Esau Counts by the Sun and Jacob Counts by the Moon

"This month shall be for you" (Exodus 12:2): you count by it, but the nations of the world do not count by it. Rabbi, in the name of Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Ilai: it is the way of the world that the great one reckons by the great and the small one reckons by the small. Esau, who is the great one, reckons by the sun, which is great; and Jacob, who is the small one, reckons by the moon, which is small. Rabbi Nahman said: this is a good sign. The great one rules by day but does not rule by night. So the wicked Esau rules in this world but does not rule in the world to come. The small one rules by day and by night. So Jacob rules in this world and in the world to come. Rabbi Nahman said: as long as the light of the great one shines, the light of the small one is not noticed; once the light of the great one sets, the light of the small one becomes noticed. So as long as the light of Esau shines, the light of Jacob is not noticed; once the light of Esau sets, the light of Jacob becomes noticed, as it is said, "Arise, shine" and so forth (Isaiah 60:1). "This month." Rabbi Shmuel bar Abba said: any new moon born before midday, there is power in the eye to see it; from midday onward there is no power in the eye to see it. And that month which the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke of to Moses was born after midday, and there was no power in the eye to see it; so the Holy One, blessed be He, showed it to him with a finger and said to him, "This month." Rabbi Aha in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani: in the year Israel went out of Egypt, the months of the calendar year and the months of the solar season were equal. Rabbi Hiyya in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: the Holy One, blessed be He, wrapped Himself in a fringed prayer shawl, set Moses on one side and Aaron on the other, called to Michael and Gabriel and made them like witnesses of the new moon. He said to them: how did you see the moon, before the sun or after the sun, to its north or to its south, how high was it, how much was it inclined, and how wide was it? He said to them: in this order shall My children sanctify the new moon below, by an elder, by witnesses, and by a fringed prayer shawl. Another interpretation, "This month shall be for you": the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: I am doing a renewal of matters for you; in the past I did not redeem one nation from within another nation, but for you I am renewing this thing.