The whole unique Jewish weltanschauung is epitomized
in the commandment, "This month shall be unto you the head of
months, the first shall it be for all the months of the year"
(Bo 12:1). We are charged with this commandment even
before the beginning of the exodus from Egypt, before the
liberation from bondage to freedom.
"This month" -- precisely this one -- shall be unto you the
chief of months. Not in the natural count nor in the count of
the nations of the world. Not according to the counting of
the sun, as was practiced by Odom Horishon, nor according to
the counting of our Patriarchs (Mechilta, Bo).
From the dawn of its redemption from Egypt, the Jewish people
entered a new category: the people of Hashem who do not
reckon with other nations, for its history was, is and shall
continue to be different from all other folk. Its conduct is
different and even its standards of day and night, weeks and
months, Sabbaths and festivals, are all distinct. Israel
possess a comprehensive codification of commandments which
directs and molds the entire course of its life in a unique
way that is altogether separate from any other nation or
language.
"This month is unto you." In every aspect. It is only and
solely ours, the first month of our counting. From now, these
months are yours to do with as you choose. During their days
of bondage, their days were not theirs. The Jews were
subservient to others. Now, however, it becomes the first of
your counting of months, for in this month you were initiated
into your choiceness as a nation (Sforno).
This is on the face of things. We are freemen if we accept
upon ourselves the commandments of Hashem; the alternative is
for our days to revert to being not at our disposal, not ours
but subservient to others and their will. There is no middle
ground. Either "This month is unto you . . . " or that we are
subject to the dictates of our masters.
Therefore the fundamental rule of "This month" is established
for all of our lives, it establishes the system by which we
live. The very purpose of our redemption was in order for us
to serve Hashem and shake off all foreign cultures and
bondage.
Perhaps this is the meaning of the wicked son's question in
the Haggadah: "Why do you need all this toil?" He
dwells upon the "you." Why have you decided to separate
yourselves from the body of world nations and become an elect
entity?
The answer is that for this very purpose were we redeemed
from bondage -- so that we become distinct from all other
nations. "For this sake did Hashem do for me when I went out
of Egypt." This obligates. "To you and not to him." The `you'
is the focus, and if the wicked son is so opposed to this,
then there is no point in his freedom and he can continue to
be enslaved to others, even if only culturally. But even this
form is really a synthetic substitute of the enslavement of
Egypt for a different external slavery. If so, there is no
point in the very redemption. Therefore, truly, "Had he been
there, he would not have been liberated!"
*
This conflict between the philosophy of the wicked son who is
opposed to the "unto you," that is to the exceptional and
unique status of the Jew, extends the entire length of
history and spans all generations, be these the enemies from
without who refused to accept the reality of a chosen people
with a special destiny, or those apostates from within who
undermine this basic precept.
"This month" which we count for ourselves was not given to us
because we didn't know how the nations established their
calendar. We knew how to tell seasonal time. Rather, it was
given to us to enable us to remain separate. And so, Hashem
commanded us via Moshe and Aharon, "This month shall be unto
you the head of months."
"Even though it is not the chief of months for the other
nations, for you it shall be the head of months. You shall
count the sixth, seventh, eighth etc. from it, that it be a
remembrance of the time you left Egypt" (Rashbam).
Furthermore, even if it does not correspond to the date of
Creation, no matter. "That is why it is written `unto you,'
for it is not first in the year, although it is first in
commemorating our deliverance (Ramban).
"R' Eliezer says: The world was created in Tishrei. R'
Yehoshua says: In Nisan it was created" (Rosh Hashonoh
10b). They are not mutually exclusive since there are two
kinds of conduct: natural and supernatural. The Baal
Ho'akeidoh writes that with regard to the natural
Providence Tishrei is the first month, for that commemorates
the creation of the world. But regarding miraculous
Providence, Nisan is, of course, the month of nissim,
and thereby the head of the counting since that is when
Hashem began to demonstrate miraculous guidance through a
mighty hand in redeeming Israel from Egyptian bondage in
preparation of their entry into the Holy Land (Doresh
Tov 38).
The common denominator to the above is that other nations
count according to the sun, as did Odom Horishon and the
Ovos. But we were commanded to operate according to a
different `clock' and to commemorate the exodus from Egypt,
according to Rashbam and Ramban.
The very essence of that commemoration is that we were placed
upon a higher level, beyond regular physical reality. Our
history is a long succession of testimony to a metaphysical
existence, transcending all natural laws. "A nation that
dwells apart, and is not reckoned with other nations."
All this began from that very time when we were initiated
into an elite of chosenness, as the Sforno states. While we
are aware of all the rules that apply to Divine conduct for
most nations, and aware that the world was created in
Tishrei, nevertheless, we are commanded to count according to
the inception of our conduct in miraculous manner according
to metaphysical laws which are regulated by, "In Nisan was
[our] world created." The course of our singular history
revolves upon this special fulcrum which applies to us alone,
which is, "This month shall be unto you the chief of months,
the first of all the months of the year."
"Why does the Torah repeat `to you - to you?' The second time
concedes that the world was, indeed, created in Tishrei, as
per R' Eliezer's opinion, and it is proper for the nations of
the world to begin their count from then. Unto you alone is
it fitting to count from Nisan so that the commemoration of
the exodus from Egypt be forever before your sight. It is
first for you -- but not for the other nations" (Kli
Yokor).
*
The history of the Jewish people is indeed singular because
it is essential, not arbitrary. Such history also varies
according to the moods and political climate of different
regimes. During the reign of Communism, for example, history
was periodically revamped and updated to represent figures
and periods according to the political opinion that held sway
at that particular time.
Arguments of this sort are also to be found lately in Israeli
society, between ancient historians and young ones who burrow
among archives and in libraries and reveal the shame of their
predecessors who `tailored' facts and figures according to
the ideological fashions of the time. But these newcomers do
the very same thing to history: adapting the facts to what
they seek to prove while blatantly trampling upon their own
parents and teachers. They are not motivated by a genuine
desire for pure truth but wish to widen the schism between
the people and their sacred, ancient heritage. Perhaps they
do this to create an image that Israel is like all other
nations, even in evil deeds. And if the reality does not
quite tally to this aim, they can cut it to size by adjusting
facts here and there.
Jews who grew up in the Torah tradition learn and know that
the pure historical truth of the Jewish nation is determined
by the essential, intrinsic spirituality, the selfsame
essence that is characterized by "This month is unto you." It
is only for you, Israel, to receive the Torah from the hand
of Hashem.
Our historic destiny is different and unique, "It shall be
first unto you for the months of the year." The simple
meaning of the text is that up till then, they counted the
beginning of the year from Tishrei, when the world was
created. But the world has another dimension and purpose,
which is the dominion of the laws of the Torah upon the
Jewish people. And if Israel does not accept the Torah, says
Hashem, I shall return the world to oblivion and chaos. And
when I redeem Israel so that they shall worship Hashem on Har
Sinai, I am also commanding `unto you' that Nisan become the
first and foremost of the months of the year.
The redemption from Egypt and receiving of the Torah was a
precondition of the very creation of the world. It is the
beginning of the world -- the world of Torah (Oznayim
LaTorah).
*
The frequent vacillations of the Jewish people between
disaster and supremacy and vice versa is a direct result of
that choice which it makes, or refuses to make, regarding the
exalted goal transmitted to it as a nation.
The determination of months and festivals was given to
Israel, as Chazal derived from, "These are the festivals of
Hashem which you shall call them convocations of holiness."
If you designate them -- they are My festivals. If not, they
are not My festivals" (Yalkut Shemos 191). And
further, "The ministering angels gather before Hashem and say
before Him: Master of the world: When is Rosh Hashonoh? And
He replies: Are you asking Me? You and I must ask the earthly
court" (Yalkut ibid).
"This determination of Israel does not limit itself only to
the reckoning of the calendar but also actually transforms
the physical reality of the world. According to rabbinical
reckoning, the bas mitzvah age of children is also thus
determined even though this is a physical reality. If, for
example, beis din decided to declare a leap year, the
maturity of all thirteen-year-old boys and twelve-year-old
girls is postponed by a month even though this is a very
physical state. We see, thus, that the determination of
seasonal times that was transmitted to Israel also determines
the course of nature and what applies to it" (Yalkut
Lekach Tov Shemos 69).
This is the far-reaching power of the Jewish people at its
height, when it accepts and practices the Torah's
commandments. But in the same measure, it can deteriorate and
plummet to disaster if it abandons the laws of the Torah and
is beguiled into following the ways of the nations. Then it
binds itself to a crumbling world, a world of chaos, and
loses all sense of direction. It forgets its holy sources,
wanders aimlessly in the desert of the nations and looks
blankly at the program of its future without knowing where it
is headed and where to latch on to. And then there develops
the tragicomic reality of pseudo- historians who distort past
and present history, as one faction praises and adulates and
the other school despises and denigrates, something not found
in any other nation where its own products rise and refute
and despise their very origin and source.
*
The Zionist ideology particularly exemplifies this thesis.
It, too, presumes to change the basic tenet of our people as
a chosen nation, and lend it the status of a nation like all
others. The Education Ministry weakly attempted to restore
the distortions of their predecessors and put them back into
proper perspective - - but to no avail. They swing from
discrepancies dictated by the Left to discrepancies dictated
by the Right. Both of these are Zionist distortions of the
true Divine mission, destiny and image of our people.
The only way to achieve a fundamental recalibration is
through the Torah and its primary command of "This month
shall be unto you." Through this alone can we restore the
Jewish people to its proper and sturdy stance, for this is no
mere symbolic matter but a deep-seated fundamental essence.
"And the Torah says `unto you' for Nisan is only choice and
exalted among the months with regard to Israel, as Chazal
stated: In Nisan they were redeemed and in Nisan they shall
be redeemed in the future. This month is specifically
propitious for Israel, for its benefit. It is first and
primary and fitting that you count from Nisan because of its
advantage" (Ohr HaChaim).
