It might surprise you.

Imagine all the angels gathered, a celestial court in session. They turn to the Master of the Universe himself and ask, "What day is Rosh ha-Shanah?" That's the Jewish New Year, a time of reflection and renewal. And what does God say?

He says, "Why are you asking Me? Let us ask the earthly court!"

Think about that for a second. God, the ultimate authority, is suggesting they defer to a court of humans? It's an almost unbelievable idea.

According to the Midrash Tehillim, God continues, "When the earthly court decrees that Today is Rosh ha-Shanah, then raise up the podium. Summon the advocates. Summon the clerks. For My children have decreed that today is New Year's Day, and what is a decree for Israel is an ordinance of the God of Jacob."

Wow. Just, wow.

What's going on here? It’s not like the story of "The Rabbis Overrule God," where there's a kind of divine-rabbinic standoff. This is different. Here, God is actively showing respect for the rabbis, for the great court of the Sanhedrin. He's demonstrating that, in certain matters, the opinions of the rabbis take precedence, even over His own.

But why? What's the reasoning behind this seemingly radical idea?

The rabbinic understanding, as we find in the Jerusalem Talmud, Y. Rosh ha-Shanah, is that while the Sabbath laws are fixed by God, other holidays – those based on the monthly calendar and, crucially, the sighting of the new moon – are up to the human courts to determine. It comes down to how the calendar is set.

This idea is even hinted at in Psalms 81:4-5: "Blow the horn on the new moon, on the full moon for our feast day. For it is a law for Israel, a ruling of the God of Jacob."

Now, that last verse can be interpreted in a couple of ways. It could be a simple repetition, emphasizing the importance of the law. Or, it could mean that God defers to Israel to such an extent that He accepts all of Israel's laws as rulings binding on Himself. As the Midrash Tehillim and Midrash Rabbah suggest, it’s this latter interpretation that's at the heart of this story.

There's even another version of this myth, also found in Midrash Tehillim, where God makes an announcement. In this version, God adds something really interesting: If the witnesses of the new moon are delayed, everything required for the heavenly court will have to be stored away, and the New Year will be delayed until the next day. Think about it: God is ready to defer even to human frailty, and to delay the starting of the New Year if necessary!

What does this tell us? It reveals a profound understanding of the relationship between the divine and the human. It suggests that while God sets the stage, so to speak, we, as humans, have a role in shaping the calendar and, in a sense, shaping time itself. It speaks to a partnership, a collaboration, where human judgment and fallibility are factored into the very fabric of the cosmos. It's a humbling and empowering thought, isn't it?