Rosh Chodesh – the Elusive Holiday
On many calendars in America the lunar cycle is noted. This is strange because
most people have no need to know when the moon is full or new. Who cares?
However, to the Jews this information is vital since the Hebrew calendar
is defined largely by the cycle of the moon. Each month of the Hebrew calendar
is one lunar cycle. The beginning of each cycle is called “Rosh Chodesh,” the
head of the month.
It is known in Kabbalah that there are twelve different spiritual influences
that come down to earth during the year; each month has its own influence.
For example, Tishrei, the first month of the calendar, comes in the fall and
has an influence of judgment. Justice and accountability are in the air then,
most notably on the first day of Tishrei, known as Rosh HaShana, or the Day
of Judgment. And it’s not merely a coincidence that the astrological
sign for this month is Libra, the scales of justice. Often the astrological
sign hints to the spiritual influence.
It is not only in Tishrei that the first day is especially significant, although
Rosh HaShana is the only major holiday on the first of the month. But in every
month the first day brings down the influence from the spiritual realm for
the rest of the month. This is part of the reason why Rosh Chodesh, the first
day of each month, is considered a minor holiday with more intrinsic holiness
than either Chanukah or Purim. It’s a monthly holiday that most Jews
are oblivious to.
Rosh Chodesh also acts as an atonement for transgressions of the previous
month. Therefore people use the day before Rosh Chodesh each month as an opportunity
to introspect, soul search, and assess the spiritual path they are on. Some
people fast, pray for forgiveness and put extra emphasis on repentance. This
day is referred to as “Yom Kippur Katan,” the little Yom Kippur.
The day of Rosh Chodesh itself is celebrated by some people by dressing nicer
and having a special meal. The traditional morning prayer service is longer,
and includes a special reading from the Torah, a recitation of Psalms, and
an additional meditation.
Women in particular often refrain from work on Rosh Chodesh. Our tradition
states that the holiday of Rosh Chodesh was designated for women. The spiritual
underpinnings of this designation go back to the sin of the Golden Calf. The
women at that time refused to give their jewelry to be melted into the calf
so the men took the jewelry by force. The idea behind the choice of a calf
in particular to worship was that they wanted to tap into the power of the
astrological sign of Taurus. The women wanted no part of this transgression
and in the merit of clinging to God, and shunning the temptation to succumb
to the astrological idolatry of the Calf, they were given the holiday of Rosh
Chodesh. It would have made more sense to match up this twelve-month holiday
with the twelve tribes, but tribal affiliation is associated with the men who
showed a weakness toward astrology so they lost the designation of the holiday
that has a connection to the astrological forces.
The small amount of time indicated in the Torah between the giving of the
commandment to calculate the new moon and the sin of the golden calf highlights
this connection. Rosh Chodesh was the first commandment the Jewish people received
as a nation, and was given to them on their way out of Egypt. The importance
of this holiday is also shown by the fact that it was one of the three laws
of the Jews that the Greeks banned during the Second Temple period. What is
it that makes this commandment unique?
In order to perform the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh you have to calculate carefully
the lunar cycle and match it up to the solar year. This required a very sophisticated
understanding of astronomy. The calendar had to be flexible to keep the major
holidays falling out in their appropriate seasons. At the time of the exile
the sages fixed the calendar into the foreseeable future. As a sign of the
expertise the sages had at that time, the Hebrew calendar, which is a luni-solar
calendar, has never since needed to be adjusted. In contrast, the standard
secular calendar, known as the Gregorian calendar, which only needs to follow
the solar year, needed to be adjusted in the 1500’s because it was about
two weeks off!
But even the astronomical expertise needed to perform the mitzvah of Rosh
Chodesh is not its most monumental aspect. This mitzvah puts all the holidays
with all the connected commandments, not to mention the spiritual influence
we mentioned earlier, into the hands of man. It’s as if God said, “I
want you to be a partner with me in defining the spiritual reality of time.”
God created time, and then gave man a part in carving out the importance of
time. That is what we celebrate every month, our humble partnership with the
Infinite Being.
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