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... On the fourth day of Creation, "G-d made the two great luminaries, the great one to rule the day (Sun) and the lesser one to rule the night (Moon)..." If we take a closer look at this idea, we will concede that the Sun does rule the day, but the Moon, in its current state, varies from night to night in the amount of night it rules, and with what strength. There are nights of a month when there is only a delicate crescent of the Moon that is visible for a short time after sunset, and then the Moon is "off duty", so to speak. There are days when we can see the Moon "moonlighting" (pun definitely intended) during the day, while it had only put in partial duty the night before. And many variations of this. But there is one time of the month - around the 14th or 15th - that the Moon truly rules the night. The consecutive months of Sh'vat, Adar, Nissan, and Iyar each contain days of note that occur when the Sun rules the day and the Moon rules the night, all night, and at its strongest and fullest. TU BiShvat, Purim, Pesach, and Pesach Sheni. This has been just a casual observation... [The Parshat B'shalach Homepage]
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