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 Kislev was Thursday night, November 15, at 11:13pm Israel Standard Time. Three full days from the Molad is Sunday night, 11:13pm, which is after moonset and therefore our first opportunity for Kiddush L'vana is Monday night, Novemebr 19th. But, in New York, for example, the Molad was 4:13pm on Thursday. Therefore, the first op for K.L. in New York is Sunday night. In other words, when we in Israel see the moon on Sunday evening, it will be too early to say K.L. 7 hours later is when people in New York will see it, and that will be after 72 hours from the Molad, so they will be able to say K.L. And to further muddy the water, read this: The actual astronomical Molad for Kislev was 8:42am on Thursday. So Sunday night will be more than three full days after the "real" Molad. Yet we will not be able to say K.L. because we use the average Molad for our calculations. Strange, but interesting. [The To'l'dot Homepage]
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