Today is Rosh Hodesh Nissan. It’s a very special day. Every Rosh Hodesh is special, but Rosh Hodesh Nissan is extra special.
It was the first Rosh Hodesh that the Jewish people ever had, and interestingly, the first Mitzvah that Hashem told the Jewish people was החודש הזה לכם ראש חדשים
This month is for you, the first of months.
That means that our year starts from Rosh Hodesh Nissan. It’s the first month of the year. And although we call Rosh Hashanah the beginning of the year, it’s actually in Tishrei, which is the seventh month. We are judged then, but it’s not the beginning of the year. So, we can say, “Have a happy new year” today!
As we know, we start counting the new month by the moon. What’s the significance of that? What’s the difference between a lunar calendar and solar calendar? The Gemarah and Midrashim make a point of telling us that our calendar is lunar. It’s not by chance. What’s the lesson in that?
First, we need a little science lesson:
The words Moon and month (moonth) come from the same root. The month is connected to the moon’s cycle and we know this. When we look up at the moon at the beginning of the month, we don’t see anything. Then it gets bigger, and then gets smaller again. It has a 29 1/2 day cycle. The sun, on the other hand, has a 365 day cycle. Sunrise on every day of the year is basically the same. It’s a larger cycle than the moon but it’s a cycle, nonetheless. It keeps repeating.
The point is that there is no such thing as a scientific lunar year.
To illustrate, we can think of our daily body cycles. We all have a daily body-clock (we see this when we travel and get jet-lagged, because our bodies’ clocks are out of rhythm), but we don’t have yearly body clocks (our bodies can’t tell when a year passes). Our bodies have no idea of that. We have monthly body cycles but not yearly cycles.
So too, the moon does not have a yearly cycle. It simply has a monthly cycle. It repeats itself one month at a time. At the end of 12 months, however, the moon is no different than it was before. It’s not really called a year. We just happen to say that after 12 months of 29 1/2 days, which is 354 days, a “lunar” year has ended- but that’s not really a year.
Similarly, there is no such thing as a “scientific” solar month. After 28, 29 or 30 days, there is no significant difference to the sun. Human beings just decided to take the 365 day year and break it into a 12 month cycle. At one point in time, they broke it into a 10 month cycle. At that time December (which has the root of “dec” which means 10) was the 10th and final month of the year.
Different people then added months over the years. July was named for Julius. The Gregorian calendar we have today is a 12 month calendar.
Why am I telling you this?
Because there is a very big difference between months and years. We Jews go by months, we don’t live by years. The symbolism of the month, versus the symbolism of the year is that a month gets bigger and smaller. It’s not a constant. The Hebrew word for month is Hodesh which means renewal.
The Hebrew word for year is Shana- which is like sheni/ to repeat. there is no newness.
It’s the same sun, again and again. If you look up at it, you can’t tell the difference between the days. You have no idea what day it is. It’s constant.
If it ever disappeared, it would not come back. If you get up one day and there’s no sun, you’re in trouble. The sun is a constant and it symbolizes nature. It’s always there. Similarly, if the Atlantic Ocean isn’t there one day, it’s never coming back.
The moon, on the other hand, symbolizes things that come and go, because they’re being controlled.
The Jewish people go up and down, because we are not a constant. We aren’t connected to nature. The moon can look bigger and smaller dependent on how it reflects. So too, we have the ability to renew.
The message for us is that we are resilient. We don’t get scared when we suddenly seem a little smaller, because we know we can bounce back. That’s what a month means, and that was the first lesson for the Jewish people as they left Mitzrayim: Look at the moon: Jewish people are like the moon.
There is a story told, about a man who survived the Holocaust. He had no siddur, no Chumash, he had nothing, yet he stayed strong in his Emunah. Someone asked him how he did it, what kept him going? He said that he had the moon. He kept track of the moon, and he said he never missed a month of saying Birkat Halevanah.
The words about the moon in this Baracha are that G-d told the moon to renew itself, so too the Jewish people,
שֶׁגַּם הֵם עֲתִידִים לְהִתְחַדֵּשׁ כְּמוֹתָהּ וּלְפָאֵר לְיוֹצְרָם עַל שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה, מְחַדֵּשׁ חֳדָשִׁים:
the Jewish people will renew itself like the moon renews itself, and to glorify their Creator in his glorious kingdom.
Today is Rosh Hodesh.
We have to know that we can rejuvenate ourselves and renew ourselves. Whatever happened last week, or last month, is over. It’s a new month. Pay attention to the prayers of Musaf. It’s all about renewal and Hiddush- newness
Be’ezrat Hashem, G-d should renew us. Anything negative that happened in the past month has nothing to do with predictions for the upcoming month.
Have a Hodesh Tov.