The Jewish Secret of Time and Renewal

Before the Jewish people left Egypt, God declared: “This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be for you the first of the months of the year.” (Shemot 12:2)

Rashi, citing the Midrash, explains: “He showed him the moon in its renewal and said to him: when the moon renews itself, it will be for you a new month.” We will not enter here into the technical details of the mitzvah, but the central point is clear: Israel was commanded to establish its own calculation of time. The month of Nisan becomes the first month for you, and each month begins when the moon “renews” and reappears after seeming to disappear. All the appointed times of Israel are set according to the lunar cycle.

Sanctifying the new month (Kiddush HaChodesh) is so central that Rashi, at the very beginning of Bereishit, cites a Midrash stating that the Torah should have opened with this mitzvah rather than with the account of Creation: “Rabbi Yitzchak said: The Torah should have begun only from ‘This month shall be for you,’ for it is the first commandment that Israel was commanded.”

What is so special about the mitzvah of the month that, according to the Sages, it would have been fitting for the Torah to begin with it? Rabbi Moshe Shapira brings, in the name of the Vilna Gaon, the following explanation:

Two Kinds of Time: “Bereishit” and “HaChodesh”

The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 32a) teaches that the phrase “In the beginning God created” is one of the ten divine utterances through which the world was created. What was created by that utterance? Time (as explained by the Sforno and the Vilna Gaon).

The instant of Creation is the only moment in all of history that has no past — only present and future. From that moment onward, every instant contains past, present, and future.

The opening of the Torah: “In the beginning God created” and the section of “This month shall be for you” represent two different systems of time:

1. Physical time, the framework by which all nations live.

2. Spiritual time, a unique framework granted to Israel.

The difference between these two types of time is profound.

Time That Decays vs. Time That Renews

The time created in “Bereishit” is a sequence that begins with existence and ends in dissolution. Every physical thing that comes into being moves steadily toward its end. The more time passes from its beginning, the closer it draws to its conclusion.

In contrast, the time represented by “the month” is a system that moves from decline toward renewal — from “disappearing” back toward rebirth.

This idea is expressed in the blessing of Kiddush Levanah: “And to the moon He said that it should renew itself — a crown of splendor for those borne from the womb, who are destined to renew themselves like it.”

Israel counts by the moon and is compared to it. The sun generates a time-cycle called a “year,” whose meaning is repetition — returning again and again to what was. The moon generates a cycle called a “month,” whose defining feature is renewal. By counting by the moon, Israel testifies that its inner time is a time of rebirth.

The Jewish people are described as “those borne from the womb,” meaning that they are oriented toward “birth.” They possess the capacity to be born again — out of any state, from any fall, from any darkness. All forms of renewal in the world are contained in the mitzvah and message of “the month.”

Nisan: The Month of Resurrection and the Meaning of Renewal

The first month is Nisan. The Tur, citing Rav Hai Gaon, writes that the resurrection of the dead will take place in Nisan (Tur, Orach Chaim).

Faith in the resurrection is not a side belief, but reveals the deepest meaning of “the month.” Resurrection does not only mean that the dead will live again — though that is certainly true. It means something deeper still: everything that appears “dead” will be shown to be alive.

The Torah states: “You shall keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances that I command you today to do them.” (Devarim 7:11)

On this verse the Talmud teaches (Eruvin 22a): “Today — to do them, and not tomorrow — to do them. Today — to do them, tomorrow — to receive their reward.”

This world can feel like a place where everything fades, and where actions disappear into the dust of time. However, the Jewish faith teaches the opposite: this world is the arena of effort, often in concealment, where we cannot fully see the immense value and consequence of what we do.

After the resurrection however, everything we have done will be revealed, fully, clearly, and in its true depth. Every good deed will be shown in its greatness. What may look today like a small, unimpressive act, such as putting on tefillin, keeping Shabbat, or learning Torah, these will one day be seen as something that “pierces the heavens.” It will be alive and radiant in a way we cannot yet imagine.

The reverse will also be true: the destructive depth of wrongdoing will expose how much ruin a transgression creates.

As King David says: “To all completion I have seen an end; but Your commandment is exceedingly broad.” (Tehillim 119:96)

The Jerusalem Talmud teaches (Pe’ah, opening): “Even the entire world is not equal to a single word of Torah.” Every word of Torah, and every mitzvah, expands beyond anything we can grasp. “Your commandment is exceedingly broad” — this is the inner meaning of faith in resurrection: the revelation that nothing good is ever lost, and nothing holy is ever truly “gone.”

The Torah Could Have Begun with “HaChodesh”

We can now understand the Midrash. The Torah could have opened with “This month shall be for you,” because it expresses the Torah’s central message — “eternal life He planted within us.” The section of “the month” teaches that the world is moving toward renewal.

That is freedom in the fullest sense: freedom from decay and disappearance, from death, and connection to eternal life. This is the freedom that Israel merited and the world that each one of us can choose to enter.