In this week’s Torah portion, G-d issues the first
commandment to the assembled community: “This month [Nisan] shall be to you Rosh
Chodesh (the head of the months); to you it shall be the first of the months of
the year.” While the mitzvah applies
to all Jews and establishes the Jewish lunar calendar, it has special
significance to women.
There is a well known midrash about the construction
of the golden calf idol while Moshe (Moses) is on Mount Sinai receiving Torah.
(Torah relates the original account in Shemot/Exodus 32.) The midrash
tells that the men approach the women and ask them to donate their gold jewelry
so it could be melted down to construct the golden calf. The women refuse. Because
they distance themselves from idolatry, the women are rewarded with Rosh
Chodesh as a special day for themselves.
Shulchan Aruch marks Rosh Chodesh as a mini-holiday observed
by eating a special meal and dressing up. In addition, many women have adopted the
custom of abstaining from household duties such as laundering clothing.
Rabbi Moshe Goldman writes on chabad.org about the Lubavitcher
Rebbe’s interpretation of the midrash: “The women’s non-participation stemmed
from their greater faith [than that of the men]. Though they had just spent more than two
centuries in idolatry-steeped Egypt, a fact that explains why the men caved so
quickly at the hint of trouble, the women’s faith remained unshakeable, and
they considered the idea of making an idol totally unthinkable.”
Writes Rabbi Goldman: “Rosh Chodesh celebrates the monthly
renewal of the moon, after it wanes to the point of disappearance. Thus Rosh
Chodesh celebrates the concept of perpetuity – notwithstanding life’s peaks and
plunges. And it is the woman who –
through her steadfast faith – ensures our nation’s survival; it is she who
ensures that no matter how much we wane, we will always be renewed.”
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