The Moon

As we learned in the last column, the Hebrew month begins when the new moon is sighted. Earth’s only natural satellite is the Jewish people’s partner in marking holiness - a celestial timekeeper whose cycles come like clockwork. There are three main ways that the Jewish tradition names and interacts with the moon.

The moon is first referenced in the creation narrative as המאור הקטן (ha-maor ha-katon) “the little light” (Gen. 1:16). Per the narrative, “two great lights” are created on the fourth day. The verse continues to describe how “the greater light” will rule the daytime, compared to “the lesser light” that is given dominion over the nighttime. In Talmud Bavli Ḥullin 60b, Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi raises a contradiction between the beginning and end of the verse. asking, “how do ‘two great lights’ turn into a ‘lesser light’ and ‘greater light’?”

The answer lies in a story:

[In the ancient days, before people walked in the garden, both the moon and the sun were the same size.]

the moon (she/her) said before Ha-Kadosh Brikh Hu (HE/SHE/THEY), “is it possible for two kings to serve with one crown?”

[THEY] said to her, “go and diminish yourself.”

she said before HIM, “Master of the Universe? although I spoke correctly, I must diminish myself?”

[THEY] said to her, “go and rule during the day and during the night.”
she said to HIM, “what? is that greatness? what use is a candle in the middle of the day?”

[SHE] said to her, “go, let the Jewish people count the days and years with you.”

she said to HIM, “but also the sun, it is impossible that they will not count seasons with it, as it is written ‘and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years’ (Gen 1:14).”

[THEY replied] “go, let the righteous be named for you – Ya’akov ha-Katan, Shmuel ha-Katan, David ha-Katan”

[SHE] saw that [she] was not comforted.

Ha-Kadosh Brikh Hu said, “bring atonement for ME, since I diminished the moon.”
and this is what Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says, “what is different about the new-moon goat? because it says about it ‘for Ha-Shem’ (Num 28:15)”

Ha-Kadosh Brikh Hu said, “this goat shall be an atonement for having diminished the moon.”

The most striking thing about this story is that the additional goat of the Rosh Ḥodesh animal sacrifices is an offering of atonement on behalf of the Divine. This is a reversal of the usual direction of sacrifices, where animals are offered on behalf of the human penitents to atone for their earthly sins. 

Another interesting bit of this story is where the moon quotes Torah to disprove God. The idea that the Master of the Universe can be swayed by Torah-based proof text is an innovation of a rabbinic tradition that valued text-based argumentation above all other forms of intellectual engagement. The Talmud where this story is found reflects the world-view of rabbis like Shimon ben Pazi. In the rabbinic model of revelation, the Torah was completely authored by God and dictated, in its entirety, to Moses at Sinai. According to contemporary biblical scholars, the Torah is a composite text made of multiple source texts, redacted and edited over centuries. The version of the Torah text that we have today is traditionally attributed to Ezra the Scribe and dated to the return from the Babylonian Exile in 539 BCE. Contemporary scholars (mostly) agree with that time period for compilation, if not the identity of the compiler.

The core of the Torah text reflects its context of composition, which is early Iron Age Canaan. The proto-Israelite religion that is woven through the Torah reflects the world of our ancestors. Underneath the later textual layers and strictly monotheistic rabbinic interpretations lies a polytheistic pantheon. In a world inhabited by a plethora of divinities, humans interacted with each other and their gods also mingled. As cultures interacted, they adopted aspects of foreign gods as they saw fit. Many of these divine beings were associated with the celestial bodies, including the moon.

One such lunar deity was the Mesopotamian Sin, also known as Nanna. This deity was often personified as a male shepherd, with the stars as his flock. This pastoral association led to him commonly being depicted with a crescent topped staff. He was further associated with dairy products and fertility. He was thought to open the womb, providing the childless with children and assisting with difficult births. His wrath could manifest as skin diseases like leprosy or epilepsy (historically known as lunacy from the Latin luna meaning “moon”). As a widely-worshiped Mesopotamian deity, Sin was deeply associated with the cities of Ur and Harran. To get even more coincidental, the Levantine version of Sin was named Yarikh in Ugaritic. That is cognate with the most common Hebrew name for the moon – ירח (yareaḥ) “moon”. This name is also used as a synonym for the word for month. This name for the moon lives on the place-name of Yerikho (Jericho), one of the world’s oldest cities.

Anyone who has closely read the Torah will notice many correlations between this Mesopotamian lunar deity and the details in the backstory of Avram - the original monotheist and father of the Jewish people who first heard the voice of the Divine as his family lived in Harran. Perhaps the voice Avram heard was the voice of Yarikh as he understood it? Maybe it was only later that a monotheistic redactor changed the name of that deity to Ha-Shem, the unspeakable Divine name? While this hypothesis reflects modern scholarship, such a suggestion is unthinkable to the rabbis - from the Talmud through contemporary Orthodoxy.

As in the story from Talmud Bavli Ḥullin 60b, the moon is often feminized in rabbinic literature. This is despite (or maybe in reaction to) the masculine connotations of nearby lunar deities like Yarikh. The association of the moon with femininity should be obvious. The median menstrual cycle lasts 28 days, almost the exact length of a lunar month. In the pre-scientific world, before the conception of gravitational theory and telescopic observation, a mythical connection between timekeeping, menstruation, and the moon makes sense. Even in the Bible, the prophet Jeremiah admonishes the Israelite women of his day for making cakes in honor of the “queen of heaven,” (Jer. 7:18), which is understood as reference to lunar worship. This celestial femininity relates to another common name for the moon: לבנה (levanah) “white”. This name is grammatically female and is often used poetically. Rabbinic Jewish tradition associates the moon with the Shekhinah, the feminized Presence of the Divine. As Rabbi Yoḥanan taught, in Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 42a, “anyone who blesses the month in its proper time, [that is] as if they greet the Face of the Shekhinah.” This greeting of the Shekhina continues to this day.

The Blessing for the New Moon (Kiddush Levanah) is recited between the 3rd and 10th of the month, as the moon grows in her fullness. While standing in the open air,  the New Moon is sanctified, giving all praise to Ha-Shem, our God – the Creator, Master, Maker, and Source of the Moon. This praise extends to the role the moon plays in human societies - a “crown of glory for those born in the womb… who are destined to be renewed and to extol their Creator.” Just as the moon is renewed, so too is the human being. According to the 18th century Danish theologian Frants Buhl, the word yareaḥ probably derives from the verb ארח meaning “wander, journey, go”. By whatever name we call her, the moon is the Jewish people’s constant companion on our wanderings. This final etymology reminds us of the journey taken with the moon each month – from darkness and emptiness to light and fullness – and back again.