HaShem brought us out of Egypt with a Mighty Hand and an Outstretched Arm (Deuteronomy 26:8)
Rosh Chodesh Nisan
"Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon in the Land of Egypt, 'This month shall be for you the beginning of the months; it shall be for you the first of the months of the year.' " (Shemot, 12:1-2)
The first commandment given by G-d to the Jewish People was to establish the beginning of the Month of Nisan (which wasn't yet called "Nisan," but, rather, the First Month). Until now, the Calendar was, so to speak, in G-d's hands. From this point on, the Hebrew Calendar was placed in the hands of the Jewish People.
(Much of the following material regarding Rosh Chodesh Nisan is adapted from Mesorah Publications Stone Edition of the Chumash and from Rabbi Eliyahu KiTov's Sefer HaTodaah).
| Rosh Chodesh Nisan Note From Modern day Israel: A re-enactment of the Biblical and Talmudic custom now takes place at the appropriate time before Rosh Chodesh Nisan, at the Hulda Gates of the Temple Mount (near the Western Wall). The "declaration of the new month" of Nisan is announced then, shortly before the new moon is scheduled - according to the Jewish calendar - to be seen on the horizon. The shofar is blown, and special prayers are recited, according to customs that continued to be practiced for hundreds of years after the destruction of the Second Temple. Prof. Hillel Weiss, one of the organizers of this new event, said that the new moon will not be sanctified according to eye-witness testimony, as ideally mandated by the Biblical commandment, "because we do not have a Sanhedrin [supreme Jewish tribunal], and also because the calendar itself is not 100% accurate." He later clarified that this in no way casts any doubt on the validity of our Biblical-festival schedule, as "it is within the power of the people of Israel to 'sanctify the times,' which we did in advance" many hundreds of years ago. Yehuda Etzion, one of the prime initiators of the idea, explained in an article on the topic, that such occasions are designed to encourage "the 'renewal of our days as of old' , and we also arouse our own desire for the renewal of the Sanhedrin... If this custom was practiced by Jews while in exile, how much more so should it be preserved when were are marching forwards towards a new sunshine of redemption?" |
Nisan and Rosh Chodesh Nisan - In Relation to Other Months of the Year
1 Nisan (30 days - Rosh Chodesh always 1 day)
2 Iyar (29 days)
3 Sivan
4 Tammuz
5 Av
6 Elul
7 Tishrei
8 Cheshvan
9 Kislev
10 Tevet
11 Shevat
12 Adar (29 days - "Adar" preceding Nisan (I or II) always only 29)
(Much of material below adapted from Sefer HaTodaah of Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov)
This day was chosen by Hashem as the day of the Inauguration of the Mishkan, the temporary Temple which was used in the desert and in the Land of Israel, before the building by Shlomo HaMelech, King Solomon, of the first Bais HaMikdash.
The Midrash discusses the Inauguration of the Mishkan in BaMidbar Rabba, Chapter 13, as follows:
"Rabbi Yossi used to say, 'When did the Inauguration of the Mishkan occur? It began on the twenty third of Adar, and concluded on the first of Nisan. And on all of the first seven days, Moshe used to set up the Mishkan and take it apart at the end of the day. On the eighth day, he set it up, and did not take it apart. And that eighth day was Shabbat, and it was the Rosh Chodesh of Nisan.
On that day, Aharon and his sons arose and washed their hands and feet from the sacred fountain, they worshipped the Divine Service in proper order. On that very day, the People of Israel made vows and donations, sin-offerings and guilt-offerings, brought the first-born of their flocks, and their tithes.
Regarding that day it is said (in "Shir HaShirim," the Song of Songs) " 'Awake, O North Wind, and Come, O South Wind, Perfume my Garden, let its Spices Flow, May my Beloved come to His Garden, and eat of its Delightful Fruit - I have come to My Garden, My Sister, My Bride' - this was the Eighth Day."
Eight "Parshiyot," or Sections of the Torah
On this day, eight "Parshiyot," Sections, of the Torah were taught by Hashem to Israel through Moshe, as follows:
1. "Parshat Kohanim," the Priestly Section; namely Parshat Emor, parts of which were directed specifically towards the Priests, with special restrictions they had to observe
2. "Parshat HaLeviim," the Section for the Tribe of Levi, beginning "And He (Hashem) took the Leviim from the midst of the Children of Israel," because they were needed this day to sing over the "Korbanos," the Sacrifices
3. "Parshat Temaim," the Section for the Ritually Impure, who were informed that they had a "second chance" to bring the Pesach Sacrifice, a month later, because the ritually impure could not participate in the offering of the Pesach Sacrifice
4. "Parshat Shiluach Temaim," the Section defining the camps in which the Children of Israel lived in the Desert, including a special living section for the Ritually Impure, until their Purification
5. "Parshat Acharei Mot Shenei Bnei Aharon," the Section which describes the death of Aharon's two eldest sons on the Day of the Inauguration by a "fire which came forth from G-d." Many commentators have offered explanations for these deaths, but they remain essentially a mystery
6. "Parshat Sh'tuyei Yayin," the Section which forbids a Priest from entering the Mishkan while under the influence of wine or other alcoholic beverage
7. "Parshat Nerot," the Section which describes the Priestly responsibility for maintaining the Menorah in the Mishkan and later, in the Temple, and its flames
8. "Parshat Parah Adumah," the Section dealing with the Red Heifer, or Cow, the sprinkling of whose ashes was a major part of the Purification Ritual
Rosh HaShanah for Five Matters
The First Day of Nisan is Rosh HaShanah for the following five matters:
1. Kings of Israel - They count their reigns from the First of Nisan, such that even if a King began his reign at the end of Adar, once Nisan began, it would be considered as the Second Year of his reign
2. Pilgrim Festivals - The Festival which occurs in Nisan, namely Pesach, is considered the First of the Three Pilgrim Festivals: Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot. The application is that if a person donated a sacrifice, he has violated the prohibition of "Do not Delay" only if the time interval has passed defined by the three Festivals in the above order, such that if the donation was made, say, after Pesach, "Do not Delay" has not been violated until Shavuot, Sukkot, Pesach, Shavuot, and again, Sukkot, have passed.
3. Months - Nisan is considered the first of the months. The Torah refers to other months as second, third,…twelfth with reference to Nisan.
4. Leap Years - The Court may proclaim a "Leap Year" only until the first of Nisan. Once that date has arrived, the time for "Leaping" has "Leapt"
5. Donation of Shekalim - All Communal Sacrifices brought from this day forward are paid from the shekalim collected in theCurrent Year; last year's shekalim are no longer used for this purpose.
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http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/nisan/default.htm
Chodesh Nisan, The Month of Nisan
"Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon in the Land of Egypt, 'This month shall be for you the beginning of the months; it shall be for you the first of the months of the year.' " (Shemot, 12:1-2)
Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, a great thirteenth century Jewish scholar of Spain, later of Israel, writes in his commentary to the Five Books of Moses, in explanation of the above verses, Shemot,12:1-2, as follows:
"The verses mean that this month should be counted first. And beginning with it, should the count proceed to the second, the third, and so on, till the end of the sequence of months with the twelfth month. For the purpose that this month should be a commemoration of the Great Miracle. For every time we mention the months, the Miracle will be alluded to. It is for that reason that the months do not have names in the Torah, but rather they are identified by number…"
"And it is similar to the way that days are referenced with reference to the Day of Shabbat; for example, the First Day of Shabbat (for Sunday), and the Second Day of Shabbat (for Monday), as I will explain in the future…Thus, when we call the Month of Nisan "the first" and Tishrei "the seventh," the meaning is the first with reference to the Redemption and the seventh with reference to it…"
"And our Rabbis have mentioned this matter, and they said that the names of the months came back with us from Bavel. For originally they had no "names" for us, and the reason is that they were "in commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt." But when we returned from Bavel, and the prophecy of "it will no longer be said 'by the Life of Hashem, who took the Jewish People out of Egypt,' rather it will be said 'by the life of Hashem, who raised up and brought the People of Israel from the Northern Land' (Yirmiyahu 16:14-15) was fulfilled, we changed our practice and began to call the months by the names which were used in those lands, as areminder that we had been there, and that it was from there that Hashem took us out…"
"For these names, Nisan, Iyar and the rest are Persian names, and appear only in the Books of the Prophets who prophesied in Bavel, and in Megilas Esther… And still today, the non-Jews in those lands use the names Nisan and Tishrei, etc. as we do. And thus we are following the same practice with reference to the second redemption as we did in connection with the first."
This month has three names:
- "Rosh Chodoshim," or "HaChodesh HaRishon," the First Month
- "Chodesh HaAviv," - The Spring-time Month
- Nisan
1') It is called the "First Month," because it is the Month of Redemption, the month of the Exodus of the Jewish People from slavery in Egypt, the House of Bondage. The Society of Egypt was built on the institution of Slavery. Slaves were used to build treasure cities, such as Pitom and Raamses (Shemot 1:11), and the Pyramids, giant tombs for the Pharaohs (possibly hinted at when the Jewish People complained to Moshe, "Are there not enough graves in Egypt that you had to take us out to die in the desert?" (Shemot 14:11))
No individual slave, nor group of slaves, and certainly no enslaved nation had ever escaped from slavery in Egypt.
2') It is called the "Chodesh HaAviv," the Spring-time Month, because the Hebrew Calendar is set up so that the month must fall in the Spring. This is to satisfy the G-dly requirement whereby Hashem said to the Jewish People, "You are leaving today, in the Month of Spring-time!"
This is accomplished by having a calendar which is basically "lunar;" that is, dependent on the revolution of the moon around the earth (once every twenty-nine and a half days, approximately), but adjusted in a "shanah me'uberet," a "leap year" (literally, a "pregnant" year), by adding an additional month of Adar. If not for the adjustment, Nisan, with Pesach, would travel through the seasons of the year, much as Ramadan, the Moslem Holy Month, based on the totally lunar Moslem Calendar, migrates through the seasons.
3') The Name "Nisan" is of Babylonian-Persian origin, as are the names of all the twelve months of the Hebrew Calendar. But it also has the suggestion of Spring-time, or blossoming, because the similar word, "nitzan," in Hebrew, means a blossom.
Zodiac Sign of the Month
The Zodiac sign of Nisan is the "kid," the young goat, that animal which was worshipped in Egypt, but which the Jewish People were commanded to sacrifice as the Pesach sacrifice.
Hilulah Day | Name (Click on the name to view more info.) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Nadav and Avihu Sons of Aharon Hakohen. |
| 5 | Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apta- The Oheiv Yisrael - The Oheiv Yisrael Chassidic leader |
| 6 | Rabbi Chaim Abulafia Kabbalist, head of the Jewish court in Tveria (Tiberias). |
| 7 | Rabbi Yitzchak of Drohovitch Student of the Baal Shem Tov and a famous Kabbalist of his generation. |
| 8 | Rabbi Mordechai of Nes'chiz Chassidic leader |
| 10 | Miriam the Prophetess Sister of Moshe and Aharon. |
| 11 | Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman (Nachmanides) - RAMBAN - RAMBAN Commentator, talmudist, kabbalist. |
| 11 | Rabbi Yeshaya Horowitz - The SHELAH - The SHELAH Talmudist, kabbalist, rabbi. |
| 13 | Rabbi Moshe Alshich Commentator, kabbalist. |
| 13 | Rabbi Yosef Karo Talmudist, codifier of Halachah. |
| 13 | Rabbi Menachem Mendel SchneersohnTzemach Tzedek Tzemach Tzedek Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, famed as the "Tzemach Tzedek" after his magnum opus on Talmudic law, was born on the eve of Rosh Hashana 5549 (1789), |
| 15 | Yehudah (Judah) ben Yaakov Avinu Yehudah was the Son of Jacob the Patriarch and Leah the Matriarch. He is the founder of the Tribe of Yehudah. |
| 15 | Yitzchak Avinu (Isaac the Patriarch) |
| 16 | Levi ben Yaakov Avinu Levi was the son of Yaakov (Jacob) the Patriarch and Leah the Matriarch. He is the founder of the Tribe of Levi. |
| 18 | Rabbi Yehudah Tzvi Brandwein Kabbalist |
| 19 | Rabbi Aharon of Karlin I Student of the Maggid of Mezritch. |
| 20 | Rav Hai Gaon The last great Babylonian Gaon. |
| 22 | Rabbi Yitzchak Kalish of Vorki Chassidic leader |
| 23 | Rabbi Moshe of Trani - HaMabit - HaMabit |
| 25 | Rabbi Chaim of Sanz Chassidic leader |
| 26 | Yehoshua (Joshua) Bin-Nun Leader of Israeli nation after Moses. |
| 30 | Rabbi Yosef HaLevi Ibn Migash Talmudist, Teacher. |
| 30 | Rabbi Chaim Vital - רבי חיים ויטאל Kabbalist, and the closest disciple of the great 16th-century kabbalist, the Ari - Rabbi Itzchak Luria. |
Rabbi Pinson shares insight about the month of Nissan
Mr VIP
Excellent mussar lesson and something to remember on Passover and on. Hashem took us out of Egypt to become a nation of Priests to the other nations and to represent Him. For us to act in humility and humbleness with no ego involved because all comes not from us, only from The Source
