid.)]

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Source 3: Commentary of Ramban , חדשים ראש לכם הזה החדש וטעם. .. - חדשים ראש לכם הזה החדש( ב)

עד ושלישי שני החדשים כל ימנו וממנו, הראשון חדש ישראל אותו שימנו בכל כי, הגדול בנס זכרון זה שיהיה כדי, חדש עשר בשנים השנה תשלום

אלא, בתורה שם לחדשים אין כן ועל, נזכר הנס יהיה החדשים שנזכיר עת השני בחדש השנית בשנה ויהי ואומר(, א יט להלן) השלישי בחדש יאמר וכן(, א כט שם' )וגו לחודש באחד השביעי ובחדש(, יא י במדבר) הענן נעלה :כלם ,בשבת ושני בשבת אחד ממנו במנותינו השבת ביום הזכירה שתהיה וכמו

החדש במנותינו מצרים ביציאת הזכירה כך(, ח כ להלן) אפרש כאשר שהרי, לשנה הזה המנין שאין, לגאולתינו והשלישי השני והחדש הראשון

, השנה תקופת האסיף וחג( כב לד להלן) דכתיב, מתשרי שנותינו תחלת ולתשרי ראשון ניסן לחדש כשנקרא כן אם, השנה בצאת( טז כג שם) וכתיב, לכם הוא ראשון טעם וזה. אליה ושביעי לגאולה ראשון פתרונו, שביעי

:גאולתינו לזכרון לו שנקרא, לכם ראשון הוא אבל, בשנה ראשון שאיננו “The children of Israel should mark this month as the first, and should count months in relation to this one; the second, the third, to the twelfth month. This is to ensure that we remember the great miracle (of Yetziat Mitzrayim - the Exodus) for whenever we mention the month, we will (effectively) be mentioning the miracle. That is why there are no names of months in the Torah, but the Torah will say (for example: “And it came to pass in the third month”(19:1) or “In the second month of the second year”(Bamidbar 10:11). This is the same notion as our counting the days of the week in relation to Shabbat. And this is why it says in the verse ‘it shall be the first of the months of the year FOR YOU’. In truth it is not the first month of the year (as the world was created in Tishri), but it is the first month for you as it is a remembrance of our redemption.”

א ה"ר ירושלמי) מבבל עמנו עלו חדשים שמות ואמרו, הענין זה רבותינו הזכירו וכבר

היה מתחלה כי, בזה והסבה, אצלנו שמות להם היו לא מתחלה כי(, ט מח ר"ב, ב הכתוב שאמר מה ונתקיים מבבל עלינו כאשר אבל, מצרים ליציאת זכר מניינם

כי מצרים מארץ ישראל בני את העלה אשר' ה חי עוד יאמר ולא( טו - יד טז ירמיה) החדשים לקרא חזרנו, צפון מארץ ישראל בני את הביא ואשר העלה אשר' ה חי אם

השמות אלה כי. י"הש העלנו ומשם עמדנו שם כי להזכיר, בבל בארץ שנקראים בשם ו עזרא, ז א זכריה) בבל נביאי בספרי רק ימצא ולא, פרסיים שמות וזולתם אייר ניסן

, ניסן חדש הוא הראשון בחדש הכתוב אמר ולכן(. ז ג) אסתר ובמגילת( א א נחמיה, טו קוראים הם כך ומדי פרס בארצות הגוים היום ועוד(. שם) הגורל הוא פור הפיל כמו

עד עשינו כאשר השנית הגאולה בחדשים נזכיר והנה. כמונו וכלם ותשרי ניסן אותם :בראשונה הנה

“....The Talmud Yerushalmi states that “They brought new (month) names back from Babylon”. This is because originally we had no names for the months because the months were a memorial to yetziat

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Mitzrayim. But when we returned from Bavel (Babylon) and the prophetic verse was fulfilled “It shall no longer be said ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites out of Egypt’ but rather ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites out of the Northland and out of all the lands to which he had banished them’” (Jeremiah 16:14-15) then we began to use the names as they are called in Bavel so that we would remind ourselves of our stay there and that God brought us out. For

these names; Nissan, Iyar, Sivan etc. are all Persian names ..” Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch points to the Halakhic side of this law: that there must be two witnesses, they must be received in Beit Din by a full panel of the Judiciary. The month is not Rosh Chodesh unless it is formally proclaimed by the Beit Din. Sometimes the Beit Din can proclaim the New Moon without even a sighting (if the month is already 30 days). It is a formal process, not a spontaneous primitive rite. But what is its significance?

Source 4: Rav Hirsch commentary on the Torah

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“Were the beginning of our months and consequently the dates of our Moadim to be fixed exactly by the astronomical phases of the planets so that the... moon automatically made Rosh Chodesh and the moadim, then we and our God too, would appear to be bound by the blind and unalterable laws of nature and our Moed of a new moon ...would give impetus to the idolatry of the cult of Nature.... It is not the conjunction of the moon with the sun, not the moon receiving the rays of illumination afresh ...but each time the moon finds the sun again, each time it receives its rays of light ... God wants His people to find Him again and to be illuminated with fresh rays of His light wherever and however, in running their course, they have had to pass through periods of darkness and obscurity. ...The moon finding itself again in conjunction with the sun is only to be a model for our finding ourselves again with God. The rejuvenation of the moon, a picture of, and incentive to, our own rejuvenation. Moed is literally a conjunction (meeting)... we have to MAKE our Chodesh and to FIX the day of our Moed. ...Hachodesh hazeh LACHEM Rosh Chodashim - “This renewal of the moon shall be a beginning of renewals to YOU.” i.e. noticing the fresh birth of the moon shall induce you to achieve a similar rejuvenation.

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You are to fix your moons, your periods of time by taking note of this ever fresh recurring rejuvenation...It is not a question of actual months but of OUR months - LACHEM... Without this regularly bringing ourselves back to a commitment with our God, ...we should always slide farther and farther from Him, always be getting more and more estranged from Him; quite unconsciously and without noticing it, our natures would become less and less responsive to the light of his spirit , our natures would become darker and darker until - like Pharaoh- our hearts would be hard and heavy and even the most startling signs and the most affecting wonders would not achieve rebirth.”

Source 5: Text of Birkat Halevana

ִקים. ּוְברּוַח ִפיו א ְשחָּ רָּ רו בָּ ם. ֲאֶשר ְבַמֲאמָּ עולָּ , ֱאלֵהינּו ֶמֶלְך הָּ ה ְייָּ רּוְך ַאתָּ בִָּשים ּוְשֵמִחים ם. שָּ ֶהם ֶשּלא ְיַשּנּו ֶאת ַתְפִקידָּ ַתן לָּ ם. חק ּוְזַמן נָּ אָּ ל ְצבָּ כָּ

תו ֱאֶמת. ַלֲעשות ְרצון קוֵניהֶ ש. ם. פוֵעל ֱאֶמת ֶשְפֻעּלָּ ְתַחדֵּ תִּ ְוַלְלָבָנה ָאַמר שֶׁר ש ְכמוָתּה. ּוְלָפאֵּ ְתַחדֵּ ים ְלהִּ ידִּ ם ֲעתִּ הֵּ ן שֶׁ י ָבטֶׁ ת ַלֲעמּוסֵּ רֶׁ ְפאֶׁ ת תִּ רֶׁ ֲעטֶׁ

ם ְכבוד ַמְלכּותו: ִשים ְליוְצָרם ַעל שֵּ ה ְייָּ ' ְמַחֵדש ֳחדָּ רּוְך ַאתָּ בָּ :

ן טֹו ֵאל: ג"פְבִסימָּ ל ִיְשרָּ נּו ּוְלכָּ ב ְתִהי לָּ

ְך ְך ָברּוְך בוְראֵּ ְך ָברּוְך עושְך ָברּוְך קונֵּ : ְכֵשם ֶשֲאַנְחנּו ְמַרְקִדים ָברּוְך יוְצרֵּירקד ג' פעמים ְכֶנְגֵדְך. ְוֵאין ֲאַנְחנּו ְיכֹוִלים ִלַגע ַבְך ַכְך ִאם ְיַרְקדּו ֲאֵחִרים

נּו שּום רֹוֶשם ְכֶנְגֵדנּו ְלהַ נּו ְולֹא ַיֲעשּו בָּ נּו ְולֹא ִיְשְלטּו בָּ ִזיֵקנּו, לֹא יּוְכלּו ִלַגע בֶָּבן ִיְדמּו ְזרוֲעָך ִבְגדל אָּ ֶבן: כָּ אָּ ַפַחד ִבְגדל ְזרוֲעָך ִיְדמּו כָּ ה וָּ תָּ ִתפל ֲעֵליֶהם ֵאימָּ

ִוד ֶמֶלְך ִיש ה ֲעֵליֶהם ִתפל: ג"פ: דָּ תָּ ַפַחד ֵאימָּ ֵמן וָּ ֵמן אָּ ֵאל ַחי ְוַקיָּם: ג"פ: אָּ רֶָּעד ֶעד וָּ ֶעד וָּ ה: וָּ ה ֶסלָּ ה ֶסלָּ ֵמן: ֶנַצח ֶנַצח ֶנַצח: ֶסלָּ :אָּ

י ְרבִּ ש ְבקִּ ים ְורּוַח ָנכֹון ַחדֵּ י ֱאֹלהִּ ב ָטהֹור ְבָרא לִּ ז' (תהלים נא, יב) .לֵּ פעמים

י א ְזרִּ ן ָיבֹא עֶׁ ַאיִּ ים מֵּ ָהרִּ ל הֶׁ יַני אֶׁ ָשא עֵּ יר ַלַמֲעלֹות אֶׁ ם ב. שִּ עִּ י מֵּ ְזרִּ ְיהָוה עֶׁץ ם ָוָארֶׁ ה ָשַמיִּ ָך ג. ֹעשֵּ ָך ַאל ָינּום ֹשְמרֶׁ ן ַלמֹוט ַרְגלֶׁ תֵּ ה לֹא ָינּום ד. ַאל יִּ נֵּ הִּ

ל ְשָראֵּ ר יִּ יָשן שֹומֵּ ה ִצְּלָך ַעל ַיד ְיִמיֶנָך ה. ְולֹא יִּ ה ֹשְמֶרָך ְיהוָּ ם ו. ְיהוָּ יֹומָּה ְילָּ ֵרַח ַבּלָּ ה ְויָּ ע ִיְשֹמר ֶאת ז. ַהֶשֶמש לֹא ַיֶככָּ ל רָּ ְרָך ִמכָּ ה ִיְשמָּ ְיהוָּ

ה ְוַעד עֹולָּם ח. ַנְפֶשָך ר ֵצאְתָך ּובֹוֶאָך ֵמַעתָּ ה ִיְשמָּ . )ְיהוָּ

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