Parshat Va'y'chi

A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem...

Whether one waits for Kiddush L'vana until seven days have passed since the Molad, or only three days, and whether one waits for Motza'ei Shabbat or not, all have the same deadline for saying K.L. (well, there are some different opinions, but the following one is pretty much the accepted ruling). K.L. may be said until midway between the past Molad and the next. We use, for this calculation, the average Moladot, not the astronomical Molad.

The Molad of Tevet was Friday night, Dec 18, at 8:47pm Israel time. The average lunation (time from one Molad to the next) is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 1 cheilek. Half of that is 14d 18h 22m. Adding that to the Molad gives us a K.L. deadline of 3:09pm on Shabbat, January 2nd. Which means that this coming Fridaynight is the last chance for K.L. this month.

Generally, one does not say K.L. on Shabbat, unless Leil Shabbat is the last opportunity (which it is, this month).
It was cloudy last Motza"Sh in Jerusalem, and many people who would have said K.L. didn't. If they forgot during the following nights, here's the opportunity.

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