Another First Commandment

By Hazzan Jenna Greenberg.

This Shabbat is the final of the four special parshiyot leading up to Purim and Pesach. They each include a unique maftir, the final Torah reading separate from the weekly parsha, as well as a special Haftara connected to the theme of the Shabbat. We began the journey through these four Shabbatot with Shabbat Shekalim, followed by Shabbat Zachor. Just last week was the third of these four special Shabbatot, Shabbat Parah.

And here we are now, at the final of the four special Shabbatot, as it is Shabbat haChodesh, which precedes or falls on the first of the month of Nisan during which Passover is celebrated. In our unique maftir, we read about how on the first day of Nisan, God presented the first commandment of how to “sanctify the new moon” (kiddush hachodesh) for the onset of Rosh Chodesh. Thus the biblical Chodesh Aviv, known today as Nisan, becomes the first month of the Jewish year.

Last weekend we were visited by two JTS rabbis, one of whom taught on this commandment on Shabbat afternoon. Rabbi Joel Seltzer shared an interesting take on “the first commandment.” The first commandment in the Torah at the beginning of Breishit is p’ru urvu, to be fruitful and multiply. This first mitzvah in the Torah was God addressing us as individuals to fill the earth. The divine commandment we read today from Shemot, to sanctify Nisan as the first month of the year, is the first mitzvah addressed to the entire Jewish people.

This was the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people while still in Egypt and also on the verge of being freed: “This month shall be for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you.” (Ex. 12:2) 

Rabbi Seltzer shared several commentaries, one of which is from the 12th century French commentator, Bekhor Shor: “This month is ‘The First of Freedom,’ and so you shall make it the first of the counting of your months, in order that your counting begins at the moment of freedom, and by remembering this moment of freedom, you will remember the good that I (God) did for you, and you will be diligent with your awe, your love, and your worship of me.”

By declaring any new month on the Shabbat before each Rosh Chodesh, the Jewish people have the ability and responsibility each month to sanctify life and the passage of time.

By declaring the month of Nissan, as we will do so this weekend, the Jewish people have the additional ability to show eternal gratitude for our freedom, that of our ancestors and the freedoms we continue to celebrate today. Just as we have two separate “first” commandments for individuals and as a whole community, so too do we have the responsibility, both as individuals and as Am Yisrael, to continue to add to the world, celebrating our freedom through our ma’asim tovim, the good deeds that can help improve the world in which we live.

Shabbat Shalom, Chodesh Tov, and an early Chag Pesach Sameach!