Rosh Hodesh and Women

Talmud Yerushalmi Ta'anit 1:6

Women who refrain from work on Rosh Chodesh [= the first day of a lunar month] are following an established custom.

Rabbi Jill Hammer

When the Israelites in the wilderness gave their most beautiful materials for the making of the mishkan (the dwelling place of God's presence, coming from the same word as Shekhinah), women donated more than men. The Torah says that “the men gathered upon the women”, implying that the women were more quick to come to give the Shekhinah their treasures. Therefore, women refrain from weaving, spinning, and sewing on Rosh Chodesh in honor of their generosity and zealousness (Rashi on Megillah 22b). In this story, women are the most enthusiastic givers to the mishkan, which represents the indwelling Divine Presence. This parallels women's association with the Shekhinah.

Pirkei d' R. Eliezer, 45

When the Jews asked Aaron to make them a golden calf, Aaron said to them, "Remove the rings that are in the ears of your wives (Sh'mot 32:2)." The women, however, did not agree to give their jewelry to their husbands. Rather, they said to them: "Should we make a calf which is an abomination and has no power to save us? We will not listen to you!" Hashem rewarded them in this world that they keep Rosh Chodesh more than the men do. He also rewarded them in the world to come that they will be renewed like the Roshei Chodoshim, as the verse says: "Your youth shall be renewed to be [as light] as an eagle (Tehillim 103:5)."

Talmud, Chullin 60a

R. Simeon b. Pazzi pointed out a contradiction [between verses]. One verse

says, And God made the two great lights, and immediately the verse continues, The greater light...and the lesser light. The moon said unto the Holy One,

blessed be He, "Sovereign of the Universe! Is it possible for two kings to wear one

crown?" He answered, "Go then and make thyself smaller". "Sovereign of the

Universe!" cried the moon, "because I have suggested that which is proper must I then

make myself smaller?" He replied, "Go, and thou wilt rule by day and by night." "But

what is the value of this?" cried the moon. "Of what use is a lamp in broad daylight?"

He replied. "Go. Israel shall reckon by thee the days and the years." "But it is

impossible," said the moon, "to do without the sun for the reckoning of the seasons, as

it is written, And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and for

years." "Go.The righteous shall be named after thee as we find, Jacob the Small,

Samuel the Small, David the Small." On seeing that it would not be consoled, the

Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Bring an atonement for Me for making the moon

smaller." This is what was meant by R. Simeon b. Lakish when he declared, "Why is it

that the he-goat offered on the new moon is distinguished in that there is written

concerning it unto the Lord? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Let this

he-goat be an atonement for Me for making the moon smaller."

Gershom Scholem, On the Kabbalah and its Symbolism, 151-153

This 'lessening of the moon' was interpreted by the Kabbalists as a symbol of the Shekhinah's exile. The Shekhinah itself is the 'holy moon,' which has fallen from its high rank, been robbed of its light and sent into cosmic exile. Since then, exactly like the moon itself, it has shone only with reflected light. With the Talmudic explanation, which relates only to the designation of the moon as the 'lesser light' in the first chapter of Genesis, the Kabbalists connected their knowledge of the changing phases of the moon, which seemed to indicate that until the Messianic redemption the moon (and the Shekhinah as well) would time and time again sink back into utter lightlessness and want. Only in redemption would the moon be restored to its original state, and in support of this belief a verse from Isaiah (3o : 26) was cited. Meanwhile, no cosmic event seemed to the Kabbalists to be more closely connected with the exile of all things, with the imperfection and the taint inherent in all being, than this periodic lessening of the moon.

Kiddush Levana (Sanctification of the Moon) Blessing

Blessed are you, God, ruler of the universe,whose word created the heavens and whose breath created the heavenly hosts, who gave them ordinances that they not change their orbits. Joyful and happy are they to do the will of their creator, a worker of truth whose work is truth! To the moon God said; renew yourself, crown of glory for those borne in the womb, for they like you, are destined to renew themselves,and to give glory to their creator for the sake of God's holy honored sovereignty (malkhut/Shekhinah). Blessed are you, God, renewer of months.

Robin Zeigler

A woman’s body is characterized by cycles of change” as women go from one stage of life to another: puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, birthing, breast-feeding, and menopause. “Likewise,” she writes, “each month the moon waxes and wanes with a comforting predictability” (33). She further writes: “All throughout the generations women have experienced the same cycles of life. Like the familiar moon, the body gently speaks to us. The moon’s cycles are reflected in our counting and deposited in our bodies. One can look at the moon to observe its phases, and likewise, a woman can observe her internal body changes."