Sanctification of The Moon
The Sanctification of the Moon [Kiddush Levanah] should not be confused with Sanhedrin's Sanctification of the Moon, by which the court pronounced the appropriate day as the beginning of a new month. That proclamation was the sole province of the court and affected the calendar; the Sanctification of the Moon — not the month — has no calendrical siginificance.
There are two bases for this ritual. Rabbi Yochanan taught that one who blesses the new moon in its proper time is regarded like one who greets the Shechinah [God's Presence] (Sanhedrin 42a). This is because the only way we can recognize the existence of God is through His miracles and revelations to Israel. In nature it is seen through the orderly functioning of the enormously complex heavenly bodies. We may note that as science unfolds more and more of the vastness of the universe, the presence of Creator becomes more and more obvious to one who wishes to see; indeed, to deny Him is ludicrous. This phenomenon is most apparent in the cycles of the moon, because its changes are more visible than those of any other body. Thus, when we greet the moon, we greet its Maker and Guide (Rabbeinu Yohah, Berachos 4).
The second aspect of the prayer is its sgnificance for the history of Israel. Just as the moon is reborn after a period of decline and total disappearance, so too, Israel's decline will end and its light will once again blaze to fullness. As an example, the Midrash (Shemos Rabbah 15) states that when Israel is worthy of God's favor it is like the waxing moon, but when it is not worthy, it is like the declining moon. In this vein, ancient Israel's rise and fall paralleled the phases of the moon. There were fifteen generations from Abraham to Solomon, during which Israel rose to the zenith of its greatness. The decline began during Solomon's reign; there were fifteen generations from then (including Solomon) to the reign of Zedekiah, when the First Temple was destroyed. This corresponds to the twenty-nine-day lunar cycle.
Because the moon is such a significant allusion to God as the Creator and to Isreal's rebirth, Kiddush Levanah should be recited joyously, preferable at the conclusion of the Sabbath when people are still dressed in their finest clothes. Conversely, it is not recited on Sabbath or festival (exept under unusual circumstances), because we do not set two different causes for joy in competition with one another (World of Prayer). It is also customary to defer Kiddush Levanah until after Tishah B'Av and Yom Kippur because the sadness of Av and the dread of the Days of Judgment are inappropriate to the joy required during Kiddush Levanah.
Psalms 148:1-6
Halleluyah! Prise HASHEM from the Heavens; praise Him in the heights. Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His legions. Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all bright stars. Praise Him, the most exalled of the heavens and the waters that are above the heavens. Let them praise the Name of HASHEM, for He commanded and they were created. And He established them forever and ever, He issued a decree that will not change.
Behold I am prepared and ready to perform the commandment to sanctify the moon. For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, Blessed is He, and His Presence, through Him Who is hidden and inscrutable — [I pray] in the name pf all Israel.
One should look at the moon before reciting this blessing:
Blessed are you, HASHEM, our God, King of the Universe, Who with His utterance created heavens, and with the breath of His mouth all their legion. A decree and a schedule did He give them that they not alter their assigned task. They are joyous and glad to perform the will of their Owner — the Worker of truth Whose work is truth. To the moon He said that it should renew itself as a crown of splendor for those borne [by Him] from the womb, those who are destined to renew themselves like it, and to glorify their Molder for the name of His glorious kingdom. Blessed are you, HASHEM, Who renews the months.
Recite three times:
Blessed is your Molder;* blessed is your Maker; blessed is your Owner; blessed is your Creator.
Recite three times. Rise on the toes as if in dance:
Just as I dance* toward you but cannot touch you, so may none of my enemies be able to touch me for evil.
Recite three times:
Let fall upon them* fear and terror; at the greatness of Your arm, let them be still as stone.1
Recite three times:
As stone let them be still, at Your arm's greatness; terror and fear, upon them let fall.
Recite three times:
David, King of Israel,* is alive and enduring.
Extend greetings three times:
Peace upon you.*
The person who was greeted responds:
Upon you, peace.
Recite three times:
May there be a good sign and a good fortune for us and for all Israel. Amen.
The voice of my beloved* — Behold! It came suddenly, leaping over mountains, skipping over hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart. Behold! He was standing behind our wall, observing through the windows, peering through the lattices.2
Psalm 121
A song to the ascents. I raise my eyes to the mountains; whence will come my help? My help is from HASHEM, Maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to falter; your Guardian will not slumber. Behold, He neither slumbers nor sleeps — the Guardian of Israel. HASHEM is your Guardian; HASHEM is your Shade at your right hand. By day the sun will not harm you, nor the moon by night. HASHEM will guard your departure and your arrival, from this time and forever.
Psalm 150
Halleluyah! Praise God in His Sanctuary; praise Him in the firmament of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him as befits His abundant greatness. Praise Him with the blast of the shofar; praise Him with lyre and harp. Praise Him with drum and dance; praise Him with organ and flute. Praise Him with clanging cymbals; praise Him with resonant trumpets. Let all souls praise God, Halleluyah!
The Academy of Rabbi Yishmael taught: Had Israel not been privileged to greet countenance of their Father in Heaven except for once a month — it would have sufficed them. Abaye said: Therefore one must recite it while standing.
Who is this who rises from the desert clinging to her Beloved! 1
May it be Your will HASHEM, my God and the God of my forefathers, to fill the flaw of the moon that there be no diminution in it. May the light of the moon be like the light of the sun and like the light of the seven days of Creation,2 as it was before it was diminished, as it is said: "The two great luminaries." 3 And may there be fulfilled upon us the verse that is written: "They shall seek HASHEM, their God, and David, their king." 4 Amen.
Psalm 67
For the Conductor, upon Neginos, a psalm, a song. May God favor us and bless us, may He illuminate His countenance with us, Selah. To make known Your way on earth, among all the nations Your salvation. The peoples will aknowledge You, O God, the peoples will aknowledge You, all of them. Nations will be glad and sing for joy, because You will judge the peoples fairly and guide the nations on earth, Selah. Then peoples will aknowledge You, O God, the peoples will aknowledge You, all of them. The earth has yielded its produce, may God, our own God, bless us. May God bless us and may all the ends of the earth fear Him.
In most congregations Aleinu, followed by
the Mourner's Kaddish, is repeated at this point.
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Laws of Kiddush Levanah |
Blessed is your Molder. The initials of these four titles of God spell Jacob. Just as the moon is called the small luminary (Genesis 1:16), in relation to the sun, so Jacob was called her younger [lit. smaller] son (Genesis 27:15,42), because he was the younger of Rebecca's two sons. This verse alludes to Isaiah 43:1 (as explained by Vayikra Rabbah 36) which teaches that God created the universe for the sake of Jacob and his offspring (Sh'lah).
This verse and the following ones are repeated three times to give special emphasis to their message.
Just as I dance. Often in Scripture, a prophecy is accompanied by a physical act. This has the effect of making the prophecy irreversible. Here, too, we, in a symbolic way, exert ourselves to touch the moon while remaining on earth, and we pray that, in like fashion, the exertions of our enemies against us will be of no avail. Thus, we reinforce the point by a physical act (Dover Shalom).
Let fall upon them. This verse, taken from the Song at the Sea (Exodus 15:16), follows naturally from the previous one. Having said that out foes will be unable to harm us, we now declare that they will be terror striken.
David, King of Israel. As noted above, the phases of the moon allude to the Davidic dynasty. Thus, we include this confident expression of faith that David's reign endures and will shine again. This verse was composed by Rabbi Yehudah HaNassi (Rosh Chodesh 25a).
Peace upon you. This greeting is included for various reasons:
— Having greeted the Shechinah, we joyously wish the blessing of peace upon one another (Levush).
— After cursing our enemies, we make clear that we wish no ill to our brethren (Mateh Moshe).
— At the beginning of creation, as recorded in the Talmud (Chullin 60b), the sun and moon were of equal size. When the moon complained that two kings cannot wear the same crown, i.e., it should be larger than the sun, the moon was made smaller. Nevertheless, the sun continues to shine its brilliant light upon the moon, thus providing lesson to man not to harbor a grudge against others who have wronged him. We express this resolve by wishing peace upon our fellow Jews (Anaf Yosef).
The voice of my beloved. The inclusion of these two verses is based on the Yalkut which interprets them as an allusion to the Messiah.
When the Messiah [i.e., my beloved] announces the month of the redemption, Israel will protest disbelievingly that there are so many obstacles in his path. The Messiah will reply that he will hurdle all the barriers like a gazelle leaping over mountains. He goes on to say that God was never oblivious to our plight — though we felt abandoned, God was standing ... observed ... and peering to see our needs and plan for our salvation.