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... ROSH CHODESH TAMMUZ WILL BE ON YOM CHAMISHI AND YOM SHISHI (a.k.a. Thursday and Friday, June 21-22 On the clock: 8:33am Israel Summer Time (this time can be adjusted for your location; the previous two times are not adjusted) The above three times are all the same and they are based on the average time it takes the Moon to go through all of its phases - 29d 12h 44m 1p. Both the average (announced) and actual (astronomical) Molads are way "too late" with Rosh Chodesh on Thursday or even Friday. Every so often people ask me about the Molad and Rosh Chodesh - too close, too far away, etc. First of all, the Molad of the fixed (non-Sanhedrin) calendar does not determine when Rosh Chodesh is, except for the month of Tishrei. So there is no necessary direct correlation between the Molad and Rosh Chodesh. Whatever correlation there is comes from Tishrei's Molad and the day that Rosh HaShana falls. This can be on the day of the Molad of Tishrei, or a day or two later. Exactly which it is in any given year will affect each month's Molad-Rosh Chodesh orientation. So will the fact that months have 30 days or 29 days and the period from one Molad to the next (in our fixed calendar) is a little more than 29½ days. This year, for example, the Molad of Tishrei was on a Thursday, shortly after noon. By the rules for fixing the day of Rosh HaShana, there is a double push - Molad Zaken pushes RH to Friday, and LO AD"U ROSH pushes it again to Shabbat. So the year started off with the Molad being two days before "Rosh Chodesh". But Cheshvan, Kislev, and Tevet all had 29 days this year. This allowed the Molad to catch up to Rosh Chodesh. The Moladot of Adar, Iyar, Tammuz, and Elul this year are all on the first of the two days of Rosh Chodesh. With a Sanhedrin and Rosh Chodesh being proclaimed by the Court based on eye-witness testimony of the first visibility of the lunar crescent, the Molad would NEVER be on Rosh Chodesh. It could be on the day before Rosh Chodesh, or (more likely) the day before that. Now for a Hashkafa though on all of the above: Our months, which are lunar, should begin at New Moon, the Molad. However, At the Molad, and for many hours thereafter, the Moon is invisible to us. Which presents a particular problem in light of the fact that G-d wanted our participation in the process of Kiddush HaChodesh. So He had to allow us, so to speak, to proclaim Rosh Chodesh each month a day or two after the Molad occurs. Even though we can CALCULATE the moment of the Molad, we (in the time of Sanhedrin) must wait until people can see the Moon. This is fine with G-d, so to speak, so He allows the shift in the calendar. But when we have no Sanhedrin, calculation is it. And therefore, our months shift back closer to the Molad. Ironically, it is technically more accurate, but without the active participation that HaShem wants. [The Shlach Homepage]
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