Chapter 97 : Chapter 97 The Laws of Rosh Chodesh and Sanctification of the Moon

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§1

Some people are accustomed to fast on Erev Rosh Chodesh¹Mogein Avraham 417:3. Bach, Minhagim. and recite the order of Yom Kippur Kattan, for on this day we are forgiven for all the sins committed in the past month.²Pri Chodosh, Rav Moshe Kordaviro. It is, therefore, called Yom Kippur Kattan which means a small day of atonement. The order of prayers include various slichos and themes on repentance. It is likened to the Seir³The he-goat was brought as a sin-offering every Rosh Chodesh. [goat offering] of Rosh Chodesh, and as we say in the Mussaf service, "It is a time of atonement for all their generations." Each communifty should follow its own custom.

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§2

It is a Mitzvah to have an elaborate meal on Rosh Chodesh, and if it occurs on Shabbos, an extra cooked dish should be prepared in addition to those prepared on other Shabbasos.

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§3

It is permissable to do Melacha⁴Shulchan Aruch 417. on Rosh Chodesh, but women customarily refrain from doing melachah on this day.⁵Biur Halacha says it is forbidden for women to do melacha on Rosh Chodesh in the manner they do every day. Each woman must choose for herself at least one melacha she will not do on Rosh Chodesh. This is a proper custom and it should not be made trivial for them.

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§4

Hallel should be said while standing, and without interruption. You should try to say it with the congregation.⁶According to Rif, the berachah of Hallel is said on Rosh Chodesh only when it is said with a minyan, a quorum of ten adult men. Therefore, if you arrive at the synagogue when the congregation is about to say Hallel, you should say Hallel with the congregation and recite the other prayers later. And if you are saying Pesukei Dezimrah (that is from Hodu until after Az Yashir),⁷According to Nusach Sfard from Mizmor Lesodah until after Az Yashir. you should read Hallel with the congregation without saying the berachah before or after the Hallel, because the berachah of Baruch Sheamar and the berachah of Yishtabach also fulfill the berachah for Hallel. And only on Rosh Chodesh can this be done, because then parts of the Hallel are omitted. This is also true for Chol Hamoed and the last days of Pesach. But when the entire Hallel is recited, this cannot be done.⁸For then you must make a berachah on the Hallel according to all the poskim, for it is an obligation, not a custom. And if you recite Hallel without the congregation, and two [or more] other persons are present, you should say Hodu in their presence⁹But you do not have to try and find them if they are not in front of you. (Mishnah Berurah, Eliyohu Rabbah) in order that they may respond, for the expression Hodu (thank Hashem) implies that you are addressing others [to do so]. The law of saying Hallel in the house of a mourner, may the Merciful save us, is found further in Chapter 207.

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§5

After Hallel the whole Kaddish¹⁰On a day when there is a Mussaf service, the whole Kaddish is said after Hallel because Hallel marks the completion of the Shacharis (morning) prayer. Therefore on Chanukah, only the half-Kaddish is said after Hallel, as there is no Mussaf service. (Mishnah Berurah 423:1, Achronim) is recited, a Seifer Torah is taken out, and four (men) are called (to the Torah). The kohein reads three pesukim (verses), which are Vayedaber, Tzav, Veamarta. The Levi repeats the verse of V'amarta,¹¹The reason for this is because at least three verses must be read, for each aliyah and also we must not stop less than three verses before the end of a parsha (sections). The parsha of the Tamid (the first parsha read on Rosh Chodesh) has only eight verses, and, therefore, in order to divide it into three aliyahs, some repetition is required. The parsha of Rosh Chodesh cannot be divided into two aliyahs because it has only five verses. Repetition cannot be used there because we must not start less than three verses in a parsha, nor stop less than three verses before the end of the parshah. and adds: Es hakkeves echad, veasiris haeifah. The Yisroel reads from olas tamid until uverashei chodsheychem. And the fourth person reads from uverashai chodsheychem.¹²Gaonim, Shulchan Aruch 423:2. But in Eretz Yisroel, the opinion of the Gra is widely accepted. He says the kohein reads the first three verses, the levi reads the next five, the third person repeats the last three verses read by the levi plus the two verses about Shabbos, and the fourth person reads the five verses about Rosh Chodesh.

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§6

On Rosh Chodesh it is forbidden to fast and to eulogize someone, and the prayer Tziduk Hadin¹³This is a prayer expressing acceptance of the Divine judgment. is not said.

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§7

It is obligatory to sanctify the moon each month.¹⁴Sanhedrin 42. It should not be sanctified until it is definitely night, which is when its light is visible on the ground, so that you can derive some use from its light. If the moon is covered by a cloud, it should not be sanctified¹⁵Ramah 426:1, Mishnah Berurah. unless the cloud is thin and scanty.¹⁶Radvaz. If you began the berachah, and afterwards it was covered by the cloud, you should complete the berachah. But if you estimate that you will not be able to complete the berachah before it is covered, it is forbidden to begin (the berachah).

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§8

The moon must be sanctified only under the heavens (open sky) and not under a roof.¹⁷Ramah 426:4—Rif. Since the mitzvah is akin to greeting the Divine Presence (shechina), it is disrespectful not to go outside and do it. However, if you have a slight cold or illness, you may do it from your house. (Mogen Avraham, Bach) If, however, there is no clean place [outside] or because of another situation beyond your control [you cannot go outside]; you may sanctify it inside the house through the window.¹⁸It is preferable to do it through an open window if possible. (Shaar Hatziyun 426:25, Pri Megadim)

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§9

It is a mitzvah performed in its excellence to sanctify the moon on Motzai Shabbos when you are in high spirits and dressed in fine clothes. But if Motzai Shabbos will occur after ten days from the appearance of the new moon, or if it is feared that you will then be unable to sanctify it, you needn't wait until Motzai Shabbos. It is a mitzvah to sanctify the moon in the gathering of a multitude of people, since in the multitude of the people is the glory of the King. But it should not be postponed because of this, because the mitzvah to "perform precepts promptly" overrides the mitzvah of "in the multitude of people."

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§10

The moon should not be sanctified until the passage of at least three days from the appearance of the new moon, and some wait seven days. And when Motzai Shabbos occurs before seven days, you should not wait,¹⁹In the winter season it is definitely better not to wait because you may not be able to see it later. (Mishnah Berurah) but you should sanctify it on Motzai Shabbos. The moon may be sanctified only up to the expiration of half the period of twenty-nine days twelve hours and 793 chalakim²⁰An hour is divided into 1,080 chelakim (parts). (see Rambam 6:2) (29 days, 12 hours, 793/1080) that is fourteen twenty-four hour days and eighteen hours and twenty two minutes from the appearance of the new moon.

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§11

The moon should not be sanctified before Tisha B'av,²¹Ramah 426:2. Because sanctifying the moon is a mitzvah fulfilled with joy. and not when one is a mourner,²²Mogein Avraham. unless his mourning period will not end within the ten full days²³Ten 24 hour periods. after the appearance of the new moon. In such a situation, it may be sanctified during the days of mourning.²⁴Mogein Avraham. But the Biur Halachah 426:2 says a mourner may not sanctify the moon unless the entire allotted time to sanctify the moon will elapse before the end of the seven days of mourning. The moon should not be sanctified on a fast day until some food has been eaten. But in any case after Yom Kippur, since we leave the synagogue in a joyous spirit, confident that our sins were forgiven, we sanctify it²⁵Chayei Adam. After you taste something, you may sanctify the moon even immediately after Tisha B’av. (Mishnah Berurah, Achronim) If there is a minyan sanctifying the moon now and there will be none later, you should do it with them even if you have not yet broken your fast. (Sha’ar Hatziyun 426:9, Eliyohu Rabba) immediately.²⁶Even before breaking your fast or putting on shoes. After Tisha B’av, however, you should first put on your shoes.

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§12

The moon should not be sanctified on Friday night,²⁷Radvaz. The Sha’ar Hatziyun 426:11 says the reason is because it is a custom to dance at the sanctifying of the moon and, if possible, you should avoid this on Shabbos. There are also many other reasons. nor on the night of Yom Tov²⁸Ramah 426:2. See Shvuss Yaakov (vol. 3, resp. 31). The reason is because one should not merge one simcha with another. (see Masechet Moed Katan 8b) except in extenuating circumstances, as when by Motzai Shabbos, the prescribed time will have passed.

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§13

A blind person is permitted to sanctify the moon.²⁹Mishnah Berurah 426:1 rules that a blind person is obligated to sanctify the moon because he benefits from the light that others have (to guide him). However, since the Radvaz and Maharikash say that he may not sanctify the moon, Biur Halachah rules that it is better to have someone make the berachah for him.

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§14

If the moon is visible at the beginning of the night, before you began the Maariv prayer, and there is still time, [i.e., there are still] a few more nights in which to sanctify it, you should say the Maariv prayer first, and then sanctify the moon, because a mitzvah that is constant takes precedence over one that is only periodic,³⁰Maseches Zevachim 90a. and also the reading of the Shemah is a Biblical precept.³¹And thus it has precedence over sanctifying the moon which is not Biblically ordained. If, however, there remains only two or three nights [to the end of the period], since the time is short, it may happen that the moon will be covered by clouds. And in the rainy season even if there remain yet four nights [to the end of the period], it may happen that it will become covered by clouds, and therefore you should first sanctify the moon (and then say Maariv). If the moon becomes visible at the time you are saying Kerias Shema and its berachos, and the time is so limited that before you complete Shemoneh Esrei the time of sanctification will have passed, you may interrupt even in the middle of the berachos of Kerias Shema, or in the middle of Kerias Shema in order to sanctify it. But if possible, you should complete the section [you are reading,³²See Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Chapter 16.] and sanctify the moon between the sections.³³You may only say the (berachah) sanctifying the moon, but not the verses we are accustomed to say after the berachah. [Lechem Haponim (author of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch)]

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§15

If in the month of Adar (the moon) was not visible until the night of the fourteenth which is the time for the reading of the Megillah, the moon should be sanctified first and the Megillah read afterwards.³⁴Because a mitzvah that is constant has precedence, and also it may get cloudy and you will not be able to sanctify the moon, but the Megillah can be read later as well. (Nodah B’Yehudah). And if it became visible during the reading of the Megillah, then if there will be time even after the reading is concluded to sanctify the moon, the reading of the Megillah is not interrupted; but if by the time the Megillah is concluded, the time for sanctification will pass, and the entire congregation has not yet sanctified the moon, the reading is interrupted for the sanctifying, and afterwards the Megillah is concluded. But if only one person has not yet sanctified the moon, and if he stops to sanctify it, he will have to finish the Megillah alone, he must not interrupt, because the public reading of the miracle takes precedence.³⁵Precedence to a mitzva d’rabonon.