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Shabbat HaChodesh – New Year for Kings

Shabbat HaChodesh is the fourth and last of the special Shabbatot, the Shabbat immediately preceding Rosh Chodesh Nissan.

On Shabbat HaChodesh we read Parshat HaChodesh, the very first commandment that G-d gave to all of Israel as a nation[1]:

(א) וַיֹּאמֶר ה’ אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר:

(ב) הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה:

1) Hashem said to Moshe and to Aharon, in the Land of Egypt, as follows:
2) This month will be for you the first of months, it will be the first for you among the months of the year.  (Shemot 12)

Not only was this the first commandment that Israel was given as a nation, it is this commandment that made Israel a nation in the first place. In the ancient world, what distinguished a nation from a bunch of tribes was that nations had kings. The Jewish People in exile were still just a large family, a dozen tribes. By giving us commandments, G-d made Himself our king, and made us a nation.

The 1st of Nissan is associated with kings in Halacha. When listing the various new years in our calendar, the Mishna states:

ארבעה ראשי שנים הם באחד בניסן ראש השנה למלכים ולרגלים :

There are four new years: 1st of Nissan is the new year for kings and for holidays (Mishna, Rosh Hashana 1:1)

What is a “new year for kings?” In the times of the Tanach, people would date their documents based on the reign of the current king, eg: “in the 2nd year of the King Yehoshafat.” The year was incremented not on the date of the coronation of that king, but rather on the 1st of Nissan. Let’s say King Yehoshafat had been crowned during Adar; starting with the 1st of Nissan of that year, we would start dating our documents as the 2nd year to his reign, even though he had only been king for a month.

The “coronation date” of the Jewish People is not the coronation date of a particular human king, like all other nations. Instead, it is the date that we accepted G-d as our king and became a nation, the date when G-d gave us our first commandment: the 1st of Nissan.

The Haftarah of HaChodesh describes the dedication ceremony of the final Temple, which begins on the 1st of Nissan[2]. It talks about the offerings that will be made on that day, in particular, by the leader of the Jewish People, whom Yechezkel calls “nassi.”[3] Surprisingly, the Haftarah begins a few verses before the description of the dedication ceremony, and ends a few verses later. Those extra verses refer to a seemingly unrelated topic: the laws that limit the power of the leader of the Jewish People.

This “nassi” has an important role, especially in the dedication of the final Temple: he must collect the taxes, and he must represent the people in bringing their offerings. He is shown respect: certain gates are opened especially for him, and he is allowed to use certain passages that others are not. But the Haftarah states explicitly that these privileges are only given to him when he is actively representing the nation. When he comes to the Temple as a private person, as an individual, he does not get any special treatment.

The Haftarah goes out of its way to point out that the leader of Israel, whether he be called “king”, or “nassi”, is given power only to the extent that he serves the nation. He represents them, he organizes them, he leads them, but he does not truly rule them. It is not his authority that defines them as a nation. Their years are not dated from the beginning of his reign, but from the beginning of G-d’s reign – the date of the first commandment given to Israel.

The nation of Israel may have many new years, but we have only One King.


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Copyright © Kira Sirote
In memory of my father, Peter Rozenberg, z”l
לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ז”ל



[1] Avraham’s commandment of Brit Milah was given to him as an individual and the head of a family.

[2] The Mishkan’s dedication ceremony was also on the 1st of the 1st.

[3] “Nassi”, which is used in modern Hebrew to mean president. It is sometimes translated as “prince”, but a prince in English connotes the child of a king. It literally means,  “one who is raised”, as in “his highness”, or in the case of the Jewish People, “first among equals”. Which is why I went with “president”.

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Shabbat Rosh Chodesh – Partners with G-d

When Rosh Chodesh falls out on Shabbat, we pre-empt the Haftorah of the Parsha and instead read the last chapter of Yeshayahu, which mentions both Rosh Chodesh and Shabbat.

The Haftorah describes a vision of the future, a utopia where all evil has been removed from this world and all of mankind worships G-d. The Haftorah ends this vision with the following verse:

וְהָיָה מִדֵּי חֹדֶשׁ בְּחָדְשׁוֹ וּמִדֵּי שַׁבָּת בְּשַׁבַּתּוֹ יָבוֹא כָל בָּשָׂר לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֹת לְפָנַי אָמַר ה’:
It will be, on each new month and on each Shabbat, all mankind will come to bow before Me, said Hashem. (Yeshayahu 66:23)

This verse states that commemorating Rosh Chodesh and Shabbat is key to acknowledging G-d’s dominion over the world. In order to understand this, we need to examine the meaning of Shabbat and the purpose of Rosh Chodesh.

The division of the month into weeks is not a natural one. Unlike years and months, which are based on the cycles of the sun and the moon, the week is a human construct (or rather, one commanded to us by G-d). Counting the days, one through seven, over and over again, is the Torah’s way of getting us to identify with G-d’s role in Creation. By doing so, we testify to G-d being the Source of all that exists. When we emulate G-d by ceasing all creative tasks on Shabbat, we make ourselves His partners in Creation.

What about Rosh Chodesh? The month is a natural phenomenon known to all human beings from the dawn of time. Yet the Torah “gives” it to the Jewish People, and makes it a commandment to declare the new moon and determine the date of Rosh Chodesh. This was originally done through a complicated Halachic process that verified the observation of the new moon in the night sky. This determination was based on human effort, not on objective fact; thus, human error was a real possibility. The pre-calculated calendar that the Jewish People have been using for the last millennium and a half is also a human artifact; it also has the potential for error. Such an error would affect not only Rosh Chodesh itself, but any holidays in that month. Would the Passover Seder be on Monday or on Tuesday night? Friday night or Saturday night? The Jewish People get to make that call. But what if we’re wrong?

רבי קריספא בשם ר’ יוחנן לשעבר אלה מועדי יי’ מיכן ואילך אשר תקראו אותם אמר רבי אילא אם קריתם אותם הם מועדי ואם לאו אינן מועדי
R’ Krispa said in the name of R’ Yochanan: At first it said, “These are the holidays of Hashem,” but then it became, “that you shall declare.” R’ Ilah said, [it is as if G-d said] “If you declare them they are My holidays, if not, they are not My holidays.” (Talmud Yerushalmi Rosh Hashana 1: 57 b)

Even if our astronomical observations are mistaken, or our calculations incorrect, as far as G-d is concerned, the holidays declared by the Jewish People are the actual holidays. This is key to understanding what G-d wants from His relationship with mankind.

First and foremost, we need to know that G-d is involved in the world. It is hard for us to even fathom the alternative, but there are still religions and philosophies that believe that even if there is a G-d Who created the world, He cannot possibly be involved in running it. He is too transcendent, too abstract, too great, to care about what you and I do or do not eat, what you and I do or do not say, or even whether you and I steal, rape, or murder. The Exodus from Egypt proved otherwise; its purpose, as stated in the Torah in Parshat VaEira, is “that you should know that I am Hashem.” It showed all of mankind that G-d has power over the entire world, that He sees what happens in it, and that their actions matter to Him. That is also the purpose of the holidays that are mentioned in the Midrash above, the “holidays of Hashem.” As “זכר יציאת מצרים” , they commemorate the Exodus, the greatest manifestation of G-d’s intervention in the affairs of mankind.

The Midrash takes this a step further. Not only do we need to know and accept that G-d runs the world, but G-d also wants the Jewish People to be His partners in running the world. He handed over the determination of Rosh Chodesh, and with it, the decision of when to celebrate the holidays, to us. Even though we are fallible human beings, and might get it wrong, He wants us to be involved.

Thus, the commemoration of Rosh Chodesh expresses the idea that G-d continues to renew and maintain the world; He is actively involved in history and our actions matter to Him. Shabbat stands for our assertion that G-d created the world; as Creator, He has the authority to command us. Without accepting both of these fundamental beliefs about G-d, the world cannot reach the utopia described in Yeshayahu. It is the mission of the Jewish People to share this understanding with the world, and one of the ways that we accomplish this is through our calendar.

The conjunction of Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh reminds us that we are G-d’s partners in perfecting Creation, and in bringing about its ultimate destiny as described in the Haftarah of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh, a world where evil has been vanquished and only good remains.

Copyright © Kira Sirote
In memory of my parents, Peter & Nella Rozenberg, z”l
לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ואמי מורתי חנה בת זעליג ז”ל

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Shabbat Rosh Chodesh

The Haftarah of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh is read whenever Rosh Chodesh falls out on Shabbat, and overrides any other Haftarah. The only exception is Shabbat Shekalim and HaChodesh, which are tied to Rosh Chodesh Adar and Nissan, respectively.

It is not an easy Haftarah; it contains some very powerful imagery, both of comfort and of fear.

Linear annotated translation of the Haftarah of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh

The obvious connection is the repetition of the words “Shabbat” and “Chodesh”. Understanding why Shabbat and Chodesh are mentioned, and what they have to do with the general theme of Geula (redemption), now that is not obvious at all.

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