Today (yesterday when this was written) is Rosh Chodesh, the first month, for we Jews, though have the head/new year on Rosh Hashanah, 7 months ago – the first month, is the month of Nissan

 

What is this all about? – do you know of another calendar that separates between the beginning of the year and the beginning of its months?

But a profound message indeed is in this.

In Hebrew, the language God created, not a language based on consensus (everyone deciding that a cup is a cup) the very words / names are highly revealing.

What is the name for year in Hebrew? – Shanah – the reason it is called Shanah, is, for the year is based on the sun, and Shanah effectively means rotation, for the suns rotation to its position 365 days ago, constitutes a full year.

But month – Chodesh – comes from the word chidush, which means new, as the moon is renewed on a monthly basis.

This simple difference and how they relate to each other literally can teach you all there is to know about life!

The natural world operates on the concept of repetition, as King Solomon wisely said “There is nothing new, under the sun.”

However the supernatural nature of God, which is quite evident in miracles, is something new.

So the year / shanah, represents nature; the moon / chodesh, represents the supernatural.

So why create a sun and moon? and why in Judaism do these two calendars relate to each other?

Furthermore, if the supernatural is so great, why not, just similar to the Muslim calendar, start the new year from today, the beginning of the lunar months?!

Why first have a solar year? and in fact, the entire goal of our 7 leap years in the 19 years cycle (when the solar and lunar years match up which is why your birthday will coincide every nineteen years, for the Hebrew and English day you were born on, will align) so we specifically have Pesach in the spring, so the supernatural must align with the natural.

In this lies a secret so deep, it’s the very foundation of life itself!
For most people think life is about escaping the natural for the supernatural; that’s because we are used to the natural, so we see the supernatural as great! like the country boy trying to escape to the city, and the city dweller trying to escape to the country.

But from God’s perspective, both the supernatural and the naturel are neither better or worse, it’s like two hands, they each serve their respective functions.

First and foremost comes us, the natural order of things, and I think a good way to understand this is like a parent – first of all, you dedicate the first years to the physical development of your child, in the first 6 years or so (in which we actually learn 99% of all we will ever learn) the child learns simply how to function in the physical world, to eat, to go to the bathroom, hopefully brush the teeth etc. etc. – only then do we dedicate the rest of our lives to trying to bring some spirituality, meaning, purpose, to this physical being.

This is consistent with what our sages teach us: God desires not for man to go to God, but for God to come to man.

Hence, once the natural world is functioning, once we sort of have our physical comfort, only then is it time to introduce the spiritual.

And even then, you may think the goal is to let go of the physical and as in zen mode, enter nirvana…

Well, that would be assuming, somehow the supernatural is more Godly than the natural, forgetting, both are two arms on the same “body.”
For the goal is to merely lend purpose to the existing; to transform this world, your home, your community, your country, your fellow humanity into something that following a supernatural, but within the confines of natural, order.