Rosh Hodesh:
Celebration of the New Moon
by Rabbi Lynn
Gottlieb
Shekinah is "Lady of the
Moon," keeper of the calendars of cycles.
Shekinah carries the ancient connections between
women's menstrual cycle, the cycles of the moon,
and the cycles of the tides, connections that
are evident in ancient iconography.
The natural day of rest
in a lunar cycle is the new moon, the first day
of the new monthly cycle. Cultures worldwide
feature New Moon ceremonies. Among the ancient
Israelites, this day was called Rosh Hodesh:
Rosh means "head of," and Hodesh, derived from
the Hebrew root that means "to make new," means
"month."
The mythology of Rosh
Hodesh was tied to the worship of goddesses, the
use of fertility figures, to women's
proclamation or oracles, and to the honoring of
women's fertility cycles, but over the centuries
the origins of the rituals were obscured. Now
the rituals acts associated with that day -- the
baking of special bread, the lighting of fire,
and the cessation of work -- are said to have
originated in sin and, therefore, are expiatory
rituals. Yet the true origins of these rituals
lie in customs from cultures that honored women
and upheld their importance in the community. If
we are to revive the positive associations for
women of bread, moon, and blood, we must recover
the authentic origins of these
rituals.
When tribes relied only
on lunar calendars, the Sabbath, every seventh
day, most likely fell on the new moon, the
waxing moon, the full moon, or the waning moon
-- that is, on the first, seventh, fourteenth,
or twenty-first day of the lunar cycle. The
entire ceremonial calendar also seems to have
been tied to women's menstrual cycles.
Niddah, or menstruation,
is also related to the New Moon and to the
Sabbath. The word Sabbath, or sabbatu, refers to
the rest of the Goddess during her menses.
Sabbatu, or a day or rest, most likely
originated around women's menstrual cycle as a
time when women congregated and sought vision.
Rosh Hodesh was once a time when men and women
visited holy shrines to consult with oracle
women to receive direction for the coming moon.
To this day, women often experience a higher
amount of psychic awareness during their
flow.
Guidelines for a Rosh
Hodesh ceremony
Rosh Hodesh, like
Shabbat and all our days, begins at sundown.
Arrange your time so you can tie up loose ends
at work in order to celebrate the holy day.
Traditional women took one or two days off from
doing housework, as Rosh Hodesh is sometimes one
or two days long. The lunar calendar was
eventually synchronized with the solar calendar
for the purpose of planting and harvesting. Thus
the lunar calendar is based on a nineteen-year
cycle in which years alternate in a fixed manner
between twelve and thirteen months. Look to the
skies and you will know when the new moon
occurs. It is a sliver of light that appears at
twilight close to the western
horizon.
Prepare the space you
are going to use in the same way you would
decorate for a Mishkan ceremony. for the first
time, I suggest a place with a sauna, hot tub,
or steam room (unless natural springs are
available). You will need to bring special
breads and cakes, candles, and objects which
represent the theme of the month you are
celebrating.
The Order of
Service
1. The women gather
around the altar in a circle and one woman
begins to lead a song and dance. The simplest
dance is stepping sideways with the left foot
and moving your right foot next to it. Keep
moving clockwise. Dance one full circle around
the altar and come back to your original place.
Sing something you know and feel comfortable
with. A wordless melody often works
best.
2. The fires of Rosh
Hodesh are lit and one woman reads the
following:
Prayer for Lighting
the Fires of the New Moon
We are keepers
of the flame, Eshet lapidot,
Like Devorah, we make
the wicks for
the Mishkan's eternal
light
And kindle the fires
of holy time.
Fire transmutes
substance,
Grain into
bread,
Clay into
pot,
Cold into the warmth
of the hearth.
With this flame we
honor Shekinah,
Mother and
Creator,
And we initiate this
hold day, Rosh Hodesh.
Brucha Yah Shekinah
ha-m'kadeshet o-tanu
u'm'hadeshet o-tanu
al yadei hadlakat ner shel
Rosh
Hodesh
Blessed is Yah
Shekinah, who consecrates us and
renews us
through the lighting
of the fires of Rosh Hodesh.
3. The women join in a
song for the month. The months and themes of
Rosh Hodesh are as follows:
Tevet, Moon of returning
light. Rosh Hodesh Tevet is the seventh day of
Hanukkah (which occurs around the winter
solstice) and is celebrated as the day to
remember Judith, the heroine who beheaded the
wicked Holofernes. We tell the stories about the
descent of heroines to the underworld in search
of new wisdom.
Shevat, Moon of the sap
rising in the trees. During Shevat we celebrate
the new year of the trees, and the tree as a
symbol of our people As the sap rises and the
light returns, we tell stories of pioneer women
who blossomed early and cleared paths for us to
follow.
Adar, the Moon of Queen
Esther. Adar is sometimes celebrated twice as
the twelfth and thirteenth moon. Adar is the
time we celebrate the story of Queen Esther, who
revealed her true identity to the king in order
to save her people. We remember Persian and
other Middle Eastern women's' traditions with
belly dancing, drumming, and feasting, and we
tell stories about women who saved
lives.
Nisan, Liberation Moon.
This is the season of our freedom. We remember
the women of the exodus generation and tell
stories about women who struggle for
justice.
Iyar, Journey Moon. We
tell the story of our wanderings in the
wilderness in search of the proverbial promised
land, and how we healed ourselves from old
wounds to make ready for new
revelations.
Sivan, Moon of
revelations. Sivan is the month we received the
Torah on Mount Sinai, both the written and oral
tradition. During Sivan we share Torat
HaShekinah, Torah wisdom from women in Jewish
tradition.
Tammuz, Moon of
premonitions. This is the moon when the first
brick in the wall protecting the Temple in
Jerusalem is removed from its foundation, which
was the first step toward its destruction. We
tell stories about someone's premonitions as a
source of wisdom.
Av, Moon of the vine
dance. Av is the moon when wealthier women
exchanged white garments with poor women so the
very poor would be dressed in the garments of
the rich. The women went out into the fields to
dance among the grapevines, calling upon and
renewing the beauty within. We tell stories of
women who walk in beauty even in times of
trouble.
Elul, Moon of "I am to
my beloved as my beloved is to me." We prepare
ourselves for the new year of the soul by
creating amulets that bear the sign of
protection and strength for us. Then we learn to
blow the shofar!
Tishri, Moon of
balances. This is the national holy day of all
the people. Women can celebrate Rosh Hodesh on
the evening of the second day, if there is the
opportunity to do so. We go the shvitz and sweat
for the new year to purify our feminine
nature.
Heshvan, Flood Moon. We
celebrate the yarzeit (death anniversary) of
Rachel and tell flood tales. We meditate on the
meaning of water in our lives and learn to use a
mikveh.
Kislev, Moon of
rededication. The time we reconsecrate our life
to the keeping of the ways of our people even as
we invest old symbols with new meaning. We tell
stories of women who helped us stay connected to
our culture.
4. We name ourselves
through as many generations as we can go back on
the mother's side, or we name ourselves by a
spiritual attribute called upon for the
occasion.
The second way of naming
can be a chant composed on the spot. It is an
improvisational prayer of women's names. Someone
shakes a rattle and begins: "We think of an
attribute or aspect of our lives and we name
ourselves as such":
Writing a book
woman
Walks with courage
woman
Must learn to say no
woman
Grandmother of four boys
woman
and so forth. The chant
weaves together a wonderful tapestry of our
lives.
5. We engage in the
specific activity designated by the women
gathered. Use the themes listed in number 3 as a
guide. Pass a talking stick if you are sharing
stories. When a person is done speaking, she may
say, "May Shekinah be with you." The
congregation responds, "And may Shekinah be with
you."
6. We stand and pass a
bowl of waters to anoint and bless each other
for the coming month. Spontaneous prayers are
said to the woman on our right-hand
side.
7. We dance and sing
closing songs.
8. We say a blessing
over the fruit of the vine and give thanks for
the holy day of Rosh Hodesh. Find a melody that
comes from women's sources for this blessing as
you dance a grapevine pattern. If you don't know
now to dance a grapevine, find out from a
friend.
9. We break the bread.
The community names women who bread they loved.
Here is one way to introduce this
activity:
The Naming of
Bread-Baking Women
This round loaf
feeds the people we love
Let us recount women
who baked bread
And from whom we
learned our recipe.
Shekinah, Bread of
Our Souls
Shekinah, like
bread,
Is manna to our
souls.
She feeds us the
yeast
That helps us rise to
the occasion.
Brucha Yah Shekinah
hamotziah lechem min ha adamah.
Blessed is Shekinah
who brings forth the bread.
10. We eat, schmooze,
and eventually go home...unless we're on a
retreat!
Almost two decades ago I
was reminded of women's universal and ancient
relationship to bread, blood, fire, and moon. In
a show of support for women's right to choose,
women of many ethnic groups gathered in ceremony
opposite the White House, Lafayette Park. Each
of us brought bread representing our particular
ethnic identity. We created an altar piled high
with indigenous breads: rice cakes, tortillas,
challahs, fry breads, and corn breads -- all
shapes and sizes. We lit a fire, encircled the
bread, and sang to the music of Sweet Honey in
the Rock. Strength emanated from the circle.
There was sisterhood in the bread, in the fire,
in our bodies, in our support of the right to
choose how and when to bear a child, and in our
awareness of our ability to transform and to
nourish and to create community. May Shekinah be
with you.
This passage, and many
more inspirational chapters about the goddess
within the Jewish sacred tradition, may be found
in Lynn Gottlieb's book, She Who Dwells
Within.
Order this book from Powell's
Independent Bookstore!
Contents
Back
Next
