LACHEM - G-d gave us a gift! Phil Chernofsky

Editor Emeritus, Torah Tidbits

LACHEM - G-d gave us a gift!

Those of you who know me might have been surprised that my page did not focus on Parshat HaChodesh, on HACHODESH HAZEH LACHEM... I was tempted, but I felt it was more timely to talk about Social Distancing.

And then, with the temporary closing of the OU Israel Center, there was more room freed up in Torah Tidbits for content. So if you are reading these words, the topic of the Jewish Calendar will be explored.

The mitzva to make the Jewish Calendar includes a number of components. Officially, the mitzva of HACHODESH HAZEH LACHEM is assigned to Sanhedrin. They must declare the first of each month as holy, based on eye- witness testimony to the first visibility of the lunar crescent.

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They must decide when to add an extra month to a year, so that Pesach will always be in the Spring (and Sukkot in the Fall). And, based on the Rambam, they must be experts in astronomy (not all members; a committee for Kiddush HaChodesh and Ibur HaShana) and calculate exactly when and where the first sighting of the moon will occur. Rambam says that this information is part of the mitzva, because the judges will then be able to determine the truth of the testimony offered.

Without a sitting Sanhedrin, the calendar is fixed by a set of rules that is based on calculations and the sanctification of the Sanhedrin of Hillel the Elder (as he is known).

So far, the Jewish Calendar is in the hands of the Sanhedrin and the eyewitnesses. What about the rest of us?

First of all, G-d (so to speak) decided to include the rules for Sanhedrin, for kings of Israel, for kohanim, for Nevi'im in the Torah that He gave to all of us. That means that we all must learn about all that the Torah contains, not just what we are commanded to do or not due.

Specifically, the Jewish Calendar was a gift from HaShem to all of us, based on the twice-occurring word LACHEM in the pasuk that presents this mitzva.

For example: The actual molad (New Moon) of Nissan is on Tuesday, March 24th, at 11:27am. That's what the members of the Sanhedrin committee would find out. But how come the molad is on Tuesday and Rosh Chodesh isn't until Thursday?

In our fixed calendar, because to the rule and exception as to when Rosh HaShana is, the molad of each month can be on R"Ch or a day or two earlier. The molad does not determine when Rosh Chodesh is. Molad and R"Ch are each calculated separately. They are close, but do not always coincide.

Interestingly, in the time of Sanhedrin - past and future - a molad in the morning would mean that the moon would not yet be visible that same evening. A moon needs to be 18 hours or more old before we can see it with the naked eye. So with a Sanhedrin, this R"Ch Nissan would also be on Thursday.

We should enthusiastically study all our mitzvot.

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