Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational Family,

In a blog I wrote last week, I shared a Mishna which enumerates four different new years on the Jewish calendar. Two of them are relevant this week. The New Year of trees in Israel takes place in the current month of Shvat. While Jews today observe it on the fifteenth of the month according to the view of Hillel; yesterday on Rosh Chodesh was the New Year of trees according to the view of Shammai.

In this week's Parsha, we read the commandment to enumerate the months of the Jewish calendar year, starting with the month of the Exodus (12:1). The Passover month, called Nisan, is also one of the four Jewish new years. The Mitzvah to enumerate and sanctify the months of the Jewish calendar year is considered the first public Mitzvah given to the entire Jewish people. It is noteworthy that such a Mitzvah takes place before assembling at Mount Sinai. It is also noteworthy that all other Mitzvot found earlier in the Torah were given to individuals but not to the nation as a whole.

The fact that establishing our own calendar is the first Mitzvah which defines Jewish peoplehood is alluded to in the very first comments by Rashi on the Torah. He asks why the Torah begins with the story of Creation and not with the Mitzvah of the Jewish calendar (see Rashi on Genesis 1:1). His comment underscores the centrality of the Jewish calendar as a key point in the development of Judaism and the Jewish people.

A few days ago, we welcomed the secular new year of 2022. It is true that most of us plan our daily activities around the Western calendar. How many of us can identify major dates in our lives by the months and days of the Hebrew calendar? Perhaps that would be a worthwhile exercise as we celebrate January, the New Year of trees, and the command to enumerate the Jewish months in this week's Torah portion, all in the same season of the year.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Howard Morrison