RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: Aug 30, 2009

Sunday, August 30, 2009

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:SOLAR+LUNAR YEARS IN JUDAISM:TALMUD

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:SOLAR+LUNAR YEARS IN JUDAISM:CHODESH

Shavuah Tov :

May we all be inscribed for good into the Book of Life.

'' Israel was home to a Jewish community that based its calendar on the orderly progression of the holidays based on a solar calendar, i.e., the Dead Sea Scroll folks. (aka the Essenes). Their arch-enemies were those who based their calendar on the observance of the new moon by human beings. The Talmud Yerushalmi preserves this disagreement with a decidedly favorable view toward the Sun constituency.'' (R'Abrams).

Are these B'nai Or, children of light, as they called themselves, who saw the rest of the world as ''children of darkness'', literally tied to the sun? Were the Essenes really 'arch enemies' of other Jews and Hebrews who used the lunar calendar? The Essenes had a solar calendar of only 364 days in a year. Three hundred sixty four divides evenly by seven. Hence each date falls on the same day of the week every year.

It is an inaccurate calendar.

Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Rosh Hashanah 2:5 reads: ''The Holy One blessed be He created 365 windows that the world might use them: 182 in the east, and 182 in the west and one in the center of the firmament from which it came forth at the beginning of the Creation.'' The literary illusion of course is to the 365 days of the solar year and is a rebuttal of the Essene's beliefs.

Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Rosh Hashanah 2:11 states: " Rabbi Hanina went to En Tav to the blessing of the New Moon and the weather was cloudy. He said: Now they will say, How heavy is the weather of
this old man! So the Holy One blessed be He punctured the cloud for him like a sieve and the moon appeared through it."

The first mitzvah given to us as a free people was to learn to control our own time. We were no longer slaves. Hence we had to search for the new moon, which is basically a sliver in the night's sky, and hence had to be aware of the moon's waxing and waning . We decided for ourselves when the new moon was with more than one person sighting it, and literally running to the Sanhedrin to decide if indeed the new month was starting. It was our calendar. We determined it monthly.

Note also, it wasn't the priests who did the sighting, it could be any two Israelites. The TaNaK records Hebrews celebrating Rosh Chodesh in the time of Saul, our fist king.

It wasn't until R' Hillel the Younger, in the 4th Century CE, set up a fixed calendar that we knew when the moon was new and full and when our appointed seasons would be. If we note, with rare exception, our Biblical holidays are on the 15th of the Month when the moon is full. Tishrei One which is the 6th day of creation, according to the same Tractate, and a day when Jews converted the Feast of the Shofar into one of the 4 Jewish New Years, celebrating Adam and Eve's birthday, as well as the world's, is one big exception. Yom Kippur on the 10th, is another. But that is easy to count when one knows the First day. And of course Sukkoth is on the 15th with a full moon. And Shavuot, we are ordered to ''count for ourselves" 7 weeks from Passover.

Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Rosh Hashanah 2:12-13 teaches:'' Rabbi Hiyya the Great walked in the light of the old moon for four miles. Then he started to throw stones at it and he said: You are embarrassing the sons of your master. This evening, according to our calculations, we must see you new at such and such a place so why aren't you, moon, seen now in this place!?! Immediately, miraculously, the moon disappeared. ''

Rabbi Hiyya the Great lived before Hillel when the calendar was based on observation only. But during the transition period from, observation done for circa 1700 years, to calculation, observations that disagreed with calculations were ignored. Further if an Israelite declared he saw the new moon, even if the rabbis knew it was a thick cloudy night, but this fit into the calculated calendar it was accepted.

Further to help justify getting rid of 1700 years of tradition and to accept the calculated calendar, some Jews in the 4th Century CE were actually asked to make a report of a new moon sighting, when they didn't to help justify to the new calendar. (Talmud Bavli Rosh Ha Shana 20a). In fact we read that Rabbi Gameliel accepted patently lying witnesses about the new moon, if their siting fit with the calculated calendar. [Talmud Bavli Rosh Ha Shana 25a]. The gemorah teaches that God accepts this new calculated calendar, even if the rabbis are off by a day or so.

In reality both a solar and lunar year are equally important to Jews for their various reasons. And where do we first learn this? Way back in Genesis with Noah.

We are given very meticulous dates in Parasha Noah. Note how the saga begins on the 17th of the Second Month, and ends on the 27th of the Second month a year later. That is one lunar year plus 11 days. This is a solar year. Quite early in our Traditions, in the second parasha of the Chumash (whose story really starts at the end of the very first Parasha), we can see the Author referring us both to Solar and Lunar years and time.

Even more interestingly is the 7 days before Noah et. al. got into the Ark. While it took Noah 120 years to build the ark [ Talmud Bavli Tractate Sanhedrin 57a ] but not once did he manage to convert someone from their ways of "Hamas.'' [ Midrash Genesis Rabbah]. [Tractate Pirkei d' Rabbi Eliezer chapter 23 says Noah and his grandfather Methuselah did go out and preach to the masses, who ignored them.]

Rashi says these seven days were for Noah to observe shiva for Methuselah who just died. The Midrash also says that during this 7 day shiva for Methuselah, God sat shiva for all of the creatures He would be killing. (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 32:7). The Midrash says all the animals observed shiva also. But we can see how these seven days could have been a teach-in for mankind with God as the Rabbi. God plays the story of Genesis creation in reverse. The Talmud Bavli Tractate Sanhedrin 108b says He starts with the seventh day of rest, then the 6th day of Mankind's and land animals' creation, working back to Day One when the earth was 'astonishing empty' and only God 'hovered on the surface of the waters.'' And it was dark. There was no time. There was no day, and no night. (Gen. 1: 1-5). During these 7 days, God actually had the sun set in the East and rise in the West, to have time reverse. And Humankind scoffed.

There is a Midrash that says the sun and moon set and rose backwards during Abraham's time, but he prayed all night, and God set them back correctly. (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 42:8)

So we can see as early as the Noah story, the sun and moon have their own equal roles. And we are taught during the Messianic age, the moon will be its own light source, not being a mirror for the sun's light.

But there is another interplay happening as the Rabbis discuss the Second Lunar month. Which is it? Is it Cheshvan after Tishrei, or is it Iyar, after Nissan? Remember, we have 4 Jewish New Years. Elul One for animals, Shevat 15 (or Tu B' Shevat or in reality Ya B' Shevat) for Trees, Nissan One, but celebrated on Nissan 15, also known as Passover which is the New Year for the Hebrew people, and Tishrei One which is the new year for all humankind.

The rabbis decide it must be the spring month of Nissan, as the first month, as that is when all of the other nations' sages consider the year to begin. This was the opinion of Rabbi Joshua. (Talmud Bavli Tractate Rosh Ha Shana 11b). But he did not base his opinion on when other nation's sages agreed that the New Year began in Spring, alone. Rabbi Joshua based his opinion on when the constellation, Pleiades (Kimah in Hebrew), sets at day break and fountains dry up. But God reversed this to punish humankind and made Kimah rise at day break and made the fountains overflow.

Kimah is said to also be responsible for giving fruits their individual tastes and smells based on Job 38:31. One makes a beracoth not only for the fruit, but one to thank Ha Shem for the smell of a ripe fruit. This 7 star cluster is known as the Seven Sisters and is in the constellation Taurus. In Hebrew Kimah is derived from the word for cluster.[kum=heap or accumulate]. Job 38:31-34 has God asking Job: " Can you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? ....Can you shout an order to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? '' Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Ta'anit 64a goes even further than Rabbi Joshua in the Bavli, and says that Kimah is the ''cause of the flood.'' And what Zodiac sign is for the month of Iyar? Taurus.

The Talmud Bavli Tractate Zevachim 113b gives more supporting evidence that Iyar is the month of the start and end of the Ark's journey. The rabbis speak of a large bullock, a giant Taurus if you will, who was in modern measurements, 3 miles long, who could not fit into the Ark. Its name is Re'em. Noah strapped it to the side of Ark, and Noah feed it. Some translate Re'em as a unicorn, but using that view, based on its size, it may have been a giant rhinoceros. King David had a run in with a Re'em in the Midrash.

So now from just the story of Noah, we can see the importance, of constellations, the sun and the moon.

The Mechilta (Midrash on Exodus) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the Midrash Ha Gadol on Exodus 12:2 say, "'This month is for you' - The forefathers did not count from it." This is similar to what the Mechilta of Rabbi Yishmael says on that verse, "'This month is for you' - Adam did not count from it." In other words, the entire concept of calculating months based on the moon and starting from Nissan did not apply before the Jews left Egypt. Folks used the solar year. Similarly, Rabbi Avraham bar Chiya Ha Nasi (early 12th century) writes in his Sefer HaIbbur 2:5, the most important book written on the Jewish calendar, "Observing this commandment, that is the lunar month and the intercalation of the year, we were obligated only from the Exodus." Rabbi Yitzhak Ha Yisraeli (14th century) writes similarly in his Yesod Olam 4:2.

The concept of an unpredictable moon that had rabbis praying to God or throw rocks at it, shows the Rabbis in Judea to be astronomically dense. The Greeks could calculate lunar cycles circa 200 years before our above mentioned rabbis were tossing stones at celestial orbs.

When we study the Jewish calendar development, we find that for every new piece of data added, which was seemly new to the rabbis, this information was know to the rest of the world for centuries.

In typical of the legal fiction used in the Talmud to effect changes, our sages tell us they know more about the skies then other nations. "R. Shmuel son of Nachmani said in the name of R. Yochanan: How do we know that it is a mitzvah to calculate times and constellations? Because it is said (Deut. 4): 'and you shall keep and do it, because this is your wisdom and cleverness in the eyes
of the nations.'

The rabbis ask what kind of cleverness and wisdom is in the eyes of the nations and conclude it must be calculating times and constellations" (Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 75a). The French Rabbinic medieval commentary on Talmud Bavli Tractate Ketuboth 111a) reads that the calculation of the leap month of two Adars were to be kept secret from non-Jews. This may have been a jab at the Islamic lunar calendar, with no leap month, causing Ramadan to fall in any season of the years, while Passover always is a spring Holiday. If the Arabs wanted to have a calendar like ours, they could have as they had more knowledge in astronomy that our rabbis. Hebrew holidays were all seasonal and agricultural based. Islam does not have holidays that have roots in agricultural.

Now Yerushalmi portrays the Solar year as orderly. They cannot depend on the moon as one must literally site it and one just cannot if its a cloudy night. So only by asking God to lift the clouds or throwing rocks at the moon, could the rabbis on cloudy nights, determine their calendar.

Now, we have a lot of cultural things happening with the lunar calendar in the land of the Talmud Yerushalmi that we did not have in the land of the Talmud Bavli.

A major problem were the Samaritans who moved into The Land during the Babylonian exile, who were not accepted as Hebrews when Ezra et. al. returned. The Samaritans would send signals of new moon sightings on the wrong day to confuse Hebrews and the Jews who developed from Hebraism.

The Land borders Egypt whose tradition was solar. Their main god was Ra, the Sun God. At one point, pre Hebraism, they were monotheistic, worshipping only Ra.

And the Romans, who controlled Judea, used a solar calendar. They wanted to do away with Judaism, as it competed with their money making taxable Hebraic Temple. They outlawed all TaNaK study and disallowed semikah, rabbinic ordination. A group of rabbis standing outside at night in Judea trying to figure out if there was a new moon, would have been suicidal and well, lunacy.

And the Roman's controlled Sanhedrin in Judea was continually having a power play with the Babylonian academies. A solar calendar which they could control would place them in a competitive advantage over the Babylonian rabbis.

In the lands of Persia, which was Babylon, and now Iraq, Iran, and many of the Stans of the old USSR, the lunar calendar was used. Astrology and constellations played a major role. Many of Judaism's months were named from Babylonian months. And unlike the constellations which start and end in the middle of solar months, lunar month's contained a whole constellation. Nissan , when we sacrificed a Pascal lamb, has Aires, the Ram, as its sign. Tishrei when God judges us, has a scale, Libra, as its constellation.

So Babylonia Jews would be more influenced by the lunar months, than solar.

Using the Noah story some more, we need to examine what exactly was this Hamas that humans did to cause themselves to be destroyed by the 2nd Parasha of the whole TaNaK? Among other things they were out of synchrony with nature. Besides mating animals of totally different species, and trees and grains as well, they tried to live without paying attention to the nature rhythms of the sun and moon. They planted during the wrong times and ignored the general idea that one goes to sleep when its dark and awakes when it is light. The sun and moon were meaningless to them.

In fact, similar to our life style today, when we can get fruits, not in their season, but 12 months a year flown in from around the globe, or when we can stay up all night with artificial lighting, the Tractate Perkei d' Rabbi Eliezar Chapter 23, states that during the Noah year's voyage there was no sunlight. The only way Noah and his family knew when to feed the animals is because Noah brought special precious gems on board that sparkled in the day, and were dull at night.

God's seal is the Rain Bow. Why? Because when the first time it started to rain again, Noah and his sons, as well as Mrs. Naamah Noah and the sons' wives would be scared to death. Should they get umbrellas or run back to the Ark? The Rain Bow, which comes with rain, tells them an umbrella is sufficient this time. When sunlight hits rain drops at a specific angle, the light enters the drop, is reflected inside, and then exits the drop. Entering and exiting the drop, the colors are separated. We see red light exiting from a raindrop because that drop is at just the correct 42 degree angle between our eye and the sun so that the red light coming from the sun is refracted, reflected, and refracted again right into our eye. Blue light comes from another raindrop at a slightly different angle. All the raindrops that are at a certain angle between our eye the sun form a circle in the sky. That is why the rainbow is a bow of a circle.

And this circle is beautiful to the eye. It reminds us that God and the Earth do quite well without humans interference. The Bow is a product of water and sun, to remind us that the Sun dried the waters of the deluge. And that in this combination of light refracted through water are all of the colors of the Universe, all the animals of the earth, all the different peoples on this planet, all the different colors of vegetables and fruits, all the different shades of various landscapes, from tan deserts, white glaciers, to emerald rain forests. Indeed the Rain Bow is symbolic of the Breath of Life of YahWeh Himself. The bow that Noah's half brother invented, [Gen. 5:29] and [Gen. 4:22] and which his father accidentally killed Cain with, now goes from being an instrument of death to a promise of life.

So it is obvious to us at least, that both Calendars have their importance. Neither one is more appealing or appalling than the other when we peal back Parasha Noah. They both have their defects and both have their strengths. Like humans, they are both flawed when humankind tried to measure the Divine. The lunar calendar needs a leap month here and there, and the Solar needs an extra day tossed on to February every 4 years.

Why do we celebrate Rosh Chodesh and not the sun? Chodesh literally means renewal. The sun always appears whole except during a Solar Eclipse. Each year because a solar year is measured with one quarter day at the end, a solar year, which we moderns celebrate on January One, but used to celebrate it on April One, which ties into Nissan being the first month of the year, would be celebrated 6 hours apart for every 4 years. One the first year after a leap year, the new year really would be 6 AM on January One and not midnight. On the second year it would be noon. One the third year it would be 6 PM and only on the 4th year, leap year, would it be midnight, as we added a whole day. We just choose to toast at Midnight each December 31-January One, but its incorrect.

The Moon goes thru cycles. It waxes and wanes. One cannot look at the Sun and know what part of the month we are in. The sun looks the same. But one can look at the moon, two days in a row, and know if it is waxing or waning, and hence know if one is in the first two or second two weeks of the lunar month. By observing the size of the moon, one can then with accuracy, determine what week in the lunar month one is in.

During the day, with the sun, one can tell what season one is in.

The Jewish people wax and wan. We as humans wax and wan. We can be '''riding high in April and shot down in May.'' By using the moon as a symbol it reminds us to have faith in Ha Shem,, that Gamzu l'Tovah, all is for the good, and that the ''darkest hour is just before dawn.'' When our lives seem to be waning, we know, like the moon, we will wax again. We are promised Jewish Spiritual Renewal if only we ask God for it.

In 2008, the Winter Solstice was on 12/21/08. In 2009 the Spring equinox was 3/20/09, the Summer Solstice was 6/21/09, and the Autumn Equinox will be 9/22/09. 12/21/09 was Erev Chanukah, was 10 days after Purim, and 26 before Pesach. June 21,2009 was a day before Rosh Chodesh Tammuz. And on 9/22/09 it will be day after the fast of Gadaliah. It is not celebrated, and the winter Solstice tends to fall into the rabbinic holiday of Chanukah, but they are not ignored.

The four solstices and equinox; Te'ufot, of Nissan, Tammuz, Tishrei, and Tevet are often mentioned as determining the seasons of the year, and there are occasional references to the rising place of the Sun (Talmud Bavli Tractate Eruvim 56a). Sometimes six seasons of the year are mentioned (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 34:11) and reference is often made to the receptacle of the Sun by means of which the heat of the orb is mitigated (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 6:6, and elsewhere). The Moon was also a part of the calendar: "The moon begins to shine on the 1^st of the month; its light increases until the 15^th, when the disk is full; from the 15^th to the 30^th it wanes; and on the 30^th it is invisible." (Midrash Exodus Rabbah 15: 26).

Traditionally, Jews welcome the first of the month with a special prayer for the new moon. Rosh Hashanah always falls, as per the law in Numbers, on the new moon of Tishrei . Yet no new moon prayer is said. The rabbis say that this is "in order to confuse Satan." The sages say that Satan is waiting for Rosh Hashanah in order to speak ill of us before God. The rabbis decree that if we do not say the new month prayers, Satan may not know it is Rosh Hashanah and could miss his chance.

What is the lesson of all of this? Don't waste time. As God promised Noah and us, ''continuously, all the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.'' As I teach: "Make Love, Not Makloket.''

Shavuah Tov,

Rabbi Arthur Segal

Jewish Spiritual Renewal

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Rabbi Arthur Segal: United States; I am available for Shabbatons, and can speak on various aspects of Jewish history, (from the ancient past to modern day, and can be area specific, if a group wishes), Spirituality, developing a Personal Relationship with God, on the Jews of India and other 'exotic' communities, and on Talmud, Torah and other great texts. We have visited these exotic Jewish communities first hand. I adhere to the Mishna's edict of not using the Torah as a ''spade'', and do not ask for honorariums for my services. I am trans-denominational and renewal and spiritually centered.; I am available to perform Jewish weddings, and other life cycle events, ONLY IF, it is a destination wedding and the local full time pulpit rabbi is unavailable, or if there is no local full time pulpit rabbi, or it is in my local area and all of the full time pulpit rabbis are unavailable.; My post-doc in Psych from Penn helps tremendously when I do Rabbinic counseling. My phone number and address will be made available once I am sure of one's sincerity in working with me.; Rabbi Segal is the author of three books and many articles on Torah, Talmud and TaNaK and Jewish history. His books are : The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud, and Spiritual Wisdom of our Talmudic Sages. The first two are published by Amazon through their publishing house, BookSurge.; For information on how to purchase these, please contact RabbiSegal@JewishSpiritualRenewal.net and visit WWW.JewishSpiritualRenewal.Net. OR CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW.; Todah Rabah and Shalom uvracha. Rabbi Arthur Segal ,( Dr. Arthur Segal )RabbiASegal@aol.com .

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Click to Order	A SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL COMPENDIUM TO THE TORAH AND TALMUD Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal dissects each of the Torah's weekly sections (parashot) using the Talmud and other rabbinic texts to show the true Jewish take on what the Torah is trying to teach us. This companion to The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew brings the Torah alive with daily relevance to the Modern Jew. All of the Torah can be summed up in one word: Chesed. It means kindness. The Talmud teaches that the Torah is about loving our fellow man and that we are to go and study. The rest is commentary. This compendium clarifies the commentary and allows one to study Torah and Talmud to learn the Judaic ideals of love, forgiveness, kindness, mercy and peace. A must read for all Jews and deserves a place in every Jewish home. Price: $24.99 494 Pages Published by: Amazon's BookSurge

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In The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal distills millennia of sage advice to reclaim your Judaism and your spirituality.

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RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:God sat shiva for all of the creatures He would be killing

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:God sat shiva for all of the creatures He would be killing