To Celebrate the Moon; a Drash for Shabbat Rosh Hodesh Saturday, 1 February 2014

Today, in addition to being Shabbat, the Sabbath, is the second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar.  In the way that the Hebrew calendar is figured, when the month ending is a 30-day month then Rosh Chodesh of the next month consists of two days:  the last day of the current month and the first day of the new month.  Since Shevat, the month now ended is a 30-day month that means that Rosh Chodesh was yesterday and today.

          But what’s the point of marking the arrival of the new month in any case?  And why mark its arrival with the singing of Hallel – psalms of praise?

          To understand this, remember that we’re not noting something as abstract as a month designated on a calendar.  Rosh Chodesh means, literally New Moon, and we’re marking the sighting of the New Moon.  The Hebrew word Chodesh, used to mean ‘month,’ really means ‘moon.’  And that makes sense, since the Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar whose rhythms are determined by the cycles of the moon.

As I like to point out, to the typical city-dweller today the cycles of the moon can and often do go completely unnoticed.  We live in our largely sealed environment of home and office, and if we’re out at night we’re unlikely to notice the moon through the clutter of city lights – unless, that is, the moon is full and prominent in the sky, in which case we might notice.  Those of us who are likely to notice the phase of the moon are farmers, fishermen and sailors; for all these, the moon’s phases are very important.  But the rest of us might not notice the moon at all.

But, had we lived in the ancient world, the moon’s phases would have meant more to us.  Before the invention of electric lights, the relative darkness of the night sky was far more important.  And as the moon waned, people – not just farmers, fishermen and sailors – would notice the encroaching darkness.  Some, undoubtedly, would find it frightening.  So it’s no surprise that the appearance of the new moon would be an occasion for celebration.  It was taken as a sign that God had not abandoned His people.  He had once again sent the gift of light, to light the night.

We’re commanded in the Torah, in the 28^th chapter of the Book of Numbers, to celebrate the new moon, and of course for many Jews that’s enough.  The mandated celebration is a special sacrifice.  But of course, we no longer offer sacrifices since the Second Temple was destroyed, so the Rabbis of late antiquity formulated the current way of celebrating:  a special Torah reading, and recitation of Hallel.

The rest of us can remember the probable reasons behind the celebration.  Our continuing to mark the appearance of the New Moon, even if we’re generally not very sensitive to the moon’s phases, connects us with an ancient world and an ancient people whose legacy we claim.  It reminds us of our ‘roots,’ of the legacy of faith and devotion that the ancient Israelites bequeathed to us.

But we can also celebrate the difference a new month makes in our own lives.  Even if we are generally unmoved by observations of the moon, we take great joy in our festivals.  Almost every month of the Hebrew calendar has its joyous festivals, and Adar brings us Purim, the Feast of Esther, which is one of the most joyous.

But the renewal of the cycle of the moon, reminds us of the process of renewal that can happen for us at any time.  Stuck in a rut?  A new month reminds us that we can break old cycles and find joy in the new.  Feeling sorry for yourself over some turn of events?  A new month reminds us that, at any given moment, we have the opportunity to transcend the disappointment, hurt or whatever and set a new course.  Whatever unpleasantness we are experiencing, the appearance of the New Moon can – and should – be for us a sign of hope.  We are not stuck in the limitations of yesterday and instead see spread before us the limitless possibilities of tomorrow…of a thousand tomorrows!

So…celebrate the New Moon!  Sing out with passion when we recite Hallel in just a moment.  Connect yourselves with the joy of generations past.  And find your own joy in the possibilities that lie ahead.  Shabbat shalom.