Using Secular Months on Checks
I would like to wrap up the topic of using the secular date in regard to writing the secular date on checks or the like. As we discussed, the Torah requires us to count the months, starting from Nissan, to constantly remember that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim. The Chasam Sofer in Parshas Bo writes that using the secular date, which counts the months in a different manner, is a blatant transgression of this mitzvah.
The simple reading of these words gives the implication that the Chasam Sofer was against any manner of using the secular date. However, the Be’eir Moshe suggests that the Chasam Sofer was only concerned with using secular numbers for the date. For example, writing 11/10, which means the 10th day of the 11th month, November, is against the mitzvah to count the months from Nissan, which means not to count the months from Tishrei, and certainly not from January.
SECULAR YEARS
The Chasam Sofer, in a drasha, decries the custom of those who signed their letters using the Gregorian calendar, which is based on the birth of the Christian god. He writes emphatically that they are thereby denouncing their connection to Hashem and cutting themselves off from His Torah.
The Maharam Shik also concurs with his rebbi’s disapproval of this practice. He discusses the institution of writing the secular year of the person’s birth and death on a matzeivah, which began in his time. He asserts that it is a blatant transgression of the prohibition to mention anything affiliated with idol worship, such as using a church as a landmark.
Rav Neiman, Belzer dayan of Montreal, has a teshuvah in which he discusses if there is any allowance to use the secular date when one is involved in commerce or the like. He suggests that the prohibition is only when one is dealing with a fellow Jew, but when dealing with non-Jews, there is no problem. He proves this from a document of Rav Akiva Eiger, which was signed in Posen on July 27, 1832. He explains that it was in a legal document for the acquisition of his house, and it is not included in this prohibition.
He also maintains that one can prefix the secular date with the word “l’misparam,” i.e., according to their numbers. By making this disclaimer, one is proclaiming that he is merely using their numbers to count, not that the person considers it to be the actual date, and it will not be a problem. The Be’eir Moshe also has another proposal. Instead of writing the year in full, 2023, one should just write it in shorthand, ’23. That way, he is not writing the actual year of the birth of their god, which is also something implemented by many.
The Klauzenberger Rebbe, in Shefa Chaim, writes that if one has no choice but to use the secular year, he should have in mind the birth of Rabbi Akiva, which was also at that time.
SUMMARY
The Chasam Sofer was against using the secular date, perhaps only when using secular numbers for the date. The Chasam Sofer decries the custom of signing a letter using the Gregorian calendar. The Maharam Shik asserts that writing the secular year on a matzeivah is a blatant transgression of the prohibition to mention anything affiliated with idol worship.
Some allow using the secular date when dealing with non-Jews by adding the word “l’misparam” or by writing it in shorthand, such as ’23.
