Efrat, Israel - “And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron in the Land of Egypt, saying: “This hodesh shall be for you the beginning (day) of the months…” (Exodus 12:1,2).

A number of disturbing questions arise in the first seven verses of this chapter. First of all, what is the precise definition of this first commandment of the Torah? Rashi presents two possibilities initially suggesting that the Hebrew word hodesh in the verse is to be translated as the emergence of a waxing moon (as in hidush, or the novelty of a sliver of a moon being “born” amidst the dark blackness of the night) which is to determine the beginning of each month (“G-d showed Moses the moon as it begins to newly emerge and said to him, ‘When the moon becomes renewed you shall establish the new month’” Rashi ad loc), but then goes on to maintain that “a verse is never to be re-routed from its literal meaning, so G-d was instructing (Moses) concerning the month of Nisan, which ought be the first month in the calendrical order of the months…” What is the correct definition of the first commandment?

Secondly, immediately following the commandment - however we may interpret it - comes the exhortation to have every household slaughter a lamb and place the animal’s blood on the two door-posts and lintel of the house. The midrash explains that since the lamb was considered an idol in the eyes of the Egyptians, such an act would be a capital crime, a sign of the willingness of the Israelites to place their lives on the line for the sake of their belief in one G-d (Kiddush HaShem). But what has this to do with the first commandment to mark the emergent moon or to establish Nisan as the first of the months?

Rav Shimshon Rafael Hirsch insists that the first suggestion of Rashi is actually the definition of this first commandment, since it is the literal interpretation of the words. After all, the second clause of the verse states that Nisan ought be established as the first month of the calendric months of the year, so the first clause must apparently be relating to the emergence of the nascent moon which marks the Rosh Hodesh festival.

But why make such a fuss over the first sliver of the moon? And the Jewish lunar interest (obsession?) doesn’t end with Rosh Hodesh itself. The first Saturday night following Rosh Hodesh features a curious ritual called “Kiddush levana”, or the sanctification of the moon. Following the evening service, the congregants gather outside the synagogue in a place from which they can view the waxing moon. At some point in their chanting of psalms, each participant seemingly greets three surrounding neighbors with the salutation, “Shalom Aleichem.” The service concludes with everyone dancing in a circle and singing praises to the orbs of the heavens, concluding by pointing up at the emerging form of the bright moon withing the blue-black skies. What is the significance of this strange rite?

The Sacred Zohar teaches that “the nation of Israel may be compared to the moon.” Just as the moon wanes and totally disappears, t just as the bleak-black heavens seem to be totally devoid of light, the sliver of the new, waxing moon appears: in just such a manner does a new spirit of regeneration emerge from within Israel just when the children of Abraham and Sarah seem to be utterly devastated and destroyed by anti-Semitic persecution, pogrom and perdition. “From the depths of despair do I call out to the Lord.” And so the Babylonian Talmud emerged from the destruction of the Second Temple, and the renewed Jewish State rose out of the ashes of Auschwitz. “Even if you are scattered to the ends of the heavens, from there will the Lord your G-d gather you and from there will He take you. And the Lord your G-d will bring you to the land which your ancestors have inherited and you shall inherit it. He will do good things for you and He will make you more numerous than your ancestors.” (Deuteronomy 30:4,5) The bright-light of redemption will emerge from the dark night of exile.

This symbolism is expressed by the Talmudic Sages, when they composed the prayers for the rite of the Sanctification of the Moon, which expresses ultimate Israelite victory and redemption: “And one recites three times, ‘Just as I dance before you (oh moon) but cannot touch you, so if my enemies dance before me to harm me, they will be unable to touch me. Fear and trembling shall fall upon them, and by means of Your great arm (O G-d) they will become silenced as stone. David King of Israel lives and exists. Peace unto you (Shalom Aleichem)” (Babylonean Tractate Soferim, 20, 2 Hagger P340). Indeed, in the words of our Sages, our optimistic faith in the messianic Redemption was born and strengthened on Tisha B’Av (the day of the destruction of both Temples), and Menahem (lit. Comfort) is the name of our King-Redeemer. It is not mere accident that in the Jewish tradition the night leads into - and is followed by - the day, with the dawn always symbolizing redemption. No wonder that the Israelites in Egypt were willing to place their lives in danger by sacrificing a lamb and placing its blood on the doorposts just as they hear the command of the new moon. G-d has taught them the optimistic message of light coming from darkness and salvation emerging from slavery by means of the light of the new moon. They are willing to risk their lives for the dream of redemption!

Shabbat Shalom

Postscript:

Maimonides brings his crowning proof for Jewish faithful optimism in a more glorious future of world peace and harmony in defining the commandment to mark the new moon at the beginning of each month (Book of Commandments, Positive Commands, 153). He reminds us that our calendar was established by Hillel the Second in the third Century of the Common Era, and we could not maintain it today were the Sages of our generation not considered the agents of that generation which initially intercalated the months. “And if we ever posited the thought that the time could ever come when there would cease to be a Jewish community in the Land of Israel… or a Religious Court there, the agency could not be effective, because Torah (and therefore the calendar) can only come forth from Zion! But G-d would never allow such a possibility, since the Almighty guaranteed that the Jewish community in Israel will never be erased…” (ibid.).

Remember that Maimonides expressed such an awesome and stirring faith despite the fact that he was chased from pillar to post in his life-time by the marauding Moslem Almohads, and he lived at the time of the European Christian Crusades. It is especially significant that Maimonides expresses his eternal faith in the command to mark the New Moon. And what more reason have we to be optimistic about Jewish future, since our generation has witnessed the miraculous return to Jewish national sovereignty in Israel after almost 2000 years of exile! May the Merciful Lord lead us to our land and enable us to walk on our land proudly and uprightly.