Daily Bitachon

Maybe from Rosh Hodesh- Power of the Moon

Published: April 3, 2025
Duration: 08:02

The Moon as a Lesson in Bitachon and Renewal

Rabbi David Sutton opens by asking how to determine the right date and time for the seder. Since “HaHodesh Hazeh Lachem” was the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people, one might think the seder should take place on Rosh Hodesh Nissan.
Rosh Hodesh and the moon also teach a powerful lesson in Bitachon: the moon waxes and wanes, yet it remains. Rabbi David Sutton tells a story about Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, who asked a Holocaust survivor what had kept him connected to God in the camps, where he had no siddur or Tefilin. The survivor answered that the Germans could not take away the moon. The prisoners counted the days, knew when Rosh Hodesh was approaching, and could say the blessing on the moon each month.
The moon’s changing phases symbolize the Jewish people: they may wax and wane, but they do not disappear. The Jewish people count by the moon, whose connection to Hodesh—Hadash, or “new”—represents renewal.
Rabbi David Sutton describes התחדשות, the ability to renew, as a Jewish strength. He compares this to businesses that endure across generations by renewing themselves: Kodak and Blackberry (Research in Motion) failed to do so, while Apple appears to keep renewing itself; Samsung, he says, is struggling with AI.
By contrast, the nations of the world count by the sun. The word שנה (year) is connected to לשון שונה, repetition: ראשון, שני, and the repeated cycle of the sun rising and setting. Rabbi David Sutton recounts hearing from Rav Moshe Shapiro that if the sun failed to appear one morning, one would know the world was over, because the sun has no capacity to disappear and return. He compares this to nations such as the Greeks, Aztecs, and Romans, which disappeared and did not return.
The moon’s disappearance is different: one does not conclude that it is gone for good, because it will return. Rabbi David Sutton points to the Jewish people’s recovery after the Holocaust. He also describes the Sephardic community in Israel: many initially lost their religion amid challenges and struggles, but later returned in great numbers, establishing dozens or hundreds of Sephardic Yeshivot and Kollelim. He connects this renewal to Hacham Ovadia’s famous aspiration to return the crown to its old ways.

The “Zeh” of Rosh Hodesh and the Seder

Given the importance of Rosh Hodesh and its message of renewal, one might have thought that the seder should be held on Rosh Hodesh Nissan rather than on the 15th of Nissan.
Rabbi David Sutton connects “HaHodesh Hazeh Lachem” with the word זה (“this”) in the Haggadah’s “Baavur Zeh” (“because of this”), which refers to the Matzah and Marror that can be pointed to. The Mekubalim also explain that זה, something one points to, refers to the Shechina, as in “זה אלי ואנוהו.” At the seder, when the Matzah and Marror are indicated, the Shechina is present.
The same idea applies to Rosh Hodesh. In the blessing on the moon, the Jewish people say that receiving the Shechina only once a month would be enough. The blessing is said standing; when blessing the moon, one sees the Shechina and God’s hand in nature as the moon grows and shrinks. Rabbi David Sutton links this to the power of זה: “HaHodesh Hazeh Lachem” and “זה אלי ואנוהו.”
However, he says, the pesukim show that the relevant revelation of זה for the seder is not the one on Rosh Hodesh, but the revelation associated with the Matzah and Marror on the night of Yetziat Mitzrayim. The Haggadah describes God revealing Himself that night. It also says “ובמורא גדול,” which Rabbi David Sutton connects to the great revelation, “זו גילוי שכינה.”
In the passage about Matzah, the Haggadah says that the dough of the ancestors did not have time to rise before “נגלה עליהם מלך מלכי המלכים,” the King of Kings, Hashem, was revealed to them. Rabbi David Sutton distinguishes this revelation on the night of the seder from the revelation at Keriat Yam Suf and the revelation that occurs each Rosh Hodesh.
He also cites Shir HaShirim 2:8: “הנה זה עומד אחר כתלנו,” followed by “משגיח מן החלונות,” and “מציץ מנחרכים.” In Midrash Raba Shir Hashirim 2,26, the image of Hashem standing behind the wall is explained as Hashem standing behind the Kotel HaMaravo of the Bet Hamikdash, which God swore would never be destroyed.
The same Midrash asks what God said in the next verse, “ענה דודי ואמר לי,” and answers: “HaHodesh Hazeh Lachem.” Rabbi David Sutton sees a connection between “הנה זה”—the Shechina still standing by the Kotel HaMaravo—and “HaHodesh Hazeh Lachem”: even in Galut and darkness, the moon remains as a sign that the Shechina is with the Jewish people.
For this reason, one might have thought that the seder could be on Rosh Hodesh.

Welcome to our Daily Bitachon class. Today's piece is about figuring out the right date and the right time for the seder.

One might think it's from Rosh Hodesh because that was the first Mitzvah the Jewish people were told. החדש הזה לכם. This month is the month of the Jewish people, ראש חודש Rosh Hodesh Nissan. ראשון הוא לכל חודש השנה, the first interaction with God.

And there is also the message of the moon, which is a powerful and important lesson of Bitachon. There is a famous story about Rav Chaim Shmulevitz. He once met a Holocaust survivor and asked, "How did you survive in the camps? What kept you connected to God? You had no siddur, you had no Tefilin….What did you have?" The survivor said, "There was one religious item that the Germans could not take away from us- the moon. We kept count of the days so knew when Rosh Hodesh was coming and we were able to say the blessing on the moon every single month. We looked up to the moon and we saw the moon get larger and smaller, but the moon remained." That symbolizes the Jewish people, it waxes and wanes, but never disappears. We count to the moon, we don't count to the sun.

The moon is all about Hodesh, which is Hadash/new and renewal. The Jewish people are resilient. They constantly renew themselves, just like some businesses that are successful for generations because they know how to renew themselves. Kodak didn't renew. Blackberry, Research in Motion, didn't renew. It seems that Apple is renewing itself. Samsung is having some struggles with AI. But the bottom line is, you need to have that ability called התחדשות and that's the Jewish ability. We are constantly renewing ourselves. We're still here.

The goyim count to the sun. The sun's year is called שנה/Shana/year which is לשון שונה, which means to repeat something. ראשון, שני, the second time- it's just repetitious. The sun goes up, the sun goes down. You don't see any changes in the sun. It's the same basic cycle, whereas the moon renews itself. It gets bigger, and smaller, but it's always there. I once heard from Rav Moshe Shapiro that if you got up in the morning and the sun wasn't there, you'd know the world is over because the sun isn't there. If it's not there, it's over, because it doesn't have the ability to go up and go down. It's the same with the nations of the world that count by the sun. When they drop out, the Greeks, the Aztecs, the Romans, they don't come back again.

But the Jewish people are like the moon. When the moon disappears, you don't say, "Oh no, the moon is gone!" No, it's coming back. It might have a little bit of a dip, or a little low, but it's going to come back strong. We saw that post Holocaust. People wondered what was going to be with the Jewish people. But we came back with a vengeance.

The same thing happened with the Sephardic world in Israel. When they originally came, due to various challenges and struggles a lot of them lost their religion, but they came back with a vengeance. There are dozens or hundreds of Sephardic Yeshivot and Kollelim. They came back. Like the famous line of Hacham Ovadia, who wanted to Return the crown to its old ways. And they came back. The Jewish people don't disappear.

And the power of Rosh Hodesh is such an important lesson that one might have thought the right time to say the whole Seder is not on the 15th of Nissan, but on Rosh Hodesh Nissan. Interestingly, it says, HaHodesh Hazeh Lachem/ this month is yours. And in the Haggadah, it says Baavur Zeh/ because of this, (which actually refers to Matzah and Maror something we can point to). Furthermore, the Mekubalim say that זה/this indicating something to point to, refers to the Shechina. Like it says, זה אלי ואנוהו, This is my God, and I will beautify Him.

בעבור זה So when we point to the Matzah and Marror, at the Seder, the Shechina is there. And the same thing is true on Rosh Hodesh. We say in our blessing of the moon, that if the Jewish people only received the Shechina once a month, it would be enough. We say the blessing on the moon standing, because when you bless the moon, you see the Shechina. You see God's hand in nature. The moon gets bigger, and the moon gets smaller and that's the power of זה.

החדש הזה לכם, זה אלי ואנוהו. So one might have thought that this is the זה we're trying to get to- the revelation of the Shechina, the זה, that happens on Rosh Hodesh. But we're going to see from the pesukim that no. We are talking about the revelation of the זה/zeh/this that happens with the Matzah and the Marror, that the Shechina revealed itself on the night of Yetziat Mitzrayim, like the Hagaddah says, that God revealed Himself. It says, ובמורא גדול, we're going to say later on, with the great revelation, זו גילוי שכינה,

We say in the piece of Matzah Zu

לא הספיק בצקם של אבותינו להחמיץ, Their dough did not have the chance to rise, עד שנגלה עליהם, until it was revealed upon them, מלך מלכי המלכים, the great King Hashem. So there's a revelation on the night of the Seder. There's a revelation at Keriat Yam Suf, and there's a revelation that happens every single Rosh Hodesh.

There is also a זה revelation in Shir HaShirim 2,8, where it says, הנה זה עומד אחר כתלנו, Behold this stands behind our walls, משגיח מן החלונות, supervising from the windows, מציץ, squinting, looking through, מנחרכים, the cracks. In the Midrash Raba Shir Hashirim 2,26, it says, What does it mean Hashem is standing behind the wall? Behind the Kotel HaMaravo of the Bet Hamikdash, that God swore would never be destroyed. The Midrash continues with an interesting line. The next pasuk says, ענה דודי ואמר לי, My beloved responded to me and said something. And the same Midrash says, מה אמר לי, What did God say to me? החדש הזה לכם ראש/He said to me HaHodesh Hazeh. It's quite clear from this midrash, there's a connection between הנה זה, the Shechina is still standing by the Kotel Hamaaravi , and HaHodesh Hazeh Lachem the month is still yours. Even in the Galut, even in the darkness, we still have the moon, that is telling us the Shechina is with us. And that's why we would have thought that יכול מראש חדש the Seder might have been on Rosh Hodesh

The Moon as a Lesson in Bitachon and Renewal

The “Zeh” of Rosh Hodesh and the Seder

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