Chanukah – Rosh Chodesh

Tonight, we celebrate the first mitzvah that we received as a nation. The mitzva of Rosh Chodesh. Hashem gave us a command that would help catapult us out of the womb of Egypt and out of the throes of עבודה זרה. Through this we would be born as a nation.

The גמרא says something fascinating about this mitzvah. The Pasuk says החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים, this month is to you the first of all months. The גמרא expounds that the word לכם, literally yours, means that the lunar calendar (time itself) is ours to use and manipulate. The Jewish lunar calendar and all laws that come as a result of that calendar are determined based on the sightings and testimony of two Jews. The Sanhedrin can even decide to move the date of the beginning of the new month even intentionally against what the nature of the moon dictates if they see fit. It was with this mitzvah that Hashem took us out of the realm of time and gave us control over time. Time is ours to control.

It is no coincidence that there is always a Rosh Chodesh on Chanukah. Nor that Chanukah lasts 8 days, which is representative of infinity since it moves beyond the 7-day week, during which, time, space and everything inside of them was created. The Greeks had no issue with knowledge or wisdom, with culture or tradition. They would have been thrilled to have a state of Jews who added to their pool of knowledge. What they couldn’t stand is the fact that we are special. that we are connected through the Torah to Hashem. That we stand outside of time and that we have the power to control time. It is this special connection which we celebrate over the course of 8 days and with a Rosh Chodesh.

לכל זמן ועת. The מהר”ל explains the difference between זמן and עת, he says זמן is a chunk of time that can be measured, a period of time. עת is related to the word עתה which means present which is something that can’t ever be measured. As you are reading this many “presents” have passed and are now the past (no pun intended). And anything more than the immediate present is already the future. The present is an infinitesimally small amount of time that is constantly fleeting. As soon as you begin to ponder it, it is gone. (It’s interesting to think about where we exist, since the present if immeasurable and the past and future are not reality in the way we are used to it.)

There is a תוספות in megillah that says that a nickname of the Torah is עתה. One of the reasons is what the מהר”ל says, the Torah is timeless and beyond time. The Torah existed before time, and therefore is represented by the word עתה, which is something that can’t be contained in time and can’t be measured as time. We are part of the Torah and therefore are timeless as well. The Jews will outlast time and all other nations of the world. It was this special connection to the Source of reality that the Greeks hated and tried destroying, and it is this connection that we are celebrating now. (is it a coincidence that Yehudis used cheese and wine as tools to kill the Greek general? The two consumables in the world that get better with time…)

May we all be zoche to be in control of time and of our lives, and may we be able to tap into the Timeless Energy that is our Loving Father in heaven.

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