In order to establish the new month it necessitated two things: A) the calculations of the court, and B) the account of authentic testimony. This seems curious though. Why would the Torah demand both a calculation as well as a testimony? This can be explained according to a deeper dimension of the Torah.
The first mitzvah that the Jewish people were given was to sanctify the new month. It is self-understood that the reason that this was the first mitzvah, as opposed to something that seems more central—such as accepting the yoke of the Almighty—is because this mitzvah is of utmost importance. Embedded in this mitzvah is the goal of all the mitzvos and it was therefore placed before the other mitzvos. It is because setting up the new month is of utmost importance, that it must have the advantages of both testimony and calculation.
Making things new
The word for the month in Hebrew is chodesh, which shares the etymology as the word chadash, which means new. The purpose of Torah and mitzvos is to bring something new and novel into the world.
Bar-Kappara expounded: The work of the righteous is greater than the work of heaven and earth, for in [regard to] the creation of heaven and earth it is written, Yea, My hand has laid the foundation, of the earth, and My right hand has spread out the heavens, while in [regard to] the work of the hands of the righteous it is written, The place which Thou hast made for Thee to dwell in, O Lord, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established.
Talmud, Kesuvos 5a
G-d created the world to have an ego. Man, through his work in this world, and personal recognition of the Almighty, reverses that and brings the world to a state in which it identifies with the Almighty. Thus, essentially the idea of “chodesh” in the deeper dimension of the Torah, is to transform the world from its natural state to a state that the world recognizes G-d. It is therefore understood why this mitzvah was placed before all others as it expresses the purpose of all the mitzvos.
