Part III. Celebrating the New Moon
Rosh Chodesh: Recalibration Day
So we come back now to Parashas HaChodesh and we understand why Rosh Chodesh Nissan is so important, why it’s the first month of history. When the Bnei Yisroel went out of Egypt, they were beginning now a career of accomplishment; they were being born now for the all important function of being מְעַט מִכָּל הָעַמִּים.
Now, a nation that is going to have to undergo that test of being the מְעַט מִכָּל הָעַמִּים and pass that nisayon successfully, needs to be reminded from time to time about its function in this world. And that’s why, besides for Rosh Chodesh Nissan, they were taught the dinim of Rosh Chodesh in general. Because what better time to recalibrate, to take stock, than Rosh Chodesh, the symbol of our smallness and our greatness.
Don’t Squander the Chodesh
But there’s more. Rosh Chodesh is an important day for a nation being born now because of all the principles we discussed but also because it teaches us about time, about not squandering our one chance in this world to accomplish what we were born for. That’s one of the most important purposes of counting months – to remind us that time is passing.
A month is a big slice of life and when we count months we’re reminding ourselves that we have too important a function in this world to let time just go by. And so Rosh Chodesh means, “What have you done for Me lately? I gave you a function in this world,” Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, “and what did you accomplish with this past month, with this great gift of life that I gave you?”
The Watermelon of Life
Rosh Chodesh is like the woman who has a lot of children and the father brought home a watermelon. It was a big watermelon and she wanted the children to appreciate it. She knew that if she would just put the whole thing on the table it would be finished up and forgotten about so she cut it up into little slices and gave each one a little piece. “Tomorrow,” she said, “is another day and we’ll sit down and enjoy it all over again.” And so she intentionally handed out little pieces each day so they should appreciate it more.
Life is the biggest watermelon there is! There’s no bigger fun than being alive. Practice that tonight when you walk out; you’re walking down Ocean Parkway thinking how much fun it is to be alive. To walk, to breathe, to see! Ahh! But not only fun. It’s an opportunity! It’s an opportunity to make something from yourself. Achieving, that’s the best fun of this world!
A Slice of Life
But the trouble is if it’s dished out in in one long monotonous string, one big watermelon. Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives you seventy or eighty or ninety or a hundred years in one big chunk and you might feel it’s nothing. It’s easy to swallow up the whole thing without paying attention and before you know it it’s almost finished.
So what does He do? He dishes it out in portions. Life is chopped up in small portions, so that we should make the best use of it. He cuts it up first of all in years. Every year you feel, “Oh, it’s another year I’m getting. Baruch Hashem, an additional year.” And you take stock.
But even that is too much. It’s too big a portion. So He chops it up in months. A month! Thirty days! That’s a nice slice of life! And it’s renewed constantly so it should be an opportunity for us to appreciate it. That’s why He made a moon — the new moon says, “Wake up sleepyhead! Another month just passed you by and another one is heading your way.”
The Gift of Rosh Chodesh
That’s why we say in Mussaf Rosh Chodesh, רָאשֵׁי חֳדָשִׁים לְעַמְּךָ נָתַתָּ – You, Hashem, gave to Your people Roshei Chadoshim. Nasata means that You gave it to us as a gift. And what is the gift of Rosh Chodesh? There are many reasons why it’s called a gift but the first thing is what it says in the siddur: “You gave it to us as a זמן כפרה לכל תולדותם – a time when they make atonement for all that happened to them.”
On Rosh Chodesh you bring korbanos, offerings, that atone for everything that happened in the past month and therefore when Rosh Chodesh comes, it’s intended as an opportunity to stop and think, to take stock of your life. It’s not done but it should be done. Stop and think, “What did I do in the past month? How much did I accomplish in the past month?”
That’s why erev Rosh Chodesh some people use it as a yom kippur katan. In many places they used to fast the day before Rosh Chodesh and say special tefillos. Now, I’m not saying everyone must do that but there’s no question that everyone should utilize Rosh Chodesh itself as an opportunity to make a little pause and think about the past month.
A Day of Atonement
Zman kapparah means that the Jew who lives with an awareness of his function in the world thinks back over the past month and he considers whether he committed any errors, whether he forgot about Hakadosh Baruch Hu, whether he was in any detail disloyal to the Torah, he wronged his fellow man. It’s not for the entire year — that’s Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — but at least in the month that has ensued, we review it, we look back.
And if you look you’ll discover. If you don’t look, you never have any errors. People can live with a clear conscience all their lives although they committed sometimes serious things. But if you look back, and you spend more time on it, you’ll be surprised how much you’ll discover that needs to be rectified: mistakes made between yourself and your neighbors, members of your family, the wrong things you said, the way you reacted. And also to people on the street, how did you behave. How did you behave when it came to your obligations in giving tzedakah, or dealing with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, did you think about Him enough.
There’s a great deal of work on Rosh Chodesh, to look back since the last Rosh Chodesh. What happened; what happened in our tefillah. What happened in our bein adam laMokom, bein adam lachaveiro, what happened in the families. It’s a very good idea to give an accounting to yourself of what happened in the past month. In general, a Jew lives with cheshbon. “בֹּאוּ חֶשְׁבּוֹן” a Jew is told. “Come and make calculations.” A bookkeeping of life is just as important — much more important — than the bookkeeping of business, and Rosh Chodesh was created for that.
Plan Ahead
And cheshbon includes the future too. So on Rosh Chodesh he sits down by himself for a few minutes and he thinks, “What am I going to do with my coming month?” Because Rosh Chodesh is a new beginning, a fresh start, and a nation that lives for a purpose — not for pastimes, not for entertainment and restaurants and baseball — makes sure to utilize that day as a preparation for a new beginning; it’s a chance for a new start.
So let’s say you were discouraged last month and you didn’t accomplish much. So now you look back and you say, “I was a flop, a failure, but no matter! I’ll start all over again.” And Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to aid you. He’ll help you make that new beginning because that’s His system with those who try to make a beginning; He’s going to help them.
Pray Ahead
Now, when you take stock of the past and plan for the future, included in that is to ask for the future. Because now you appreciate what a month means and you want the upcoming thirty days to be successful. That’s why when the Rosh Chodesh bentchen used to take place, Jews used to weep. Yehi Ratzon is a serious time in the synagogue, on Shabbos Mevorchim.
And so Rosh Chodesh is a day when we ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu to prosper us for the month to come; that we know from Yaaleh V’yavo. Today everybody is confident and they just rattle it off but you’re missing out because it’s important to prepare for the month ahead with tefillah. We want to be remembered for tovah and bracha and chayim tovim and yeshua v’rachamim. We’re asking for a lot! And so when you say Yaaleh V’yavo next time, remember that the month depends to a big extent on how you asked for it.
Not only in Yaaleh V’yavo. Yaaleh V’yavo symbolizes all of our tefillos for the coming month. All day long you should be busy speaking to Hashem asking Him that the month that’s coming should be a successful month, that the next month should be a month of good health, a month of success in parnassa, a month of aliyah; we should make progress in serving Him and in knowing Torah more.
There’s a lot of things to ask for! And we shouldn’t generalize! Ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu that the month that’s coming should be a month free of automobile accidents, free of illnesses – a million things could happen chas v’shalom, and we don’t want any one of them to happen. And therefore it’s so important for a person to pray ahead of time. If you usher in a new month with the proper prayers, Hakadosh Baruch Hu listens to your requests, you have much more opportunity of being successful.
Don’t Forget to Say Thank You
And of course we can’t just merely beg always and say give me. You have to say thank You too. And so a big part of Rosh Chodesh is thanking Hakadosh Baruch Hu for the past month. And that’s what Hallel says; Hallel is to thank Hashem that you lived to this Rosh Chodesh. “Another month I lived! Oh Hashem, I thank You so much!”
You know when you’re being served something that’s delicious so you don’t say, “I’ll wait till the end of the meal and then I’ll say thank you to the host.” Every dish that he hands you say “thank you.” Every separate course you say “thank you.” And so we don’t wait only till the end of the year. Every Rosh Chodesh we say Hallel because we’re thanking for the past month.
We should put work into that, effort into thanking, and the Hallel should be with great gratitude. Thirty days of happiness, thirty days of life. Thirty days that you ate meals almost every day. Maybe every day. And so there’s a lot to be grateful for. Thirty days that you wore clothing. Thirty days that you were able to sleep. Thirty days that you breathed. Breathing thirty days! There’s a lot to be grateful for.
Hallel means to thank Hashem that you lived to see another Rosh Chodesh. Suppose a man was sentenced to be put to death and he received a reprieve for one month, a month is a gift. Many people pay big money in order to live another month. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu certainly deserves a great Hallel for a gift not of a minute. A minute? יש קונה עולמו בשעה אחת – In one minute, a person can do teshuva. And the next minute if you’ll get busy, you could become a ben Olam Haba.
And therefore we sum up now; besides for all the secrets, the allegories and lessons of Rosh Chodesh, there are also three elements to the day. Number one is the element of zman kaparah, to atone for the past month which means retrospect, to go back and consider what happened, mistakes we made or the progress we made in order to hold onto it. If you started good things, you have to consider what good things you began in order to hold onto it. Second, to beg and ask that the month should be a month of happiness and success. And number three, to thank Hashem for the past month; to express our gratitude that we lived to see another Rosh Chodesh.
The Ancient Holiday
And so you understand now why Rosh Chodesh was so important in the ancient times. Although the Torah did not forbid any work on Rosh Chodesh, it’s remarkable that our forefathers voluntarily refrained from work on Rosh Chodesh. During the entire time of the first Beis Hamikdash, our forefathers refused to work on Rosh Chodesh. You see that everywhere in Tanach. It was to them like a regular festival, a holiday, a yom tov.
And it’s easy to understand why. Parshas HaChodesh is the beginning of the Torah! That’s when we became a nation! Rosh Chodesh Nissan is the beginning of our history! And how did we survive history? How is it that we’ll remain standing until the end of time? Because we’re a nation that lives with all the lessons of Rosh Chodesh, all the attitudes and principles that can be gained by living according to the lessons of the new moon.
And that’s the best way to go into Nissan, the month of Pesach, the month when we were born — by recommitting ourselves to live by the lessons that Moshe Rabbeinu taught the nation on that first Rosh Chodesh of our history.
Have a Wonderful Shabbos
This week’s booklet is based on tapes: 134 – Jacob the Little | 149 – He Made Darkness | 421 – Rosh Chodesh and the Moon | 491 – I Created All Of Them For You | E-71 – Hallel
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