Why are the Jewish people, the crown jewel of creation, compared to the moon, while the rest of humanity is compared to the bright, constant, powerful sun? Is it somehow related to the calendar which we follow? Which is truly more powerful — the sun or the moon? What is the difference between a human being and an angel, and which has more impact?
Why is Rosh Chodesh a day of atonement? Why does it atone specifically for unconscious or unintentional sins? Why do we need constant renewal? What is the essence of the Jewish people? How did we survive all the turmoil and storms of history, moments when it all seemed lost? Why are the months and festivals called “ours”, while Shabbos is not? And why do the righteous fast on erev Rosh Chodesh?
These questions and others are the topic of this week’s article.
The Mitzva of the Moon
In this week’s parashah, the Jewish people are commanded their first mitzvah as a nation: (Shemos 12:2) — “This month shall be for you the head of the months; it shall be for you the first of the months of the year.” This is the mitzvah of sanctifying the new month and Hebrew calendar. Since both are based on the lunar cycle we will focus this week on the significance of the moon.
Moon or Sun
Which of the celestial bodies is more powerful — the moon or the sun?
Chazal (Sukkah 29a) tell us that the Jewish people are compared to the moon. Therefore, they calculate the Hebrew month according to the moon. Eisav, and all the nations that draw their spiritual power from him, is compared to the sun. Therefore, their calendar is based on the solar cycle.
The Shelah asks (Shavuos, Torah Or, 239): The sun is the more powerful of the two celestial bodies, shining brightly, steadily, and constantly. It providing the world’s most essential needs – heat, light, energy. The moon is the weaker of the two, waxing and waning each month, sailing through the dark night skies in a seemingly useless existence. Why is Eisav, who represents the forces of evil in the world, likened to the sun; while the Jewish people — who are the purpose of creation — are compared to the almost worthless moon?
And he questions further: Chazal tell us that Moshe Rabbenu’s face shone like the sun, and Yehoshua’s -- like the moon. This would imply that the moon is inferior to the sun. Is the Jewish Nation inferior to Eisav? And how can Moshe Rabbenu correspond to the evil powers of Eisav?
To clarify the issue, we must first explain several fundamental points.
Renewal – A Jew’s Essence
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (Shemos 12:2) explains that by observing the renewal of the moon we should be aroused to a similar renewal – our own. The months must be based on this perception, as the pasuk does not say, ‘This month is the head of months,’ but rather, ‘for you the head of months.’ The goal is not to determine what the actual astronomical month is, but what our month is.
Rabbenu Ovadiah notes (in his commentary on the Rambam, Hilchos Kiddush HaChodesh 2:8) that the Torah refers to the new months and festivals as “your months” and “your Moadim -- appointed times,” whereas the seventh day, which is fixed, is never called ‘your Shabbos.’
Sanctifying the month is therefore an act, mitzva, and a fundamental lesson, intended to imbibe the Jewish nation with the message of continual spiritual growth. The essence of a Jew is continuous renewal. He constantly reinvents himself. Chazal condensed this idea into a few words when they explained “This month shall be for you” -- “a model for you” (Shemos Rabbah 15:27).
The Jew is the capacity for ongoing, everlasting renewal. Hashem does not need a superman, saints or angels, constantly living on high spiritual planes. Angels are in heaven, and their power, holiness, and wisdom exceed human comprehension.
Humans vs. Angels
Zechariah Hanavi records a prophecy he visioned in the early days of the Second Beis Hamikdash.
The vision occurred as the Jewish people were returning to their homeland, yet on a far smaller scale, both in spiritual stature and in physical numbers and wealth. Despite their shrunken stature, Zechariah encourages Yehoshua the Kohen Gadol, telling him that if they keep Hashem’s commandments, then (Zechariah 3:7): “I will grant you passage among those who stand here.”
A human being can pass – he is called a “walker” because only he has the ability to change, ascending from level to level. Angels, by contrast, are called “omdim” — “those who stand” — because their level is fixed and stable, never changing.
In his prophecy, Zechariah conveys to Yehoshua the Kohen Gadol not to look nostalgically at the closeness to Hashem and holiness that existed in the first Beis Hamikdash. Those levels were taken and will be reinstituted again only with the coming of Moshiach. For now, these levels are unattainable because Hashem does not want humans to be angelic – for that he has angels far loftier than anything a human can attain.
What Hashem wants is for us to advance as humans — to move forward from the point at which, in His wisdom, He chose to place us, and to rise a few steps higher, to reinvent ourselves. If we merit this, our level will surpass that of the ministering angels.
It makes no difference what spiritual level Hashem chose for each generation as its starting point. What matters is that we progress, tackling the Yetzer Hara wherever it meets us as we ascend, rung after rung, on the ladder rising to the Heavens.
As we say in the Yomim Noraim prayers: “And you willed praise from beings of flesh, from dwellers of the valley, from the weak in action, from the poor in deed — and that is Your praise.”
Hashem’s greatest praise and glory do not come from an angel created on high, but from a human being born with the Yetzer Hara who rises up and battles it, advancing step by step.
This is the essence of the Jewish people: a nation endowed with the power of renewal.
Rosh Chodesh -- A Time for Atonement
In light of these ideas, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch adds another layer of understanding.
Rosh Chodesh is called “a time of atonement”. Yet when we examine the Korban Chatos of Rosh Chodesh, it appears very limited: the goat offered as the Rosh Chodesh musaf sacrifice comes “to atone for impurity of the Mikdash and its holy things, where there was no awareness either at the beginning or at the end” (see Shevuos 2a, 9a). The Korban Rosh Chodesh cleanses us of estrangement from holiness into which we slipped unknowingly, and which never even entered our conscious awareness.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that without constantly renewing one’s relationship with Hashem one inevitably drifts away. Almost unnoticed, his soul seals itself off from the Divine light; it becomes dull and opaque. Over time, the heart grows heavy and resistant, like Pharaoh’s, until even astounding miracles and painful upheavals can no longer awaken it.
Kappara, however, goes beyond inner repair. It reshapes our external, social, and historical reality. This is why they come together on Rosh Chodesh, and the institution of “chodesh” appears precisely at the moment that Am Yisroel becomes a nation. It affirms that release from sin and failure is always possible, and that our bond with Hashem can be renewed again and again. This idea is the foundation of the Jewish psyche, and sharply distinguishes Judaism from idolatry.
Idolatry denies renewal — of the world, of man, and even of its gods. It views all existence as fixed and mechanical: yesterday produces today, today produces tomorrow. Just as idolatry rejects creation ex nihilo, it also denies moral renewal. In that worldview, failure generates failure, endlessly. There is no Divine freedom guiding history, no real human freedom shaping destiny — only an unchanging current of necessity, where everything “new” is merely a continuation of the old.
The mitzva of Kiddush Hachodesh, concludes Rav Hirsch, carries a decisive message: human destiny is placed in human hands, and one can always rise and begin again. It was specifically in Egypt — the epicenter of rigid, absolute idolatry, where social structures were frozen into caste and bondage —that Hashem revealed this idea to the future leaders of His nation. He showed them the moon struggling out of darkness into renewed light, and said: This is your model.
Each appearance of the new moon reminds us that freedom and renewal are always possible. By renewing ourselves month after month, we pass through the darkness of history like the moon in the night sky, bearing witness to the truth of renewal: belief in G-d who creates in freedom, who grants free will, and who entrusts man with moral responsibility and destiny.
Renewal – Necessity, not Luxury
The Sefas Emes (Parashas Bo 5658; Ki Savo 5661) explains that the Eisav nations of the world follow the sun which is fixed and constant, because they conduct themselves in a natural, habitual way. The Jewish people do not act mechanically — mitzvos anashim melumadah. Their essence is free choice, exercising their free will. Therefore, renewal is the very essence of the Jewish nation.
Each Jewish month welcomes a new mode of conduct, a fresh beginning. Even if one failed, Heaven forbid, the new month gives him a new opportunity. Conversely, even if he succeeded in the previous month, he cannot rest on his laurels; he must exert fresh effort to grow in the new month.
This is why the Jewish people are compared to the moon, which waxes and wanes over the course of the month. Hashem reacts to Am Yisroel, and His conduct corresponds to their actions and spiritual state. The nations of the world, by contrast, are governed by a fixed natural order, independent of their deeds.
Comparison to the Moon
In light of these ideas, we can now understand the Shela’s explanation (Shavuos, Torah Or, 239). Chazal describe Adam HaRishon as so great that even his heel dimmed the orb of the sun. The lowest part of his physical body was far brighter – i.e. on a higher spiritual level -- than the sun. At the same time, Chazal say (Bava Basra 75a) that Moshe Rabbenu was like the sun. Can we say that Adam HaRishon’s greatness far surpassed that of Moshe Rabbenu?
The Shelah cites the Zohar (Bereshis 46b), which differentiates between the sun’s two states – movement and stillness. Naturally, the sun moves all the time, rising and setting constantly. Twice in history the sun stood still – when Moshe Rabbenu and Yehoshua Bin Nun called on it to do so. The Zohar explains that the nations of the world count by the sun and are compared to the sun when it is in motion. Am Yisroel, however, is compared to the sun when it stands still, as it did through Moshe and Yehoshua.
In other words, Adam HaRishon was given immense spiritual capacities, greater than anything that ever existed. Yet he did not advance with those capacities; he fell with the sin of Eitz HaDa’as. At the same time, Adam HaRishon was the first to begin the process of repentance, rebuilding from his falling point.
Moshe Rabbenu, by contrast, began from a far lower point, but his progress was immense. Therefore, when he attained the power symbolized by the sun, it became eternal and truly his — earned through his tremendous avodah. This can be like the sun when it stands still, no longer part of a cyclical process.
The Maharal (Derech Chaim, Avos 1:1) clarifies this idea further: Moshe Rabbenu reached a state in which he was no longer bound to the material system of the world; he was all pure light. Therefore, he had to place a veil over his face since the Jewish people could not bear the light radiating from him. Yehoshua bin Nun, however, was on the level of the moon, which receives its light from the sun and has no light of its own.
The Essence of the Jew
The Aruch HaShulchan (OC 426:2) explains that just as the moon has no light of its own and merely reflects the light of the sun, so too the Jewish people have no independent existence. They reflect Hashem’s light through His holy Torah, as it is written: (Tehilim 84:12) “For Hashem G-d is a sun and a shield.” And just as the moon is “born” again every new month, so too the Jewish people – continuously renewing themselves to Hashem, and will ultimately be fully restored.
Furthermore: the truth is that the moon always shines. It always receives its light from the sun and shines brightly. The problem is with us on earth – we don’t always perceive its glow. There are days in the month in which its glow shines out into outer space, while we on earth see nothing. So too it is with the Jewish people: precisely at times when they seem to disappear, omitting no light at all, they shine with even greater intensity on high, though their light is visible only in Heaven.
The Reishis Chochmah (Shaar HaTeshuva 4) adds another point. Initially, Hashem created the sun and the moon equal. In the supernal realms, the spiritual moon still shines with the same intensity as the sun. Only the lower moon, the one we perceive in this world, is diminished. Therefore, on erev Rosh Chodesh, the day when the moon is invisible – when the Shechinah is concealed from the world -- the righteous we acutely feel the pain of the Shechinah — fast.
Eastern Nations and The Moon
Why are lunar qualities attributed uniquely to the Jewish people, while other nations such as Muslims and various Eastern civilizations that also follow a lunar calendar are not?
Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin (Likutei Ma’amarim, p. 137) addresses this. He explains that the descendants of Yishmael are not idol worshippers and believe in one G-d. For this reason, they count by the moon. Precisely for this reason, however, the claim against them is doubled, because they do not keep the mitzvos: they know their Master and intend to rebel against Him.
Rabbi Tzadok further explains (Pri Tzaddik, Parashas Bamidbar) why Chazal said, “There is wisdom in Edom, but there is no Torah in Edom.” Edom is compared to the sun: they possess wisdom and use it to conquer the world. Yet their power and wisdom are not directed to improve their middos or to draw close to Hashem and recognize the truth. Yishmael, on the other hand, lacks that power; he recognizes the truth but does not use it, remaining immersed in a life of lust and passion.
This is the meaning of the pasuk (Devarim 33:2): “He shone forth from Seir to them; He appeared from Mount Paran.” When Hashem came to give the Torah to Am Yisroel, He passed by all the nations of the world and found that none were willing to accept it. “He shone forth from Seir”— from Eisav and the 35 nations subordinate to him. The sun shone there in full force, yet they refused to change their ways in the light of the Torah. “He appeared from Mount Paran”— to Yishmael and the 35 nations subordinate to him there was a radiance of Divine light, yet aside from acknowledging Hashem, they did not change their conduct. Only the Jewish people accepted the Torah and altered their habits and nature accordingly.
The Western culture, rooted in Esav, set up a religious system of asceticism and abstinence, but has no intention of actually living by it; for them it is theory and ideology, not real life. Islamic culture, on the other hand, sanctifies bloodlust and vicious passion in the name of religion.
Am Yisrael’s Authority
The Bnei Yissaschar (Ma’amarei Rosh Chodesh, Maamar 3 – Tefillas Rosh Chodesh) explains that the moon’s symbolism applies uniquely to Am Yisroel not merely because they follow a lunar calendar — after all, the descendants of Yishmael do so as well.
Rather, Am Yisroel’s superiority is in their authority to establish Rosh Chodesh. Through beis din, they may advance or delay it in accordance with halachah. As they sanctify the month, they shape its spiritual character, shaping the times on both physical and spiritual realms. In this sense, only Am Yisrael truly “rule” the moon.
