R. Acha b. Chanina said in R. Assi’s name, who said in R. Yochanan’s name: Whoever pronounces the blessing over the new moon in its due time is as if welcoming the Shekhinah [the divine Presence], for one passage states, This month… (Exodus 12:2) and elsewhere it is said, This is my God, and I will glorify Him (Exodus 15:2). In the school of Rabbi Yishmael it was taught: Had Israel merited no more than to greet the presence of their Heavenly Father once a month, it would have sufficed. Abaye said: Therefore we must recite it standing. But Mareimar and Mar Zutra recited the blessing [over the new moon] from [atop] each other’s shoulders.
INTRODUCTION
We live most of our lives
indoors. Much is lost by living so little outdoors and so minimally connected
to the natural world. This is especially true of our religious lives: we pray,
study, hold Passover seders, and virtually every holy day celebration indoors.
The one notable exception
is Sukkot because our obligation to dwell in the sukkah can be fulfilled only
outdoors.
Our holidays are tied to the
cycle of the moon, but on any given night, are you aware of the phases of the
moon because you see it, or only because you know the date on the Hebrew
calendar? Kiddush Levana (the blessing over the new moon) is customarily
recited outside when both stars and the moon are visible in the night
sky, anywhere from three days after the appearance of the new moon until the
full moon, ideally at the conclusion of Shabbat.
COMMENTARY
R. Yochanan teaches that
reciting Kiddush Levana, the sanctification of the new moon, has enormous
spiritual potency: it is equivalent to welcoming the Shekhinah (God’s Presence)
into our midst. Perhaps this has to do with the proximity of the moon—it is far
closer to us than any other heavenly body—and we long to feel God’s Presence in
our lives. Or perhaps it is because of the reassuring light the moon provides
at night; we seek God’s light and security that come from proximity. Or perhaps
it is the very cycle of the moon, which mirrors the cycles of our lives. As the
moon waxes and wanes, so do our fortunes, both as individuals and as a people.
As the moon always returns, so we hope that God’s redemption will come to us,
as individuals, as a people, and for all the world.
Lie on your back and you look up high
At the lantern in the nighttime sky
It’s nice to know that she’s nearby
Our next-door neighbor, the moon.
Quarter moon, half moon, full moon bright
She’s always ready to lend you light
She’ll be here tomorrow night
Our next-door neighbor, the moon.
A billion years, a million million eyes
Have gone out in the night
To watch the same moon rise
Once in a while she’s lost from view
Perhaps she has some things to do
Then comes back just like new
Our next-door neighbor, moon.
Night upon night beaming down on me
Her soft, gray light so I can see
Our closet friend in the galaxy
Our next-door neighbor, the moon…
Tom Chapin, “Our Next-door Neighbor, the Moon” on the album In My Hometown
R. Yochanan offers us two
verses to establish his claim that welcoming the moon is equivalent to
welcoming the Shekhinah into our midst: This month
(ha-chodesh ha-zeh) shall mark for you the beginning of the
months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you (Exodus
12:2) establishes for R. Yochanan the obligation of Kiddush Levana, and the
word “this” (zeh) connects it with God’s presence and redemption at the
Sea of Reeds: This (zeh) is My God and I
will glorify Him (Exodus 15:2). (Connecting the meaning of two verses
through a common word is a common rabbinical hermeneutic called a gezeirah
shava.)
R. Yishmael, perhaps
hyperbolically, tells us that were this the only opportunity we had to
experience God’s presence in their lives, it would suffice. If that is the
case, Abaye tells us, we should stand to recite Kiddush Levana. Then why are
Mameimar and Mar Zutra not standing? Most commentaries explain that Mareimar
and Mar Zutra are old and frail. Unable to stand for Kiddush Levana, they lean
on each other’s shoulders. But if they are both weak, would they not
have leaned on someone strong? I think the Talmud is telling us not that they
were old and unable to stand, but that they took turns climbing on one another’s
shoulders in an effort to get closer to the moon. If welcoming the moon is like
welcoming the Shekhinah, who wouldn’t want to get closer—and sing and dance in
celebration—outside under the stars and moon?
QUESTIONS TO
CONSIDER AND DISCUSS
1. A midrash in Chullin 60b tells us that when God created the “greater
light” (sun) and the “lesser light” (moon), the moon said, “Master of the
universe, is it possible for two kings to share one crown?” God responded: “Go
and diminish yourself!” The moon objected that she has been punished for asking
a reasonable question. In recompense, God offers three consolations that are
unworkable. In the end, God decrees that Israel should offer an atonement
sacrifice of a he-goat on the moon—as God’s atonement for making the moon
smaller. What message(s) do you hear in the midrash? How would you have
responded to the moon?
2. Here is the blessing (from Sanhedrin 42a) of
Kiddush Lavana for you to say: “Blessed are you, Adonai our God, ruler of space
and time, Who with God’s word created galaxies, and with the divine breath
created all their hosts. God gave them law and time so they would not change
course. They are joyous and glad to perform the will of their Owner; they are workers
of truth whose work is truth. To the moon God said that it should renew itself
each month, a crown of splendor for those born from the womb who are destined
to renew themselves like the moon and to glorify their Maker for the name of
God’s glorious kingdom. Blessed are You, Adonai, who renews the months.”
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