Sponsored by Sharona & Josh Halickman
in Memory of Rebecca de Beer, Rivka bat Yirat Sara z”l
In Parshat Bo, Shmot 12:1-2 we learn
about Rosh Chodesh: “God said to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt: This
month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of
the months of the year for you.”
Rashi
comments: God showed him the moon at its renewal, and He said to him, “When the
moon renews itself, let that be for you the beginning of a new month.” God was
specifically referring to the month Nisan: This month (Nisan) shall be the
beginning of the order of the counting of the months, so that Iyar shall be
called the second month and Sivan the third.
Ramban points out that Nisan is the
first month from the redemption and Tishrei is the seventh. This is the reason
for, “it shall be the first…to you,” for it is not the first in the year, but
it is the first for you, for such is it called as a remembrance of our
redemption.
Ramban adds that our Sages have already mentioned this topic in the Talmud,
Rosh Hashanah 6a, and said that the names of the months came with us from
Babylonia, for at the start our months had no names. The reason for this is
that at the start the order of the months was as a remembrance of the Exodus
from Egypt, but when we left Babylonia and the verse was fulfilled (Yirmiyahu
16:14-15), “Behold- days are coming- the word of God- when it will no longer be
said, ‘As God lives, Who took B’nai Yisrael out of the land of Egypt,’ but
rather, ‘As God lives, Who brought B’nai Yisrael from the land of the North and
from all the lands where He had scattered them’; and I shall return them to
their land, which I gave to their forefathers.”
Ramban explains: We returned to
calling the months by the names by which they were called in Babylonia, as a
reminder that there we stood and from there God drew us out. The names Nisan,
Iyar, and the others are Persian names and are only found in the books of the
Babylonian prophets (Zechariah 1:7, Ezra 6:15, Nehemiah 1:1) and in Megilat
Esther (3:7). Therefore the verse says, “In the first month, which is the month
Nisan,” similar to, “They cast a pur, that is, the lot.” And until today the
nations in the lands of Persia and Media call the months Nisan and Tishrei and
all the rest like us. And these names recall through the months the second
redemption just as we did until now for the first one.
According to Sforno, from now on,
these months will be yours, to do with as you like. You have My authority to
organize your own calendar. This is in contrast to the years when you were
enslaved when you had no control over your time or timetable at all. While you
were enslaved, your days, hours and even minutes, were always at the beck and
call of your taskmasters.
On each Rosh Chodesh, as the moon
renews itself, we have a new chance to set up how we want to live our lives. We
can step back to see what is important, reflect on the past redemptions and
pray for a better future.
