Lunar Lessons

 

In Parshat HaChodesh Maftir reading, the Torah instructs us to look towards and learn from the moon. The Torah states:

“Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon: “This month shall be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be for you the first of the months of the year.”

As the ten plagues culminate and the exodus is immanent, Bnai Yisrael are commanded to institute a uniquely Jewish calendar. The calendar begins with the month of Nissan, in commemoration of our freedom from Egypt.  It is the first Mitzvah given to the Jewish People. And this mitzvah is dependant on the moon. On the words “Hachodesh Hazeh” the Medrash writes that Hashem showed Moshe exactly what the moon looks like at the beginning of the month. Why does the moon occupy such a prominent role?

The Sefer Hachinuch describes the challenges that exist within this Mitzvah. First, a lunar month is 29 and a half days, and this means that some months will be assigned 29 days while others will have 30. A more challenging aspect of setting the Jewish calendar is the fact that it must exist within two systems. On the one hand, a month is defined by the amount of time it takes the moon to orbit the Earth once. On the other hand, Jewish holidays such as Pesach, Shavuot and Succot commemorate agricultural milestones. The Agricultural cycle is tied to the seasons, and seasons are dependant on the sun. The Sefer Hachinuch reminds us that a lunar year is 354 days while a solar year has 365 days. In order to keep holidays in their seasons, an extra month must sometimes be added. This is done in order to synchronize the solar and lunar years.

The Jewish calendar must live within two systems, lunar and solar. We often find ourselves living in two systems that sometimes seem to pull us in different directions: body and soul, work and family, personal growth and helping others, tradition and modernity. One lesson of the Jewish calendar is to find ways to live with tensions that cannot be resolved.

In Chasidic thought, the sun and the moon are characterized as the difference between the ideal and reality. The sun represents the ideal. It is the source of light, but it is distant and unapproachable. We cannot look directly at the sun without hurting our eyes. Similarly, the ideal should be viewed as a goal that must be strived for, yet never attained. The moon represents reality. The moon reflects light from the sun. The moon’s light resembles the sun’s rays; however the light is not as bright. We are comfortable with the moon; we can stare at it. Our reality is like the moon: it is a reflection of the ideal. Ideals are like the sun. We cannot tolerate to look at them. They do not reflect reality. The moon is real. We can look at the moon. The moon gets its light from the sun. Reality is inspired by our ideals. But the moon reflects them in a way that makes those ideals achievable and tolerable.

On this Rosh Chodesh Nisan let us learn the moon’s lessons: Be comfortable with the tensions in our life. Be realistic while being inspired by our ideals.