Shemos 12A – Sanctification of the New Moon – קידוש החודש

א וַיֹּאמֶר השם אֶל-מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל-אַהֲרֹן, בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר.
ב הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים:  רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם, לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה

The first part of verse 2 הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים cannot mean “this month is the first of the months”. If so it would be exactly what is stated at the end of the verse.

Rather it means this renewal of the moon. (The primary meaning of חדש is not “month” but renewal and rejuvenation.)

As stated in verse 1, this mitzvah was given to Moshe and Aharon. And in verse 2 it states this renewal of the moon is given לכם – to you. As explained in the Talmud (Rosh HaShana 22a and 25b) the sanctification of the new moon was given to the leaders/representatives of the nation, ie. the Sanhedrin.

There is much more to this declaration of the Sanhedrin than a precise astronomical determination. It is not the occurance among the heavenly bodies, nor is it in honor of this occurance that we celebrate our New Moon. This is seen in the following:

• If the day of the actual new moon’s arrival was cloudy and no witnesses could see it, even though the Sanhedrin calculated the astronomical day, that day would not be declared the start of the month.
• Even if the entire Sanhedrin, or even the entire nation, witnessed the New Moon, but there wasn’t time in the day to declare it officially, that day would not become the first of the month. The following day would be the first of the next month.
• Out of various considerations (ie. that Yom Kippur and Shabbos shouldn’t fall out on consecutive days), the Sanhedrin could declare the 31st day as Rosh Chodesh even if the moon was sighted on the 30th.

There are a number of unique laws regarding קידוש החודש:

This mitzvah has the characteristic of a משפט as indicated by the following:

• The Sanhedrin could only declare the new moon in the daytime. Unlike monetary cases.
• In order to declare the new moon, there was a need to have at least three judges present. This is unlike monetary cases. There were no exceptions allowed.
• There was a requirement to have a minimum of two witnesses, unlike איסורין (cases about determining facts that would affect prohibitions) where one witness was sufficient (based on the the principal of עד אחד נאמן באיסורין.) Two witnesses is a requirement for cases of personal relationships.

We see from all of the above that the decisive factor on which the beginning of the new month depends is the sanctifying enactment of the Sanhedrin, the representatives of the Jewish community.

All the holidays are called מועדים and so is the beginning of the month. The holidays are called Moed informed by their historical events or seasonal nuances. Rosh Chodesh is a purer form of Moed. It has only the concept of Moed.

The root of Moed is יעד – to call a meeting. מועד means a place or a time designated for a meeting. מועדים are designated times to meet with God.

This meeting should be voluntary from both sides. God wishes that His people will come to Him. He sets a general time. He allows a certain amount of latitude within which they themselves may set the exact date for the meeting. So the meeting will be by mutual choice.

All of our holidays are linked to these monthly “meetings”. This is not a fixed time, based on what Nature presents. If it was, our holidays could be misunderstood as a pagan celebration of the meeting of heavenly bodies.

Each time the moon reunites with the sun and receives from it new light, God wants his people to find their way back to Him, so that His light may again shine forth on them. No matter how dark and distant we have become, the model of the moon serves as inspiration for us to pull closer to God.

This is why the determination of the beginning of each month depends on the Sanhedrin’s (who represent the nation) declaration.

In light of all of the above, the meaning of the verse reads as follows: הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים. This renewal of the moon shall be for you a beginning of renewals. You should take inspiration from the renewal of the moon and do the same לָכֶם for yourselves.

The Jewish sanctification of the new moon is an institution for the moral and spiritual rejuvenation of Israel, to which Israel must always strive anew at regular intervals, and which it will achieve through its re-encounter with God.

This is contrary to paganism. Paganism knows no renewal. The pagan view sees all things, Man, the world, the gods, forever locked in their situation. The gods are stuck in their ways and Man has no free will.

Egyptian culture was deeply immersed in this view. Even the plagues couldn’t shake Pharaoh out of his view of the world.

The first command God gave the Jewish people in its formation, prior to leaving Egypt, was the sanctification of the moon. God was teaching us we have the capacity for change and renewal.

(In the next post, we will discuss the concept of the “year” that is constant as well as the year that begins in Spring vs. the year that begins in Fall.)

Shemos 12: 1-2
pages 154-163