The Avodah of Rosh Chodesh: Three Elements
- Q: -
What is so special about Rosh Chodesh that we say Hallel and some call it a moed katan? It seems like a very important occasion but I don’t see what it is.
- A: -
There are three elements that we can see easily about Rosh Chodesh.
First of all, we look back and thank Hashem that He let us live through the past month. You think it’s a small thing to live a whole month? Baruch Hashem! That's why we say Hallel. Hallel means to thank Hashem that you lived to see another Rosh Chodesh.
Suppose a man was sentenced to be put to death and he received a reprieve for one month. A month is a tremendous gift! Many people pay big money in order to live another month. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu certainly deserves a great Hallel for the gift that He gave you.
Another element of Rosh Chodesh is yaaleh v'yavo which symbolizes our tefillos for the coming month. We have to ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu that the month that’s coming should be a successful month. Even if it is signed and sealed on the past Rosh Hashana, nevertheless we have to continuously beg the parcel postman to deliver. That’s the derech Hashem—even if He promised us but we have to shout and beg for it. That’s what He wants of us.
And therefore, it’s important to ask! Not only in yaaleh v’yavo; all day long Rosh Chodesh as much as possible, to ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu that the next month should be a month of good health, a month of success in parnassa, a month of aliyah—we should make progress in serving Him and in knowing Torah more. There’s a lot of things to ask for! And we shouldn’t generalize! We have a right to ask for individual things too.
And the third element of Rosh Chodesh is zman kaparah lekol toldosam; it's a day of atonement for the sins we did in the last month. רָאשֵׁי חֲדָשִׁים לְעַמְּךָ נָתַתָּ – You, Hashem, gave Rosh Chodesh to Your people, זְמַן כַּפָּרָה לְכָל תּוֹלְדוֹתָם – Rosh Chodesh is a time to atone and make good for all that happened in the past month or months. (Mussaf r.c.) It’s a miniature day of atonement.
Which of course means to look back on the past month and see what happened. You think a month is a small thing in our lives? You should look back and take stock of the past month; what you received from Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the past month and what did you give in return, what errors you made. If you look back and see that you didn't accomplish anything in the past month, ooooh, you should be worried. You should worry and make up your mind that this month you're going to do all the good things that you hear here at least. Do all these good things next month. Make up your mind that your month shouldn't be wasted.
It's a very good idea to utilize Rosh Chodesh even for that alone. If you do it for five minutes every month, then you are a head taller than the rest of the people. It’s an important element of Rosh Chodesh, to look back and remind yourself what were the wrong things you did and you do teshuvah; zman kaparah.
And therefore we sum up now, Rosh Chodesh has three elements. One is to thank Hashem for the month, that you lived to see another Rosh Chodesh. Second, to beg and ask that the month should be a month of happiness and success. And the third element is zman kaparah, to atone for the past month. Which means to retrospect, to go back and consider what happened, mistakes we made or the progress we made in order to hold onto it. If you started good things, you have to consider what good things you began in order to hold onto it. These are very important things and that’s why it's a very important occasion.
February 15, 2001
