Rosh Chodesh

A few weeks before the exodus from Egypt, Benei Yisrael received their first mitzva as a nation: to sanctify the new moon and to set our calendar accordingly:

Nissan, the month of the redemption from Egypt, is the first of the Jewish months.

Until outside intrusions forced the introduction of a fixed Jewish calendar in the middle of the fourth century, the Sanhedrin would proclaim the beginning of each new month based on the reports of witnesses who had seen the first sliver of a new moon. This determination of when the new month begins is called kiddush ha-chodesh, sanctification of the month.

Since the new moon appears about every twenty-nine and a half days, the fixed calendar adopted a system that alternates thirty-day months with twenty-nine-day months. To allow for fine-tuning the calendar, the months of Marcheshvan and Kislev can be either thirty or twenty-nine days long. So the standard Jewish calendar year lasts anywhere from 353 to 355 days.

The lunar Jewish calendar does make adaptations to the solar year, so that our festivals align properly with Israel’s agricultural seasons. For example, Pesach must take place in the spring, when the barley ripens, Aviv.¹ Since the lunar year is shorter than the solar year by more than ten days, the fixed Jewish calendar adjusts for the discrepancy by adding a thirty-day leap month roughly once out of every three years.

The religious significance of the new month derives in part from our role in declaring it and, thus, fixing our festival calendar. It also derives from the Torah’s reference to Rosh Chodesh as a day of rejoicing:

Rosh Chodesh also resembles other days of rejoicing in having a special additional offering, a korban musaf.²

For a discussion of the connection between the musaf offering on Rosh Chodesh, the moon, and women, see here, under “A Kabbalistic View.”.

Verses in Tanach frequently mention Rosh Chodesh together with Shabbat, as if to compare them. For example, in Melachim II, the Shunamit’s husband associates Rosh Chodesh with Shabbat as a day on which it would be more fitting to visit the prophet:

The Talmud goes even further and formally labels Rosh Chodesh as a mo’ed (appointed time):

Calling Rosh Chodesh a mo’ed officially links it to Shabbat and other festive days.³

Rosh Chodesh also resembles Shabbat as a special day for worship. As part of his description of the third Beit Ha-mikdash, Yechezkel prophesies that the eastern gate of the inner courtyard will be closed on days of work, but open on Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh. Furthermore, on Rosh Chodesh, the people will come to bow down before God.

Yeshayahu makes a similar point, that it will come to pass that all creatures bow down before God every Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh.

Although these prophecies about the nature of worship refer to the future, the prophets’ assessment of the enduring importance of Rosh Chodesh presumably draws from its importance in the time of the first Temple.

Labor

To set aside time for worship, one must disengage from some aspects of the everyday. In Shemuel I, Yehonatan tells David that the next day is Rosh Chodesh, which he contrasts with days of work:⁴

We can infer that Rosh Chodesh of his time was not a day of work. Radak makes this inference, observing that the ancient custom was apparently not to perform labor on Rosh Chodesh:

Radak suggests that the custom to desist from labor on Rosh Chodesh originated with sacrifices. At the time of Shaul, private local altars (bamot) were permitted, and it seems that families gathered on Rosh Chodesh and sacrificed peace offerings. Later, as the prophets describe, masses came to worship in Beit Ha-mikdash where a korban musaf, additional sacrifice, was offered on Rosh Chodesh.

Centuries later, Turei Even argues that desisting from labor on Rosh Chodesh was not merely a custom, but actually a matter of law, because of the musaf sacrifice:

Surprisingly, the Talmudic evidence on the matter of performing labor on Rosh Chodesh is split. In a few places, the Talmud states or implies that there is no prohibition on labor on Rosh Chodesh.⁵

This passage teaches that even though there was a korban musaf on Rosh Chodesh, on account of which we would think labor would be prohibited, labor is permitted. Contra Turei Even, there was no prohibition of performing labor on Rosh Chodesh, though customs are another matter.

On the other hand, another Talmudic passage asserts that we have time for four aliyot on Rosh Chodesh – although we generally limit ourselves to three on workdays, even on fast days – because on Rosh Chodesh the extra time in synagogue will not cause people to miss work.

A simple reading of this passage indicates that people did not perform labor on Rosh Chodesh, even in post-Temple times.

Rosh Chodesh is considered a Yom Tov, a festive day, for women. Why? The explanation rests on a midrashic tradition that picks up on a discrepancy in the story of the golden calf. In that narrative, Aharon tells the men to remove their wives’ jewelry and bring it to him for melting down. The men, however, bring him their own jewelry.

The midrash explains that the men brought their own jewelry to Aharon, and not their wives’ jewelry, because the women refused to participate in the sin of the golden calf.

According to the midrash, the seeming discrepancy in the story attests to women’s loyalty to God. The midrash expounds on the phrase in Tehillim, “‘edyech,” your adornment, as referring to the women’s jewelry, which they refused to turn over for the calf. The term for renewal, “tit’chadesh,” shares a Hebrew root with the word for month, Chodesh, so the women’s reward entails special observance of Rosh Chodesh.

There are three main approaches as to why specifically Rosh Chodesh should be a reward for the women’s meritorious behavior.

I. Re-allotment The first is Tur’s, in the name of his brother.⁶ He asserts that, just as the three festivals correspond to the three patriarchs, Rosh Chodesh was originally intended to correspond to the twelve tribes. In the aftermath of the sin of the golden calf, God took away the prospective observance of Rosh Chodesh from the men of the tribes and gave it to the women.

For Tur, women’s reward is not losing what was meant to be everyone’s monthly observance.

II. Women and Renewal Or Zarua observes that a woman’s monthly cycles are a form of renewal, much like those of the moon:

On this reading, the reward corresponds to the nature of its recipient.

III. Measure for Measure Abudarham cites yet another midrash to explain why Rosh Chodesh becomes women’s reward.⁸

The same word that appears in the golden calf narrative, “nezem,” appears in conjunction with the donations given for the mishkan. In the case of the mishkan, the verse relates that the men came “‘al ha-nashim” “in addition to the women”. That can be taken as meaning that the women brought their jewelry for the mishkan before the men did.

Whereas the women delayed giving up jewelry for the golden calf, those very same women hurried to contribute jewelry to the mishkan. The reward for not cooperating with the golden calf becomes linked to the building of the mishkan, which was dedicated on the first Rosh Chodesh of the year, Rosh Chodesh Nissan.⁹ For Abudarham, the reward corresponds to the act that merits it.

The midrash tells us that women will be rewarded by “keeping” Rosh Chodesh, but doesn’t elaborate on exactly how it should be observed. In practice, women observe Rosh Chodesh primarily by refraining from performing labor.

As we have seen, the Talmudic sources seem to disagree regarding whether labor was performed on Rosh Chodesh. One way to resolve the apparent conflict is to maintain that only women refrained from labor. Passages that indicate labor was not performed refer to women. Passages that imply that labor was performed refer to men.

For example, Rashi claims that when the Talmud implies that people do not perform labor on Rosh Chodesh, the ‘people’ in question are women:

Labelling

How do we characterize women’s refraining from labor on Rosh Chodesh? Early halachic authorities offer different labels. Rashi (above) refers to this abstention as a mitzva. Tosafot describe it in a few different ways. In some places, they refer to it as a prohibition.

In other places, however, Tosafot formulate women’s not performing labor on Rosh Chodesh as a custom for women.

Custom can be halachically binding, so a custom to refrain from labor on Rosh Chodesh could in effect be like a prohibition. Both Rashi and Tosafot’s descriptions establish women’s abstention from labor on Rosh Chodesh as normative.

Perhaps as early as the time of the golden calf, women observed Rosh Chodesh, in part, by refraining from labor. Likely, it was once customary for men to refrain from labor on Rosh Chodesh as well, specifically in conjunction with the sacrifice that was brought then. Once the sacrifice was no longer brought, that custom dwindled among men,¹⁰ but women’s observance of Rosh Chodesh by refraining from labor still persists.

The Talmud Yerushalmi evaluates various women’s customs to refrain from labor at specific times over the course of the year, and grants Rosh Chodesh approbation.

Based on this text, Rav Yosef Karo writes positively in the Shulchan Aruch about women’s refraining from labor on Rosh Chodesh.¹¹

Scope

Must women refrain from all labor on Rosh Chodesh? Halachic consensus is no, though authorities do debate the scope of women’s refraining from labor on Rosh Chodesh.

In his Beit Yosef commentary, Rav Yosef Karo argues that, from the start, women have had the custom to refrain from some labors, and not others.

According to Bet Yosef, the essence of the custom serves to distinguish Rosh Chodesh from a workday, not to prohibit women from performing all labor. Rosh Chodesh should resemble something like how American Jews experience the day off on Sunday. As long as a woman’s original custom is not to refrain from all labor on Rosh Chodesh, she may engage in some labors and not others, in accordance with her custom. By desisting from some labor on Rosh Chodesh, she distinguishes Rosh Chodesh from a regular workday.

Rema concurs with this view, that the determining factor is received custom:

Bach, however, disagrees. On his view, refraining from labor is a choice, not an obligation.

Bach’s central point is that women were given a reward, not a limitation. No one else may compel a woman to do labor on Rosh Chodesh.

Beiur Halacha rules in accordance with Bet Yosef and rejects Bach. He explains that it is incumbent upon all women to refrain from at least some labor on Rosh Chodesh, to recognize that it is a Yom Tov for women.

In short, women must refrain from some labor on Rosh Chodesh, but have great leeway deciding how.

Aruch Ha-shulchan adds an important loophole. Even women who have a custom to desist from a given labor on Rosh Chodesh may perform labor when there is a financial need.

The custom never applied to labor necessary for a woman’s livelihood.¹²

Types of Labor

The classic examples of labors from which women over the ages have refrained on Rosh Chodesh include many of those from which we refrain on Chol Ha-moed, including sewing, spinning¹³, and laundry.¹⁴ Desisting from labor on Rosh Chodesh is a matter of custom and therefore even less stringent than on Chol Ha-moed, where the prohibition of performing some labor is on a Torah level.

Nowadays, with the proliferation of washing machines, doing the wash on Rosh Chodesh may not be considered labor. Rav Ovadya Yosef’s son, Rav Yitzchak Yosef, reports that his father permitted even women who abstain from labor on Rosh Chodesh to load and run a washing machine.

Rabbanit Malka Puterkovsky reflects on the enduring spiritual significance of this custom:

Two-Day Rosh Chodesh

Opinions vary as to how the custom to refrain from labor applies on a two-day Rosh Chodesh, which occurs at the end of a thirty-day month. Some authorities restrict the custom to the second day, which is officially the first day of the new month.¹⁵ Others say the custom applies both days.¹⁶

Women are typically exempt from positive, time-bound mitzvot. It follows that women should be exempt from other practices of Rosh Chodesh, which are time-bound. On the other hand, perhaps women’s unique relationship to Rosh Chodesh dictates that observances of Rosh Chodesh should apply to women.

Hallel

The recitation of Hallel on Rosh Chodesh is a binding communal custom. Ashkenazim recite it with blessings and Sefardim without. Women’s recitation of Hallel on Rosh Chodesh depends on individual custom, and is more common among Ashkenazi women.

All women are permitted to recite Hallel on Rosh Chodesh even when praying alone, and it is a fitting way to recognize women’s special connection to the day. Rebbitzen Chana Bracha Siegelbaum makes a plea along these lines:¹⁸

To learn more about women and the recitation of Hallel, see here.

Musaf

Whether women are obligated in mussaf on Rosh Chodesh is a matter of debate. But reciting mussaf is fully permissible to women, and many have the custom of reciting mussaf on Rosh Chodesh, especially in light of women’s special connection to Rosh Chodesh. To learn more about women and the mussaf prayer, see here.

Ya’aleh Ve-yavo

On Rosh Chodesh, the ya’aleh ve-yavo paragraph is added to shemoneh esrei and to birkat ha-mazon. Women should add it for both.

We recite ya’aleh ve-yavo in birkat ha-mazon on any special day on which it is a mitzva to eat a meal with bread, such as Yom Tov. Since eating bread on Rosh Chodesh is a matter of custom, and not a requirement, reciting ya’aleh ve-yavo is ideal, not fully obligatory. The law is different for prayer, which is obligatory on Rosh Chodesh, as every day. The halacha when a person forgets to recite ya’aleh ve-yavo reflects this distinction:

If a person forgets to say ya’aleh ve-yavo at birkat ha-mazon following a Rosh Chodesh meal, there is no obligation to repeat it.

In contrast, there are some situations in which one must repeat shemoneh esrei after omitting ya’aleh ve-yavo.

A person praying alone who realizes omission of ya’aleh ve-yavo after completing shemoneh esrei of shacharit or mincha must repeat shemoneh esrei with ya’aleh ve-yavo. (Since the new month was not yet sanctified at night, someone who omits ya’aleh veyavo at ma’ariv does not repeat shemoneh esrei.) Someone who remembers ya’aleh ve-yavo before the end of shemoneh esrei goes back to “Retzeh” to recite it, and need not repeat the full prayer.

Rav Ovadya Yosef rules that this law applies to women saying shemoneh esrei.

A woman’s shemoneh esrei fulfills her halachic obligation to pray, and the standard rules of repeating prayer apply, so if she forgot to recite ya’aleh ve-yavo, she prays again.

Festive Meal

At the time of Beit Ha-mikdash, in line with the festive status of Rosh Chodesh, a special meal would accompany its musaf offering, and other voluntary sacrifices might be brought and eaten. The witnesses to the new moon would also be feted with a festive meal.

Furthermore, fasting is prohibited on Rosh Chodesh¹⁹, and a prohibition to fast on a given day often goes hand in hand with encouragement to eat.

Eating festively on Rosh Chodesh in the daytime, even in the absence of the sacrifice or witnesses to the new moon, is either a mitzva or a binding custom.

Roke’ach clarifies what needs be eaten on Rosh Chodesh, in light of a Talmudic suggestion that eating is voluntary.

According to Rokeach, eating bread on Rosh Chodesh is optional. Adding an additional delicacy, whether “fruits and meats” or something else, to regular meals is obligatory.²⁰

Kol Bo writes that the custom to eat a festive meal on Rosh Chodesh partially derives from Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer’s teaching about women and Rosh Chodesh, i.e. the need to commemorate women’s righteousness at the sin of the calf.

Since Rosh Chodesh is a Yom Tov for women, women should take care to eat special delicacies on Rosh Chodesh, especially if the custom to eat festively on Rosh Chodesh commemorates women’s connection to Rosh Chodesh.

Candle-Lighting

Among Kurdish Jews, women observed Rosh Chodesh as a full-fledged Yom Tov, performing only labor associated with cooking and lighting candles. Other communities in which women light candles for Rosh Chodesh include Jews of Iraq and North Africa.²¹

Blessing Rosh Chodesh

We recite a prayer in synagogue on the Shabbat preceding Rosh Chodesh, known as birkat ha-chodesh, in commemoration of the sanctification of the new month.²²

Rav Yose may refer to this prayer in a passage of the Talmud Yerushalmi.²³

The essential part of this prayer is the announcement of the timing of the upcoming Rosh Chodesh, and the unity of all Jews in accepting this declaration. We recite the prayer on Shabbat because that is when most of our communities assemble for prayer.

Shibolei Ha-leket adds that birkat ha–chodesh ensures that everyone in the community, women included, knows when Rosh Chodesh is. As such, women often make a special effort to attend synagogue on Shabbat Mevarchin and to participate in birkat ha-chodesh and seek a month of beracha.

We close with the eighteenth-century techine (personal penitential prayer) for birkat ha-chodesh of Leah Horowitz, who sees Shabbat Mevarchin as a special opportunity for prayer and who voices her prayer in first person feminine plural:²⁴