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... 

With the announced (average) Molad being on Thursday morning, three days later brings us to Sunday morning. Therefore, the first opportunity for Kiddush L'vana for those who hold 72 hours after the Molad (Minhag Yerushalayim, opinion attributed to the GR"A) can (and should) be said on Sunday night (June 24th). 7-day people can say K.L. on Thursday night, and those who say K.L. only on Motza'ei Shabbat will have their chance next Motza'ei Shabbat Parshat Chukat (June 30th). It should be obvious from the preceding paragraph that the Molad of each month does have a relevance to our current day practice. Last week's point was that the Molad of each month does not determine Rosh Chodesh (except for Tishrei), although it stays close enough to Rosh Chodesh to be used for K.L. timing. As to the Molad being on Rosh Chodesh... in some years, it doesn't happen at all and in others (such as 5762) it happens almost every month. Often, it's somewhere between those extremes.