A New Month on the Jewish Calendar

How I introduce Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, by a lay person

October 10, 2018

I am happy that, beginning tonight, we have a new month on the Jewish calendar, the month of Cheshvan. This month is so different from last month. Last month, Tishrei, we had numerous major holy days and holidays, each with it's own theme. This month, Cheshvan, is an unusual month because there are no Jewish holidays at all, except for the weekly day of rest, Shabbat, and the start of the month, Rosh Chodesh.

 

Last month, Tishrei, we had so many holidays -- a time for introspection, a time for repentence, then a week of gladness, remembering the ancient harvest, then a time to pray for timely rain, and then day to celebrate the start of reading the Torah again from the beginning. In other words, for those who participated, Tishrei was highly structured spiritually. But Cheshvan is the opposite, not structured by holidays. And that feels just right to me.

 

How do I observe Rosh Chodesh? I try to learn about the specific month, and I try to sight the moon, as early as possible. I usually can't find it until the third or fourth day, when it is already becoming a crescent rather than a sliver. The traditional prayer calls for things we want to increase, because the moon is going to appear to increase.

 

In Jewish legends, Moses gave Rosh Chodesh to Miriam and her women followers, as a reward, because they not been involved in the golden calf business. Thus women became the keepers of Rosh Chodesh in Judaism. I think, however, that the women were already the keepers of Rosh Chodesh. Around the planet, women were generally the inventors and the original keepers of the lunar calendar, because of the correlation between the menstrual cycle and the moon. Moon, month, and menstruation all come from the same root.

Women who still menstruate, if you go outside when you get your period, and you see what phase the moon is in, and if you menstruate reguarly, then every time you get your period, the moon should be in that same phase, right? Because the menstrual cycle is the same same length as the cycle of the moon. So when ancient women figured that out, they had invented the lunar calendar. Is it not so?

So in conclusion, let me just say: Chodesh Tov! A Good Month For All!