Rosh Chodesh
TORAH FOR CHRISTIANS
SEASON THREE EPISODE FOUR
ROSH CHODESH
New moon, full moon: What’s the big deal? A lot if you are a Jew. Let’s talk about the moon. I’m Rabbi Jordan Parr and this is Torah for Christians.
INTRO
Welcome to Torah for Christians. I’m Rabbi Jordan Parr.
Why is Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the month, so special? Simply put, ancient Jews lived their lives according to the cycles of the moon. Counting the months was essential to maintaining the agricultural calendar as well as determining when the holidays should occur. Failure to know either could lead to disaster for the people. Counting the lunar cycles, for example, helped to determine when to plant crops or when an animal was old enough to be sacrificed or even when first fruits could be brought to the Temple. It also helped to determine who could or could not serve in an army or how far along a woman was in her pregnancy. All these things and more depended upon counting the lunar cycles.
I often say that Biblical holidays fall either on a full moon or new moon – or they are dependent upon another holiday that does fall on a new or full moon. For example, Rosh HaShanah is a New Moon holiday, the 1st day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. The Torah tells us that Yom Kippur must fall 10 days later. This is but one of several times that we see one holiday tied to a New Moon celebration.
An example of a full moon festival determining another festival is Pesach, Passover. Pesach falls on the 15th day of the spring month of Nisan. The Torah commands us to celebrate Shavuot 50 days later.
Rosh HaShanah, the beginning of the religious year, is the only major new moon holy day on the Jewish calendar. Sukkot, Pesach, and Purim are all full moon holidays. Yom Kippur and Shavuot are tied to other holidays, as we just saw. Immediately we know then that Hanukkah, which begins on the 25th day of the winter month of Kislev, usually falling in December, is not a Biblical holiday since there is no connection to a new or full moon.
As we move into the Rabbinic Era, there was a great fixation on determining when a new month would begin. In our last podcast, when we talked about the Jewish calendar, I mentioned that the Rabbis would declare a new moon upon the testimony of two witnesses. Once they declared the new moon in Jerusalem, the rabbis would order a bonfire lit on Mount Scopus. Within a few hours, a series of bonfires would stretch from Jerusalem to Babylonia so that the Jews there would declare the new moon at the same time. This path went through Samaria, known today as the northern part of the West Bank. Shechem, today’s Ramallah, is in Samaria,
But there was a problem. The Samaritans lived along the path of the bonfires. The Samaritans were a mixed group of people who populated the Land of Israel after the Assyrian Empire dispersed the 10 Tribes living in the north. Some Samaritans were Jews who remained in their land but most of them were from other places in the Assyrian Empire.
Yet, the Samaritans felt that they were the true Jews and so did not succumb to rabbinic authority. Today, Samaritans are a small group of people who still live in the West Bank and celebrate their quasi-Jewish practices on and around Mount Gerizim.
The Mishnah states that the Samaritans delighted in lighting bonfires on nights when the new moon was not declared, perhaps a day or two before the real sighting. Jews further along the path to Babylonia would see those Samaritan bonfires and erroneously assume that the Jerusalem rabbis had declared a new moon. This of course disrupted Jewish practices, leading Babylonian Jews to observe holidays on the wrong dates.
The Jerusalem rabbis were forced to devise a different method to send the announcement of the new moon to Babylonia. Instead of the bonfires, the rabbis created a system that can only be called an ancient pony express. They would send messengers on horseback all the way to Babylonia. There would be stops along the way to refresh and change horses and their riders.
But this took several days, which exacerbated the problem. Consequently, the Babylonian rabbis decided to add a second day of certain holy days so that all doubt would be removed as to when the holy day actually occurred. Perhaps the first day of the holy day was correct, perhaps the second. But one of them would be correct if we added an extra day.
In Jewish practice, we are commanded not to do any work on Shabbat, of course. But we are also commanded not to work on Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, the first and last days of Sukkot, Pesach and on Shavuot. Except for Yom Kippur, since the rabbis knew that a 2-day fast was impractical and would never be observed, the other holy days were doubled; there would now be two days when no work could be done. From that time on, most Jews observed 2 days of Rosh HaShanah. The rabbis added an extra day to Sukkot and Pesach so that we could observe two-day holidays when no work could be done. Shavuot became a two-day holiday as well. However, in the Land of Israel, only one holy day was observed since there was no doubt as to the start of the new moon – except for Rosh HaShanah remained a 2-day holy day worldwide. Even after the Hillel II developed a mathematical calendar, which did not depend upon observation, these 2-day celebrations have continued outside of the Land of Israel, out of respect for previous custom.
In a minute, we will learn how Jews observe Rosh Chodesh today. I’m Rabbi Jordan Parr and this is Torah for Christians.
BREAK
Welcome back to Torah for Christians. I’m Rabbi Jordan Parr. Before we return to our discussion of Rosh Chodesh, I want to thank you for listening to this podcast. Please remember to review and rate this episode on Apple, Spotify, Facebook, or whatever service you are using. Also, please go back and listen to previous episodes if you have not done so already. And if you would like to read my weekly Torah Study, please go to Bible Stories They (Never) Taught You in Religious School, available for free on Substack.com.
How do we observe Rosh Chodesh today? Frankly, it’s not a major holiday but there are still specific synagogue observances. First, on the Shabbat prior to the advent of the new moon, a special prayer is recited during the Torah Service announcing the date of the new moon and the name of the coming month. Then, on Rosh Chodesh itself, we read a special Torah portion, no matter the day of the week, and recite a series of festive Psalms, called collectively the Hallel, Psalms of praise. And unless the day falls on Shabbat or is Rosh HaShanah, we can still work on this day.
But perhaps the most important aspect of Rosh Chodesh is that it has become a woman’s holiday. The lunar cycle has long been associated with a woman’s menstrual cycle. In traditional circles, women are given a Torah on Rosh Chodesh so that they can read the sacred text, something from which they are banned from doing on other days. In more liberal circles, there are Rosh Chodesh women’s study and prayer groups as well as groups for Jewish girls. Rosh Chodesh is one of the few times in the Jewish year when women take center stage in traditional circles.
I want to thank you for listening to Torah for Christians. Please remember to rate and review this, and previous episodes on Apple, Spotify, or other streaming services. You can also like and hear us on Facebook.
Next week, we will begin a 4-part series on the most important Jewish holiday of all, Shabbat. We will learn about the history of the holiday, its place in Jewish thought, specific prayers and rituals and then enjoy learning about home celebrations, including how different Jewish communities have celebrated the holiday around the world. And in our final episode, we will talk about how Jews, Christians and Muslims conceptualize and celebrate the Sabbath in their own unique ways. Stay tuned; it’s going to be fun.
Finally, I have begun to publish a weekly Torah Study, called Bible Stories They Never Taught You in Religious School. It’s available for free on www.substack.com. You can also sign up on Substack for the newsletter to appear every Friday in your Inbox.
Have a wonderful week and remember; Hinei Mah Tov … L’hitra’ot, till we meet again. I’m Rabbi Jordan Parr and this is Torah for Christians.
