...RENEW OUR DAYS AS OF OLD How do we mean that? Let's take a look at Kiddush HaChodesh, the first mitzva given to the people of Israel, before we became a nation, even before we left Mitzrayim. (We might even suggest that having our own calendar is a pre-requisite for Nationhood. But that's for another time.) During the time of Sanhedrin, eye-witnesses testified to having seen the "first visibility of the lunar crescent, the head of Sanhedrin declared the day holy - Rosh Chodesh, that is, based on the testimony, and then came the task of notification of Jewish communities around Israel and nearby Chutz LaAretz. Let's take that last aspect of Kiddush HaChodesh first. The Mishna tells us that originally, there was a torch-lighting and waving procedure, beginning on Har HaZeitim. When watchers on other hills in the distance saw the coded torch pattern, they lit their torches and repeated the procedure. Before long this elaborate system brought the word of the impending Rosh Chodesh to many communities. Then, says the Mishna, we ran into a snag. People (Tzedokim who had a specific reason for messing up our calendar) would light torches on the wrong nights, resulting in widespread confusion regarding the proper day of Rosh Chodesh. The system of notification was changed to that of bonded messengers on horseback riding from the headquarters of Sanhedrin to Jewish communities throughout the country. Notification took much longer than the torch-waiving, but was more reliable. And what about eye-witnesses testifying before the committee of Sanhedrin members that they saw the Moon? We have telescopes and sophisticated computers and the most advanced astronomical knowledge. Would we possibly use the "archaic" method of eye-witnesses when scientists can pinpoint the moment of an eclipse hundreds of years from now to to the exact second? The answer is a resounding YES. In this aspect of Kiddush HaChodesh, we are not dealing with merely a question of efficiency, as we are (at least I think so) with the method of notification. Here, with the process of eye-witness testimony, we are dealing with G-d's wishes (so to speak) to bring the Jewish people into the making of our Calendar. G-d showed Moshe the form of the Moon when it first becomes visible after its days of invisibility, and told him, KAZEH R'EI V'KADEISH, when you see the Moon like this, it is time to sanctify Rosh Chodesh. But there are more efficient ways to determine the beginning of the month. Yes, we know that. G-d knows that too. But by using those methods we revert to being mere observers. Sophisticated ones, but non-active observers. Not what G-d had in mind (so to speak). The judges on Sanhedrin use the fancy methods of determining the position of the Moon and its visibility to be able to intelligently question the witnesses. And if their source of information were the astrologers of old, then in the time of the upcoming Sanhedrin, the information will come from computers programmed with information supplied by astronomers. No need to "renew the days of old" for something like that. [Just like MILA does not require (or desire) a sharp rock when surgical steel is available. And countless other examples, as well.] But when the CONCEPT is the essential element of a certain practice - as opposed to METHOD, then we don't necessarily "modernize", if the concept (or a requirement of halacha) would be lost or altered. No matter how advanced we get, looking heavenward, with the unaided eye, seeing the L'VANA B'CHIDUSHA, and traveling to Yerushalayim to testify is still the way to become active partners with G-d once again in this very special task of setting up the Calendar and the cycle of Festivals that is the corollary Kiddush HaChodesh. It is for this and many other aspects of a life of Torah and Mitzvot, that we pray, HASHIVEINU HASHEM EILECHA V'NASHUVA, CHADEISH YAMEINU K'KEDEM. [The Bo Homepage]
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