“He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.” – Psa 104:19
Last week I took a photo of the crescent moon as we returned from the final lighting of a large Hanukkiah in our town in Northern Israel. It was January first, just after sunset. Of course, that would actually be January 2 according to the Biblical understanding that the day begins at sunset. I posted it in several places and this caused a bit of a stir with a few people because the standard Jewish calendar calculates the months of the entire year ahead of time, these are mathematical figures, not based on any actually siting, but upon predetermined dates which allow a better flow of the Holy Days and allow people to plan for their times off from work, etc. Yet, a question looms large for me. Who established the times and seasons? And are they adjustable?
In Genesis, we see that the seasons were set up by the Creator on the 4th day and are determined by the sun and moon.
Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that [it was] good.‘
The 14th verse in Hebrew mentions Moedim (which is commonly translated seasons. Yet that same word is used for the appointed gatherings for the Holy Days.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי מְאֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם לְהַבְדִּיל בֵּין הַיּוֹם וּבֵין הַלָּיְלָה וְהָיוּ לְאֹתֹת וּלְמוֹעֲדִים וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִים׃
(14. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years)
The frequent use of “New Moon” as the starting point to count up to a Holy Day or festival throughout Tenakh, makes this verse significant. A new moon uses the same word as month. Hodesh. Moon is also called yreakh. Again psalms 104 says:
“He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.” – Psa 104:19.
עָשָׂה יָרֵחַ לְמוֹעֲדִים שֶׁמֶשׁ יָדַע מְבוֹאוֹ׃
Again we see the word Moedim in this verse. So if the moon was established for determining the festivals and months of the year, then this says something significant.
So, this past year the visual observance of the New Moon was always from one to two days later than the observance celebrated by the rabbinic calendar. Some have pointed out that this calendar is based on the astronomical new moon, which is determined to be during the night before the visible new moon. Yet, how was this done in ancient times? And when did Jews establish their fixed calendar?
“Hillel II, a Palestinian patriarch, introduced a fixed and continuous calendar in 359 ce. A summary of the regulations governing the present calendar is provided by Maimonides, the great medieval philosopher and legist, in his Code: Sanctification of the New Moon, chapters 6–10.”
Modern astronomy has produced a scientific explanation for when the new moon occurs.
“The astronomical new moon occurs by definition at the moment of conjunction in elliptical longitude with the Sun, when the Moon is invisible from the Earth.” Wikipedia
But how would anyone have known in Bible days if the moon was not visible and there were no telescopes to ascertain that it was in conjunction?
Ok, so we could say that modern man has an improved way to establish the beginning of the month, but can we say we now are actually new and improved over the example of former times which was based on a naked eye siting of the moon?
So which is right and is there a leniency in God’s timetable? Or is it really the scientific calendar and not the Biblical one?
Psalms tells us:
Psa 81:3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival; (If there were no telescopes, would anyone know when to sound the shofar?)
This festival begins Nissan 14th at evening (the 15th is the holy day) Pesach, and the next week-long festival comes on the 15th of Tishrei, the beginning of Sukkot, so both are on the full moon which is the 15th of the month.
During the time of the flood when Noah was still on the ark with his family:
Gen 8: 5 “And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth [month], on the first [day] of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.”
How was this day determined? Nobody on that vessel had calendars as far as I know. It had to be that somehow they spotted the new moon and began to count down until they saw the mountains on the tenth day.
Big questions arise and remain about many things, like who gave us the right to change what Elohim established, even by a day or two? But if this question is not legitimate, then what was the former practice of the Jews, and can we draw any truth from it?
As we saw in Genesis 1:14, the lights in the heavens were given to separate the day from the night (the greater light) and as signs to us and for determining the dates of the moedim or festivals (the lesser light). It is interesting that the “lights” were given to determine things, not the darkness.
According to historical data quoted in Wikipedia:
“Originally, the beginning of each month was determined based on physical observation of a new moon, while the decision of whether to add the leap month was based on observation of natural agriculture-related events in ancient Israel.[1] Between the years 70 and 1178, these empirical criteria were gradually replaced with a set of mathematical rules. Month length now follows a fixed schedule which is adjusted based on the molad interval (a mathematical approximation of the mean time between new moons) and several other rules”
This all sounds well and good to a point, but there is the fact that the lights of the heavens were given to announce things, given as signs and portents as ways for the Creator to speak to us. The question arises: Then if we already have set times and calendars, how will we know when Hashem is speaking to us? (Link).
Evidence from the Mishnah: Rosh Hashanah 2:5-6
“There was a large courtyard in Jerusalem, which was called Beit Ya’zek. And there all the witnesses coming to testify about the new moon would gather, and the court of seventy-one judges would examine them there. And they would prepare great feasts for them, so that they would be willing and accustomed to coming and submitting their testimony.”
“How do they examine the witnesses who come to testify about the new moon? They deal with them in order, as the pair of witnesses that arrives first they examine first. They bring in the greater of the two witnesses, and they say to him: Say how you saw the moon. Was it in front of the sun or behind the sun? To its north or to its south? How high was the moon over the horizon, and in which direction did it tilt?”(link)
From the abstract of the book: Calendar and Community by Sacha Stern: (Link)
“The month in Jewish lunar calendars usually began when the new moon crescent was first sighted, as evident from Philo, Josephus, and other literary and epigraphic sources.”
So, we can see that there is evidence for the visible siting of the new moon as a historical pattern for establishing the first of a new month. The question we need to parley is, whether man was given the right to reinvent the dates of the calendar based on supportive scientific evidence or if we must follow the historic and biblical pattern set before us. And if scientific evidence which shows the conjunction of the moon when it is in its dark phase just before it becomes visible in the first crescent is what the Eternal Time Maker really intended.
In Summary, Here are my thoughts:
In the beginning, before anything else was created, God created light and blessed it…
“And the evening and the morning were the first day.” Genesis 1:3, 5.(We know the world was already in chaos before the first day of creation as stated in verses 2-3)
For those that argue that the darkness preceded the light, according to verse 2 the darkness was the condition of the earth before the first act of creation.
When there is a new moon sighting, it always precedes the nightfall. So “the evening and the morning” which is the time set up for the Creator’s day and in the case of the first day of the month, it follows the pattern of a small light of illumination before the darkness.
If the moon was made to mark the seasons or festivals given by Elohim, then how do you mark something if there is no visible sign?
And is there anything about darkness that is worthy of marking time?
Darkness seems pretty nebulous if you ask me, especially when there can be 3 days of darkness before the appearance of the moon.
“11 Discretion shall watch over thee; Understanding shall keep thee: 12 To deliver thee from the way of evil, From the men that speak perverse things; 13 Who forsake the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness;” Pro 2:11-13
“13 Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.” – Ecc 2:13
Could it be that the sight of the New Moon gives a glimmer of hope for a new month before the darkness of the first night? Is truth based on darkness or light?
B’shalom בשלום
Ariella אריאלה
