Timeless Torah

In the first mitzvah commanded us as a nation, G-d decreed that we link our lives to the moon. Thus was born the lunar calendar. The alignment of the moon in relation to the earth and sun means that, to the earthly observer, the moon passes through phases in which it grows and diminishes and, at one point, disappears altogether. The night on which the moon is first visible after its brief hiatus is the first day of the Jewish month. Fifteen nights later the moon reaches its full luminescent potential, and starting from the 16th it begins to shrink. The people of Israel mark time with the moon because they, like the moon, soar and regress, trusting that each defeat but preludes another renewal.  read more »