B"H
Monday, Shevat 1, 5776 / January 11, 2016 – HAKHEL YEAR
Today (Monday), is Rosh Chodesh - the first day of the new Hebrew month, Shevat. Shevat is the eleventh month in the Hebrew calendar.
Q. At what point did G-d command the Jewish people to observe the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh?
A. The commandments were given at Mount Sinai, which took place 50 days after the Exodus. However, the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh was given to the Jewish people two weeks before the Exodus, while they were still in Egypt. It was the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people.
This mitzvah is found in this week’s Parsha, Bo. The Parsha tells us that on the first day (Rosh Chodesh) Nissan, G-d told Moshe and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: “This month (Nissan) shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the months of the year."
The Hebrew calendar is a lunar based calendar. The moon has a twenty nine and a half day cycle from its appearance to its next sighting. During the first half of the month it keeps getting bigger. At the middle point it is full and then begins to get smaller again, until its next reappearance.
Rosh Chodeshis celebrated on the day when the moon starts its cycle of rebirth. Not always is it visible on Rosh Chodesh. From Rosh Chodesh on it gets fuller each night, until the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month when the full moon is visible.
The first day of Pesach and Sukkot are on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month. For this reason, the first day of Pesach and Sukkot there is always a full moon.
The sages compare life to a revolving wheel. Rabbi Shalom DovBer Schneersohn, fifth leader of Chabad-Lubavitch, explained the comparison: Both those at the top of the wheel of fortune and those at the bottom often betray a lack of wisdom.
Those at the top may glow with self-satisfaction, even mocking those less fortunate. But they would be wiser to realize that the wheel may turn at any moment and then they could find themselves lower than those upon whom they previously looked down!
On the other hand, those at the bottom may bemoan their cruel fate. But they too, would be wiser to realize that their fortunes are merely an expression of life's revolving wheel. The very fact that now they are at rock bottom is a clear sign that at the wheel's very next turn, their fortunes will improve!
Rosh Chodesh is a lesson that just as the moon has its cycles, so too, the Jewish people will have their days of glory and times of difficulty. But we must never lose hope. Even in the darkest days, we know that the bright days are sure to come.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL CHODESH-MONTH