(10) And on your joyous occasions—your fixed festivals and new moon days—you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well-being. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I, יהוה, am your God.
Rabbi Achah ben Chaninah also said in the name of Rabbi Assi in Rabbi Yochanan's name- "Whoever pronounces the blessing over the new moon in its due time welcomes, as it were, the presence of the Shechinah."
The Jewish people identify with the moon. Its constant change is reminiscent of our destiny, and its renewal symbolizes our hope. Just as the moon ebbs and flows, so does the exAs the moon reappears to face its creator monthly, so Israel renews itself spiritually in greeting the Shekhinah [the presence of God].
The Jewish people identify with the moon. Its constant change is reminiscent of our destiny, and its renewal symbolizes our hope. Just as the moon ebbs and flows, so does our experience in the world. No matter how hard things get, just like the moon, we will survive and return.
WOMEN AND ROSH CHODESH
Midrash- Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer 45
The women heard about the construction of the golden calf and refused to participate in contributing their jewelry, as their husbands had. They said, "You want to construct an idol?. . . We won't listen to you!"
An Interpretation-
The Holy One heard this and rewarded the women- in this world they would observe Rosh Chodesh more than men, and in the next world they would be renewed like the new moon.
How Is This Observed?
Historically, women took Rosh Chodesh as a sort of holiday where they didn't do hard chores at home. In recent times, women have come together to share stories and rituals and anticipation of the month that is just beginning.
WHY IS THERE A LEAP YEAR?
In the Jewish calendar, there is a leap year known as a "Shanah Me'uberet" in which an additional month, called Adar II, is added. This is done to align the lunar-based Jewish calendar with the solar year. The regular month of Adar is referred to as Adar I in leap years.
The purpose of adding an extra month is to ensure that the holidays, particularly Passover (Pesach), which is tied to the spring season, occur at the appropriate time of the year. By adding an extra month, the calendar compensates for the fact that the lunar year is about 11 days shorter than the solar year.
This practice helps maintain the cycle of holidays in their correct seasons and is a way of reconciling the lunar and solar calendars in the Jewish tradition.
SHABBAT MEVARCHIM- PRAYER TO ANNOUNCE THE COMING OF THE NEW MONTH
May it be Your will, Adonai our God and God of our ancestors, that You bring this new month to us for goodness and for blessing. Grant us long lives, filled with peace, goodness, blessing, sustenance, and physical health; lives characterized by fear of heaven and fear of sin; lives free of embarrassment and shame; lives of wealth and honor; lives characterized by love of Torah and fear of heaven; lives in which all of the prayers of our hearts will be fulfilled for the good.
The new month of (month) will begin on (day of the week); may it come to us and to all Israel for good.
May the Holy One, blessed be God, renew it upon us and upon all of God’s people the House of Israel, for life and health, for joy and gladness, for salvation and consolation, and let us say, Amen.
Rosh Chodesh Prayer- by Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg
Dear God, God of our mothers and fathers,
Renew us this month and this year
Direct us
Toward goodness and blessing
Toward the joyful
Toward liberation and challenge, as well as
Toward patience and consolation
Toward becoming ever more human beings.
Let us become capable of supporting ourselves,
Our families and friends,
Let us serve our community in dignity.
Direct us
Toward life and peace
Toward observing our blindness
Toward struggling with our goals
Toward forgiving ourselves and each other.
You brought us near with an intention
You gave us the awareness of the cycles of the moon.
May we use this gift as an opportunity
To understand what you intend for us.
Thank you for inviting us to share your holiness and
This holy moment of the New Moon.