What Is Parashat HaChodesh? 5 Key Facts About This Special Torah Reading

Parashat HaChodesh is a section from the Torah (Exodus 12:1–20) that begins with the words, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months.” It introduces the commandment of sanctifying the new month, establishes the month of Nisan as the first of the year, and outlines the laws of the Passover offering as well as commandments related to the festival of Passover.

This reading is the last of the four special Torah portions read in the weeks leading up to Passover.

Two Torah Scrolls Are Used

On this Shabbat, two Torah scrolls are taken out. The weekly portion is read from the first scroll, and Parashat HaChodesh is read from the second.

The Haftarah

The haftarah begins with the words, “In the first month, on the first day of the month” (Ezekiel 45). It discusses the laws of Passover and the offerings in the future Temple.

A Message of Ongoing Divine Providence

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev taught that Parashat HaChodesh reminds a person not to think, God forbid, that after creating the world, God no longer oversees it and leaves it to chance. Rather, one must believe with complete faith that God continually sustains and renews the world at every moment. There is a special, personal providence over His beloved people, and even when a person experiences difficulty, they should not lose trust, for salvation is always near.