Why was Rosh Chodesh the first mitzva given to Israel as a nation while still in Egypt? Why is Parshat HaChodesh so important that it precedes the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai?

The Zohar, in explaining the importance of the new moon and our celebration of its renewal each month, states: "The Jewish nation is com- pared to the moon. Just as the moon wanes and seems to disappear into darkness only to be reborn, so too the Jewish people often appear to be overwhelmed by the forces of darkness only to reemerge as a nation reborn."

The main Kabbalistic teaching about Rosh Chodesh is its concept of renewal. Each New Moon marks a beginning both for the individual Jew and for the Jewish people as a whole. Even the word for month (chodesh) is connected with the word new (chadash) that suggests a new start. Similarly, the date in every marriage contract (Ketuba) is given in Hebrew, although the document is in Aramaic, to allow the word CHODESH to be used, to indicate that for the newly married couple, their wedding is the beginning of a new life. In addition to its being a semi-festival, as the beginning of a natural division in time, Rosh Chodesh is also regarded as a day of Teshuva (repentance) because a sin-offering was one of the sacrifices brought on that day (Bamidbar 28:15). Moreover, the diminuition of the moon's light was regarded as symbolic of human guilt, and the reappearance of the moon was regarded as a sign of atonement calling for celebration. Erev Rosh Chodesh is called Yom Kippur Katan (the minor Day of Atonement), and is observed by some as a fast day with the recital of special prayers (selichot) and confession of sins at the Mincha service for the sins of the preceding month.

The combination of joy and solemnity on Rosh Chodesh is not at all inappropriate. The beginning of a new period in time is an obvious occasion when a person should take stock of his life and, since no one is without sin, it is an appropriate time for introspection and self-improvement. Corresponding to the renewal which takes place on the New Moon in nature, Rosh Chodesh can be a time of renewal in one's spiritual life. Like Rosh Hashana (the first day of which is also Rosh Chodesh), the New Moon should make us conscious of the rapid flight of time, and it may impel us to use our limited time in this world wisely. By the use we make of our time, we are to some extent its master. Thus, because Rosh Chodesh has this aspect of T'shuva, it is a festive day. Indeed, the Mishna B'rura rules that on Rosh Chodesh we should have a Seudat Mitzva.

The Jewish People, never as great as other nations, have nonetheless outlived mighty empires. The waning moon, that disappears and then reappears, symbolizes our nation's many phases of persecution without being destroyed, and, phoenix-like, we have renewed ourselves out of the ashes of Auschwitz. The continued existence of the Jewish people is a phenomenon that cannot be explained scientifically, and even secular philosophers have described the establishment of the State of Israel just three years after the Holocaust as something mysterious and miraculous.

Therefore, Rosh Chodesh had to be the first Mitzva given to our nation, because it gives us the ability to create ourselves anew, thus imitating G-d, the Creator, who continually renews creation. This should be a person's greatest goal and achievement in life.