הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים, רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם לְחׇדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה. (שמות יב, ב)
What is the first mitzva in the Torah? You may say the mitzvah of פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ given to Adam HaRishon. Or you may say בְּרִית מִילָה, given to Avraham, or גִּיד הַנָּשֶׁה given to Yaakov (these are the only three mitzvot in the entire sefer Breishit).
However, the answer is that the only mitzvot we are required to observe in the Torah, are the 613 mitzvot given by HKB"H to Moshe Rabbeinu. We do observe the mitzvot of פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ, בְּרִית מִילָה and גִּיד הַנָּשֶׁה, but not because Adam did, or because Avraham and Yaakov did, but because HKB"H repeated them to Moshe. Only then did they become part of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.
HKB"H said to Moshe לֵךְ אֱמֹר לָהֶם שׁוּבוּ לָכֶם לְאָהֳלֵיכֶם (דברים ה, כו) and the Gemara (Sanhedrin 59b) says that here HKB"H was repeating the mitzva given to Adam HaRishon of פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ. Similarly, in our parsha HKB"H commands Moshe הִמּוֹל לוֹ כָל זָכָר (שמות יב, מח), a repetition to Moshe of the same mitzva given to Avraham. The same goes for גִּיד הַנָּשֶׁה (חולין פט, ע"ב).
If the only mitzvot of the Torah were those given to Moshe Rabbeinu, then the first mitzva in the Torah, given to Moshe Rabbeinu is - קִדּוּשׁ הַחֹדֶשׁ in our parsha. You might think that HKB"H would first give Moshe the mitzva of פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ, followed by בְּרִית מִילָה and then by גִּיד הַנָּשֶׁה – the same order as in Breishit. But no! These three mitzvot were given, but later. First needs to be the mitzva of קִדּוּשׁ הַחֹדֶשׁ.
Why was קִדּוּשׁ הַחֹדֶשׁ the first mitzva in the Torah? Surely there are more important mitzvot than that? For example, Shabbat. We have a principle in the Torah תָּדִיר וְאֵינוֹ תָּדִיר תָּדִיר קוֹדֵם. If you have something more frequent, it takes precedence over something less frequent.
Since Shabbat is more frequent than Rosh Chodesh, it should take precedence over it. We see this vividly in Birkat HaMazon. If Rosh Chodesh occurs on Shabbat, we first say רְצֵה וְהַחֲלִיצֵנוּ (the addition for Shabbat) and only after that יַעֲלֶה וְיָבֹא (the addition for Rosh Chodesh), applying the principle תָּדִיר וְאֵינוֹ תָּדִיר תָּדִיר קוֹדֵם. According to that logic, the mitzva of Shabbat should have preceded the mitzva of Rosh Chodesh??
In this shiur we are going to explore the concept of time and why the first mitzva in the Torah was related to time. We are going to try answer questions such as "What is the purpose of time?" and "Does time apply only to עוֹלָם הַזֶּה or also to עוֹלָם הַבָּא?"
Just as HKB"H created everything during the six days of Creation, He also created time. Time was created on the first day. The psukkim say –
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱ-לֹקִים יְהִי אוֹר, וַיְהִי אוֹר. וַיַּרְא אֱ-לֹקִים אֶת הָאוֹר כִּי טוֹב, וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱ-לֹקִים בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ. וַיִּקְרָא אֱ-לֹקִים לָאוֹר יוֹם וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה, וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בֹקֶר יוֹם אֶחָד (בראשית א, ג-ה).
Until HKB"H created light, time did not exist. Prior to HKB"H creating light, there was an infinite continuum of chaos and darkness וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל פְּנֵי תְהוֹם, וְרוּחַ אֱ-לֹקִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם (שם ב).
After HKB"H created light, He separated light and dark. He called the light "day" and the dark "night", and it was evening and it was morning - one day. The first "time cycle", a 24hr period of night and day.
According to the Torah, the daily cycle begins the previous evening and not when the sun rises in the morning. This concept proliferates throughout the Torah regarding every time related mitzva.
From this we see that in order for time to exist, light needs to exist. The close connection between light and time appears in the Torah in the first five psukkim. Any toddler who stood at Har Sinai could tell you that. It took the rest of humanity another 3217 years to understand what Am Yisrael already knew at Har Sinai about the relationship between light and time. Only in 1905 did Albert Einstein publish his theory of relativity that mathematically proves this relationship, which every Jew knew eons before old Albert.
For time to exist, it is not enough for light to exist. For time to exist, darkness also needs to exist. It is the contrast between dark and light that defines time.
If the first creation was time-related, then it is easy to understand why the first mitzva in the Torah is time-related. Just as time is a prerequisite for this world עוֹלָם הַזֶּה to exist, so too is the "mitzva of time" a prerequisite for the entire Torah.
So, what exactly is this fundamental mitzva, the first in the Torah? Obviously, it has ramifications far beyond saying יַעֲלֶה וְיָבֹא and not saying תַּחֲנוּן in shul (what Rosh Chodesh has become unfortunately for many people – who do not understand its true significance).
To understand it, we need to begin with a Gemara (Brachot 88b).
R' Yehoshua ben Levi said – when Moshe ascended Above [to receive the Torah], the angels said before HKB"H "What is this mortal doing in our midst?" HKB"H replied "He has come to receive the Torah". The angels said before HKB"H "This exquisite treasure that has been in storage for 974 generations [the Torah], You want to give to flesh and blood? מָה אֱנוֹשׁ כִּי תִזְכְּרֶנּוּ, וּבֶן אָדָם כִּי תִפְקְדֶנּוּ, ה' אֲדֹנֵינוּ, מָה אַדִּיר שִׁמְךָ בְּכׇל הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר תְּנָה הוֹדְךָ עַל הַשָּׁמָיִם".
HKB"H said to Moshe "Give them [the angels] an answer!"
[Moshe then proceeded to give the angels numerous proofs that the Torah was meant for man and not for the angels]. "The first commandment says אָנֹכִי ה' אֱ-לֹקֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם. Were you [angels] in Egypt? The Torah continues with לֹא תִרְצָח, לֹא תִנְאָף, לֹא תִגְנֹב, is there jealousy among you? Do you have a yetzer hara?"
Eventually the angels conceded and said to HKB"H "ה' אֲדֹנֵינוּ, מָה אַדִּיר שִׁמְךָ בְּכׇל הָאָרֶץ" but they did not say [what they previously said] תְּנָה הוֹדְךָ עַל הַשָּׁמָיִם.
עַד כָּאן the Gemara.
This is a very difficult dialogue to understand. Did the angels not know that the 613 mitzvot in the Torah do not apply to them in any way? They do not eat, they do not conduct business, and myriad other facets in the Torah. What was their claim?
The Gemara teaches us that the angels did not dispute that the Torah was intended for humans and not for angels. What they were asking was תְּנָה הוֹדְךָ עַל הַשָּׁמָיִם, "leave Your הוֹד up in Heaven and do not give it to humans". The only thing the angels objected to was giving humans הוֹד.
What is הוֹד?
If we closely examine the mitzva of קִדּוּשׁ הַחֹדֶשׁ we will understand what הוֹד is. Before the year 359CE - Rosh Chodesh was decreed by the Bet Din based on eyewitness reports of seeing the moon. Following 359CE, we rely on a predetermined calendar instituted by Hillel the son of R' Yehuda HaNasi – but this is not the preferred way. The preferred way is what is written in the Torah, using eyewitness reports. The fixed calendar was a result of circumstances that no longer enabled eyewitness reports – when Am Yisrael went into exile, persecution, etc.
Determining Rosh Chodesh the way HKB"H intended allows for the possibility that the Bet Din's decree of the day when Rosh Chodesh is celebrated might not correlate with the "astro-physical" reality in the sky (if a witness arrived late, etc.). For example, the Bet Din might decree Rosh Chodesh is on Monday (because the witness arrives late), while the lunar cycle in the sky, the astro-physical reality of Rosh Chodesh - is actually on Sunday. In such a case Rosh Chodesh occurs when the Bet Din says and not what astro-physical reality dictates.
The ramifications of this are immense. For example, HKB"H and all the angels assemble in the Heavenly court for Rosh HaShana to sit in judgement of Am Yisrael - because according to the Heavenly diary, the astro-physical reality of the lunar cycle says that today is Rosh Chodesh. However, (for whatever reason), the Bet Din decrees that today is not Rosh Chodesh/Rosh Hashana, but tomorrow.
HKB"H does not send down a bat kol to the Bet Din to say "Sorry guys you got it wrong – today is Rosh HaShana". Instead HKB"H says to the angels "Sorry guys, you will have to go back home and come back tomorrow, on the day the Bet Din down below decreed Rosh HaShana is. Me too, I, HKB"H will also return tomorrow!"
What this means is that HKB"H gave Am Yisrael the ability to change not only physical reality, but also the reality up in Heaven. We get to decide the Heavenly schedule, not HKB"H and not the angels, we lowly humans of flesh and blood.
This is what the angels were objecting to. הוֹד is the power to change reality, both physical reality and spiritual reality. HKB"H gave this power to Am Yisrael in the first mitzva in the Torah, the power to change the laws of nature, including time itself.
This is how Am Yisrael were able to travel from Raamses to Sukkot in the blink of an eye (קְפִיצַת הַדֶּרֶךְ) when normally the journey would have taken three days (Sforno שמות יב, יז) and therefore the dough they prepared in Raamses and baked into matzot in Sukkot did not become chametz.
This is how Moshe was able to split the Red Sea. This is how both Moshe and Yehoshua were able to make the sun stand still in the sky. This is how R' Pinchas ben Yair was able to split the Ginai River, three times. This is how R' Yehoshua ben Chananya could rebuke a bat kol from Heaven – "Do not interfere with the decision of our Bet Din" (in the case of tanur achnai).
It is an enormous power and a potentially dangerous power, because just as HKB"H did not limit our use of this power for good, similarly He did not limit our use of this power for bad. Am Yisrael control the power to change the entire universe, to build it or to destroy it.
We do not understand the power we wield. We are not aware of the consequences of our actions and how far reaching they are. We tend to minimize our role in reality. "Who am I? I am just a small, tiny speck in the universe, how can anything I do possibly affect the big picture?"
The first mitzva in the Torah teaches us "I have enormous power. I hold the entire universe in the palm of my hand. What I do affects the entire universe! Not only the laws of nature down here on earth, but also the spiritual reality up in Heaven."
Obviously HKB"H gave us this power to use for the purposes of good, to sanctify His entire Creation. We have the power to sanctify a place (קְדֻשַּׁת הַמָּקוֹם), to sanctify ourselves (קְדֻשַּׁת הָאָדָם) and to sanctify time (קְדֻשַּׁת הַזְּמַן).
The first mitzva HKB"H gave us was to sanctify time. Why was this the first mitzva? The reason is because it is a prerequisite for all the other mitzvot, it provides a framework for all the other mitzvot. It defines the foundation – in עוֹלָם הַזֶּה time is finite and has distinct boundaries.
HKB"H created the Torah for Am Yisrael in עוֹלָם הַזֶּה. The Torah has no use to the angels, it is not intended for them, it is intended solely for Am Yisrael in עוֹלָם הַזֶּה.
On the first day of Creation of עוֹלָם הַזֶּה, HKB"H created time. What is time? Time is the opposite of infinity. Time is finity, something finite, something bounded, something that has a beginning and an end, like a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade, a jubilee … a lifetime.
HKB"H's first message to עוֹלָם הַזֶּה and everything in it, was instilling a sense of urgency. You are finite! You are here for a finite time, not forever. Use your time wisely, sanctify time. Use your finite time to build, not destroy – you have the power to do both. Time was first defined by the contrast of dark and light. We have the power to use the dark or the light. Our mission in עוֹלָם הַזֶּה is to use the light to illuminate the darkness.
If we do so, we will merit infinity in עוֹלָם הַבָּא. Just as HKB"H is infinite, so too is עוֹלָם הַבָּא infinite. If we succeed in our mission in עוֹלָם הַזֶּה our reward will be to bask in the זִיו הַשְּׁכִינָה for eternity, infinity, defying time.
If we fail in our mission, we have to endure גֵּיהִנּוֹם, but not for infinity. The length of a sinner's sojourn in גֵּיהִנּוֹם is finite, 12 months. HKB"H in His mercy made the reward infinite and the punishment finite.
Only HKB"H can see into a person's heart and we have no idea whether we are going straight to עוֹלָם הַבָּא or if we have to make a "pit-stop" in גֵּיהִנּוֹם first. If R' Yochanan ben Zakai didn't know (Brachot 28b), then we certainly don't. This is why we say Kaddish for the year after a person dies (Ashkenazi minhag is 11 months, Sephardi minhag is 12 months) – in case they did need to make a pit stop in גֵּיהִנּוֹם. By saying Kaddish we add זְכוּיוֹת to get them out of there, or if they did go straight to עוֹלָם הַבָּא - to upgrade their "real-estate package", to elevate them to a higher status in עוֹלָם הַבָּא.
If we spend our time in עוֹלָם הַזֶּה with a sense that we have all the time in the world, that we have time on our hands, we will fail in our mission. By HKB"H giving Am Yisrael the mitzva of קִדּוּשׁ הַחֹדֶשׁ, He gave us the ability to control time, to transcend time, to reach infinity, but only by using time. He placed time in our hands to live our life with a sense of urgency.
Time is cyclic, but not circular, none of us go around in a never-ending circle forever. Our time has the form of a spiral, we either spiral upward, improving, building … or we spiral downward, deteriorating, destroying. Time is the nexus between darkness and light and HKB"H commands us to progress forward to the light and not sink backward into the darkness (דברים ל, טו).
All the Hebrew terms used to define time reflect its true essence. A second, שְׁנִיָּה, indicates a time period so short that the next (second) has already arrived. A minute, דַּקָּה, is so "thin/fine" that it can easily be missed or wasted. An hour, שָׁעָה, is enough time to devote to serious avodat Hashem, like tefilla (re:the passuk וְאֶל קַיִן וְאֶל מִנְחָתוֹ לֹא שָׁעָה).
A day, יוֹם, in gematria is 56, the same as the gematria of לה' (ל-י-ה-ו-ה), which teaches us what a day is meant for. A week, שָׁבוּעַ reflects the number seven, i.e. seven days. It is also an expression of commitment שְׁבוּעָה and hints to fulfilment, from the root of שָׂבֵעַ. Thus, a week is a seven-day time unit of commitment and fulfilment. A month, חֹדֶשׁ, is the root of הִתְחַדְּשׁוּת, renewal. A year, שָׁנָה, reflects both revision/reflection שִׁנּוּן and also change שִׁנּוּי.
The Torah gives us the gift of cyclic time to renew and grow, not to stagnate.
הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים, the first Rosh Chodesh in the Torah is Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the day that Adam HaRishon was created (Gemara Rosh Hashana 11a, according to R' Yehoshua). Just as the creation of man was the beginning of a cycle, so too is the first mitzva in the Torah the beginning of a cycle. A cycle of finite time, which if used wisely, results in infinity.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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