We are now in Perek Shira, pesukim that talk about the songs
of Creation. Today's song is the song of the moon. The moon's song is a
song from Tehilim 104,19
עָשָׂ֣ה יָ֭רֵחַ
לְמוֹעֲדִ֑ים שֶׁ֝֗מֶשׁ יָדַ֥ע מְבוֹאֽוֹ׃
God created the moon for the holidays, and the sun knows its path.
Rashi in Tehilim says God made the moon for the holidays
means that's the way we figure out our
holidays. If not for the lunar year, we would not know when Pesach is, or so on.
In Bereshit Perek א,
where it describes God making the luminaries ( פרק א,
יד-טו) it says
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים
יְהִ֤י מְאֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַיּ֖וֹם וּבֵ֣ין
הַלָּ֑יְלָה וְהָי֤וּ לְאֹתֹת֙ וּלְמ֣וֹעֲדִ֔ים וּלְיָמִ֖ים וְשָׁנִֽים׃
וְהָי֤וּ לִמְאוֹרֹת֙
בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהָאִ֖יר עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃
And God said, let there be luminaries in the heavens in order to
separate between day and night. They'll be for signs for holidays, and for days and years. And they will be for
luminaries, to light the land. And it was so.
Rashi says that, It should be for luminaries, means, Od Zot/
The luminaries will also light up the world. That's odd. The Chafetz Chaim, in his Sichot Chafetz
Chaim, vol two, page 44, letter 36 is bothered
by this. He asks, There luminaries are there for the holiday season, and
they're also there to give us light? Isn't their main purpose to give us light?
He says No. The world was created for the Jewish people and for the Torah that
they're going to keep, like we know, with Bereshit Bara Elokim/In the
beginning God created….Bereshit meams
Bishvil Reshit/for the Torah that was created first, and that's
the purpose of the moon. God first just looked at the Torah, and saw
that there were going to be holidays,
and based on that, He created the world. The pasuk says there should be
luminaries. What is their job?
Number one, to separate between day and night. I need to know day and
night, because some Mitzvot happen by day and some mitzvot happened by night.
That's why I need to have a day and night. How could we do Leil Seder or Netilat
Lulav without day and night?
Number two- Vehayu L'Otot/They'll
also be for signs.
What signs? When the luminaries are changed like during a solar
or lunar eclipse, those are messages for the world. God is speaking to us and
causing us to be aroused to Teshuvah. That's another purpose of the luminaries.
Number three- U'Moadim/And they're there for holidays,
Al Yamim, V'Shanim
And they're there for days and for years. If we don't have a solar calendar, we don't have days or years. So, the
whole purpose of the luminaries is just for us.
Why is there a sun? Because how could you pray Netz if you
don't have a sun? Why is there a moon? How are you going to say Birkat Levana
without a moon?
The moon is there for holidays. The moon is there for the Jewish
people as a symbol. There is a famous story about a man who survived the
Holocaust and was emerged as a religious, devout man. They asked him what his secret
was. He said it was the moon. "We didn't have tefillin, a siddur, a
talet. We didn't have any religious items. The one thing that the Germans couldn't take away from us was the moon. We kept track
of the calendar with the moon and we said Birkat Halevana, which told us that
just like the moon waxes and wanes, so too the Jewish people get bigger and
smaller. And that gave us Hizuk- all month looking at the moon.
So, what the moon is there for? The moon is there for the Jewish
people and that is the song of the moon.
Many people say Barechi Nafshi on Rosh Chodesh. And in
Barechi Nafshi 104, is our pasuk, Asah Yare'ach L'Moadim. That's what you're
supposed to focus on when you read Barechi Nafshi. Even if people don't
read Perek Shira, at least once a month we sing the song of the moon.
Asah Yare'ach L'Moadim.
Have a wonderful day.
