Why is Rosh Chodesh Different?

A good Chodesh! This year more than ever, we hope for the realization of "beNissan nigalu, beNissan atidin lehigael." This is the month designated for redemption, and we certainly pray and hope for redemption now.


This blog's title obviously references a key question in the Haggadah abut why is this night different.. Now when it comes to this Nissan, there is always a difference in the Rosh Chodesh because this is not just a new month but a new year: Hachodesh hazeh lachem rosh chadashim." Indeed, the reigns of the kings of Yehudah were measured as years beginning from Nissan.

That holds true at all times. But we are now in extraordinary times, and this Rosh Chodesh is the first one in which people have grasped the  severity of grappling with a pandemic that has hit home with many communities afflicted by sick and R"L worse. At the beginning of Adar, it still appeared remote, a threat only to far away places, and even on Purim most communities in the United State  continued with business as usual, though Israel already had certain restrictions in place. Just after Purim, people began to realize: it's here, and both lives and fortunes have been completely turned around as a result.

Pesach plans for hotels or even to travel to family are out of the question. School have closed. Shuls have closed. Simchas have been canceled, postponed, or, in some cases before tighter restrictions took hold, were scaled back to a minimal celebration. Businesses are ordered shut, and countless people have lost their jobs. Those fortunate enough to retain theirs have to work differently.

But there is no business as normal, particularly in places with lockdown laws that confine one to one's house.Like the injunction for Bnay Yisrael to stay in their homes on the original Pesach night to be safe from the threat of death on the night of Makas Bechoros, people are commanded to stay at home. And as humans we resent enforced confinement even if we can understand the rationale.

It's an astounding thing how Hashem can let such a tiny thing out, and the whole world is shaken up. I'm not going to ascribe any particular cause to this event, as none of us mere mortals can truly know and so tend to project our own pet peeves (of which we are never guilty ourselves, of course) on to such tragic events.

Here's my  take: when things are completely upended and you wonder at the madness that goes on, you have to just accept that Hashem has orchestrated it for a reason. We may not know what the reason is and may not even be zoche to see it through 20/20 hindsight, but we have to accept that is the case. This is the challenge of the assertion that R' Akiva made (Berachos 60b) ״כׇּל דְּעָבֵיד רַחֲמָנָא — לְטָב Kol deavid rachman letav avid.  [All that Hashem does is for the good. ]
(Incidentally, when I was looking up the source for the story, I happened across the various accounts of pestilence that were localized but still prompted fasts on Taanit 21a. It's rather fitting to what we've seen in the past few months with coronavirus. )


The name that R' Akiva used for Hashem in that context was Rachmana, referencing His attribute of mercy, recognizing that is His primary trait so that even something that appears to be bad will work out for the good. However, his expression does allow for the fact that at the moment the event happens, he doesn't yet know how it will work out for the good. I have wondered if this predates the account of R' Akiva's ability to laugh at seeing the churban (see https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-last-laugh.html) when he was already able to visualize the geula just from seeing the destruction that precedes it.

So this is where we are right now: we see a lot of churban R"L. People have lost lives and livelihoods. We are really in the matzav of our ancestors in Mitzrayim when they were so oppressed by their situation that they couldn't even take in the word of Moshe mikotzer ruach veavoda kash. You have to realize that Moshe didn't just appear and take them out right away; things got worse for them after his first appearance. Then it took close to a year for all the makkos to play out, and only on the verge of the final makkah were they told about the new start they will be making in which time is reset according to their establishment of the calendar with the new moon appearing for Nissan.

The moon is the marker for the Jewish calendar and represents the Jewish people. Our fortunes may wax and wane, but we remain faithful and confident in our renewal to full glory, as we express in chadesh yameynu kedem -- renew our days as of old. It sounds pardoxical, but that is our wish to be renewed and to reclaim our heritage afresh.


On every  Rosh Chodesh, as well as on the three festivals, we insert the paragraph that begin Ya'ale veyavo  in the amidah and birchas hamazon. The words have particular resonance for a time when we pray for salvation as it includes the request  to be saved for a good life: "vehoshienu bo lechaim tovim." I found that so striking when I said the words and the rest of that special prayer. This is when we think about what our main priorities are and doing what is right to merit the redemption. That is what we have to be thinking about this Rosh Chodesh and Pesach. In the past, Hashem castigated us through His navi Yeshayahu (1:14) with the words,  חָדְשֵׁיכֶם וּמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם שָׂנְאָה נַפְשִׁי, הָיוּ עָלַי לָטֹרַח; נִלְאֵיתִי, נְשֹׂא"Chodsechem umoadechem sana nafshi, hayu alay letorach, nileti minsoh."  Your new moons and your holidays have become hateful to My soul. They've become burdensome to Me; I'm grown tired of bearing them."

Now that we don't have our normal gatherings for prayer in shuls or even our extended family and friends coming over for the festive meals of Pesach, that really hits home. While we miss what we're used to, we also have to think about how we will use these times better to merit to truly celebrate our new months and holidays with true achdus and simcha in the Bais Hamikdash that should be rebuilt this month!


Related: http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2008/04/benissan-not-car.html








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