Moses Is Shown the New Moon and Nisan Becomes First of Months

"This month shall be for you" (Exodus 12:2). Rabbi Ishmael said: Moses showed the new moon to Israel and told them, "Like this you shall see it and so establish it for the generations." Rabbi Akiva says: This is one of three matters that were difficult for Moses, and the Omnipresent showed all of them to Moses with a finger. Similarly you say, "And this is the work of the lampstand" (Numbers 8:4); similarly, "And this is unclean for you" (Leviticus 11:29); and some say, also concerning slaughter, as it is said, "And this is what you shall offer upon the altar" (Exodus 29:38). Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: Were not all the utterances spoken with Moses spoken only by day, while the new moon He showed him by night? How then? He spoke with him by day and showed him the new moon by night. Rabbi Eliezer says: He spoke with him by day at dusk and showed him the new moon at dusk. "This month": this is Nisan. Or is it merely one of the months of the year? When it says "the feast of ingathering at the going out of the year" and "the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year" (Exodus 34:22), you must ask: which month has the feast of ingathering, has the turn of the year going out in it, and is called the seventh? You find only Tishrei. Once you have learned that the seventh month is Tishrei, Nisan is its head. And although there is no proof of the matter, there is a hint to the matter: "in the first month, which is the month of Nisan" (Esther 3:7). "Head of months": this teaches that Nisan is the head of the months. From where that it is also the head for kings? Scripture teaches, "And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel went out... it was the second month of Solomon's reign" (I Kings 6:1). And from where that it is also the head for the festivals? Scripture teaches, "on the feast of unleavened bread, and on the feast of weeks, and on the feast of booths" (Deuteronomy 16:16). Rabbi Yitzhak and Rabbi Natan say: also for the renting of houses, but not for years, nor for sabbatical cycles, nor for jubilees, nor for planting, nor for vegetables. "For you": and Adam the first man did not count by it. Or is it merely "for you" and not for the nations? When it says "it shall be first for you," "for you and not for the nations" is already stated. What then does "for you" teach? For you, and Adam the first man did not count by it. We find ourselves learning that the nations count by the sun and Israel by the moon. And it is not enough for Israel that they count by the moon, but once every thirty days they lift their eyes to their Father in heaven. When the sun is eclipsed it is a bad sign for the nations, who count by the sun; and when the moon is eclipsed it is a bad sign for the enemies of Israel, since Israel counts by the moon. Rabbi Meir says: when the sun is eclipsed in the east it is a bad sign for those who dwell in the east; in the west, a bad sign for those who dwell in the west. Rabbi Yoshiyah says: when the constellations are eclipsed in the east it is a bad sign for those who dwell in the east, and so on. Rabbi Yonatan says: both these and those were given to the nations, as it is said, "Thus says the LORD: Do not learn the way of the nations" (Jeremiah 10:2). "Head of months": I might hear a minimum of two months. Scripture teaches, "to the months of the year" (Exodus 12:2).