Class 3 Extra - The Moon

And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 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.

Rabbi Shimon ben Pazzi notes a contradiction: ‘And God made the two great lights; as it reads ‘The large light, and the small light.’ The moon said to the Holy One, Blessed Be He, ‘Master of the Universe, How can two kings share one crown?’ He said to her, ‘Go and diminish yourself!’

She said to him: ‘Master of the universe, because I said a logical thing before you, I should diminish myself?’ He said to her, ‘Go and you will rule by day and by night’. She said to him, ‘What is the greatness in that, How does a lamp help in the daytime?’ He said to her: ‘Go! Israel will count through you the days and the years.’ She said to him, ‘Day is the primary unit of time, and I can’t be used to count for days, as it says “And let them be for signs of the seasons and days and years”.’ He said, “Go! And great people will be called by your name: ... Yaakov the Small, Shmuel the Small, David the Small." God saw that the moon was still not happy at the time. The Holy One said,

“Bring an atonement on Me for I have diminished the moon.” And so that is what is meant when Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said, “What is the difference in how the New Moon offering is written, “A he-goat on the new moon, FOR THE LORD?’ Because the Holy One is saying, ‘Let this he-goat be an atonement FOR ME, for the diminishment of the moon.”

Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days, In the day that the LORD bindeth up the bruise of His people, And healeth the stroke of their wound.