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.
Initially the sun and moon were created as the “two great luminaries,” equal in size and luminescence. But when the moon objected that, “Two kings cannot share the same crown,” G-d commanded it to “diminish itself.” These repeated diminutions are what yield the unique qualities of lunar time, revealing the mystery of how darkness gives birth to light and absence generates renewed presence.
On a deeper level, G-d’s injunction to the moon, “Go, diminish yourself”, relates to the very essence of man’s unique status among G-d’s creations, in that he alone is a journeyer through life. All other creations are defined by pre-ordained limits which it cannot transcend. Only the human being is “lunar,” with a trajectory through life that includes both: growth and decline, obliteration and rebirth.
For man alone possesses the power of free choice, a power as potent as it is lethal. With free choice comes the capacity for utter self-destruction and in the next moment, to recreate oneself in a new mold and embark on a path that his prior existence could never have anticipated. Consequently, “Go! Diminish yourself,” is the Creator’s perpetual injunction to us, His lunar creation: for it is only by diminishing itself that the human soul can “Go.” Each of the twelve Hebrew months has its own unique quality, and each undergoes a cycle of diminution and growth, which climaxes on the fifteenth of that month. So while the first day of Nissan marks the first step of Jewish liberation from Egypt, the results of this process were fully manifest only on the 15th, the day of the Exodus. By the same token, the first of Tishrei (Rosh Hashana) is the day on which we crown G-d as king of the universe. But the celebration of that divine coronation only comes to fruition on the joyous festival of Sukkot which commences on the 15th of the month.
This explains the amazing Talmudic statement that, “There were no greater festivals than the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur.” We know that Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year, the day on which we are in touch with the purest element of our souls. But what is so special about the fifteenth of Av? If the apex of a month is truly to be measured by the descent that precedes it, then the month of Av must indeed possess the most sublime fifteenth of them all. For what darker eclipse is there than that which precedes the full moon of Av? The first days of Av mark the onset of a spiritual freeze from which we have yet to emerge. The Holy Temple, the seat of G-d’s manifest presence in our world was put to the torch. In truth, the physical destruction of the Temple was but the reflection of a much deeper, spiritual loss; the withdrawal of the direct relationship between G-d and His creation and the hiding of the Divine face. And yet despite it all - or as the lunar orbit reminds us, because of it all - the steeper the descent, the greater the ascent which springs from it. It is specifically the tremendous darkness of Av’s first days which allow it to bear the seeds for an equally tremendous “full moon” on the 15th, creating the perfect and harmonious world of Messianic redemption. And although we have yet to realize this promise, the date is already fixed in our calendar as the greatest fifteenth of them all.
In Torah, everything is precise and meaningful. But if the fifteenth were truly the apex of the month, it would also be represented by its highest numeric figure. Yet following the fifteenth, we have a day which should be even greater, the sixteenth. And the numbers continue to climb: seventeen, eighteen, and up to the 29th or the 30th. According to this, the loftiest day of the month is the day on which the light of the moon is completely concealed! The explanation is that there are two perspectives from which the lunar cycle may be viewed: from the perspective of the moon’s illumination of the earth, or the moon’s relationship with its source, the sun. The point at which the moon disappears from our earthly view is also the point at which it achieves its greatest proximity to the sun. In other words, viewed from the first perspective, the moon achieves its full luminary potential only after an arduous climb of fifteen days, and then wanes to nothingness. On the other hand, the moon is in reality never diminished: it physically remains the same size throughout its orbit, and the light of the sun bathes its surface at all times. But that point during the lunar cycle when the moon is completely dark (and thus to us “non-existent”) is for the moon itself the apex of its relationship with the sun. It is then closest to the sun’s illumination and power. Publicly celebrated in the calendar with the omission of certain penitential prayers, the fifteenth of Av is worthy of mention. But no less important are the days that follow. Indeed, in terms of our relationship with G-d, rather than our standing vis-à-vis the benefits we bestow upon creation, the days after the fifteenth are even more crucial. How can we best utilize them? How about following the sage advice of Rashi, “Beginning with the fifteenth of Av, the nights become longer; one who utilizes this to increase the study of Torah, adds life to his life.”