Rosh Chodesh (ראש חודש) — Head of the Month
Core definition
Rosh Chodesh — the first day (or two days) of each Hebrew month, the moon's rebirth — is, in the Chassidic calendar, a minor festival with a distinctive metaphysical character: a level of revelation. Rosh Chodesh is "the birth of the moon, which receives the light of the sun," and it shares with Shabbos the revelation of shemesh Havayah — "the sun of Havayah," the "sun of righteousness" (שמש צדקה) [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 200–206]. It is called zeh — "this," the language of revelation ("zeh E-li") [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 249–251].
How the Rebbeim develop it
The sun-and-moon union. Rosh Chodesh is "the union of the sun and the moon" (יחוד שמשא וסיהרא) — and this is the revelation of the level of the sun of Havayah [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 252]. In the verse "וזרחה לכם יראי שמי שמש צדקה" (Malachi 3:20), lachem ("for you") is read on Rosh Chodesh too: "This month shall be for you" (החדש הזה לכם) [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 207–208].
Why it is not called "a day of work." Though melachah is permitted on Rosh Chodesh, the verse never calls it yom hama'aseh ("a day of deed/work"). The reason: "Bring an atonement for Me, for I diminished the moon" (Shevuos 9a) — "for Me" (alai) meaning: upon Havayah, above the name Havayah — so that there be revelation through Havayah. "Therefore Rosh Chodesh is not called yom hama'aseh — since the revelation of the name Havayah shines then" [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 264–267]. The moon's diminution is rectified each month by Havayah's shining into it.
Why melachah is still permitted. "Nevertheless melachah is permitted — because Rosh Chodesh in essence is the level of dibur (speech), the level of Malchus — only, in the dibur shines the name Havayah" [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 268]. The difference between Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh is the level of governance: on Shabbos the dibur ascends, and governance below is from the level of thought; on Rosh Chodesh governance is from the level of dibur — the dibur does not ascend but remains in Asiyah — "only, in the dibur shines the level of the name Havayah" [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 271–276]. On Rosh Chodesh "the mochin shine in Malchus without Ze'ir Anpin" — speech receives directly from the intellect: "when he speaks words of intellect and words of Torah, then the dibur receives from the mochin" [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 276–279].
The east-facing gate. "The gate of the inner court facing east shall be shut on the six days of work, and on the Shabbos day and on the Rosh Chodesh day it shall be opened" (Yechezkel 46:1): kedem (east) is "before, above the beginning" — the east-facing gate lets kedem shine; it is opened precisely on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 254–255].
Healing the week's longing. On weekdays Knesses Yisroel is "sick with love" (חולת אהבה): she sees existence as yesh and knows its coming-into-being is only from the Divine Ayin, which is nowhere visible — so she pines. Shabbos is the healing: "charity to the poor," the revelation of Havayah reviving the longing spirit. Rosh Chodesh too is a level of this revelation [31678/maamar_025 :: Summary (עב׳ 203–245)].
Key distinctions
- Shabbos vs. Rosh Chodesh: both reveal "the sun of Havayah"; but on Shabbos the dibur ascends and governance is from thought, while on Rosh Chodesh governance remains from dibur in Asiyah — hence speech and (biblical) work differ, and melachah is permitted on Rosh Chodesh though it is not called yom hama'aseh [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 264–276].
- Moon vs. sun: the moon is Malchus, the receiver; its monthly birth is its receiving the sun's light — the rectification of its diminution [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 205–206, 264–265].
- Speech's two sources: dibur sometimes receives from the middos (words of love) and sometimes from the mochin (words of intellect and Torah) — on Rosh Chodesh, the latter [31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 277–279].
Related concepts
- Shabbos — shares the shemesh Havayah revelation; differs in the dibur's ascent.
- Malchus — the moon; the level of dibur.
- Mi'ut haYareiach — the moon's diminution; rectified on Rosh Chodesh.
- Hachodesh hazeh lachem — the first mitzvah given to Israel; sanctification of the new moon.
Sources
- 31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 200–208 — Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh share "the sun of Havayah"; Rosh Chodesh = the moon's birth, receiving the sun's light; "החדש הזה לכם"
- 31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 249–254 — Rosh Chodesh called zeh (revelation); the sun-and-moon union; the east-facing gate opened on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh
- 31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 264–267 — "Bring an atonement for Me, for I diminished the moon"; why Rosh Chodesh is not called yom hama'aseh
- 31678/maamar_025 :: עב׳ 268–279 — melachah permitted because Rosh Chodesh is the level of dibur/Malchus; the Shabbos difference; mochin shining in Malchus without Ze'ir Anpin
- 31678/maamar_025 :: Summary (עב׳ 203–245) — "sick with love" on weekdays; Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh as healing revelation