WORD OF THE MONTH

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... 

The Molad of Av was last Friday evening. First opportunity for Kiddush L'vana (GR"A) was Monday night, July 23rd after 9:17pm. That meant that Monday after regular Maariv time was a bit early for K.L. Those who follow the "early K.L." custom might have waited until Tuesday night to say it. (Wednesday and Thursday nights were/are also available. Many (most?) people wait until after Tish'a b'Av to say K.L – viz. Sunday night, July 29th. Some wait until after the 10th of Av (the Beit HaMikdash burned on that day too), i.e. Monday night. Some say that if you say K.L. after the fast, you should break the fast first. However, the very common practice (at least here in Israel) is to say K.L. right after Tish'a b'Av, to "take advantage" of the larger numbers of people in shul at the end of the fast. (you might want to take a cookie and a drink with you to shul for Maariv so that you can break your fast before you say K.L. - even if no one else is doing that. Just be inconspicuous.