It's more than just checking the calendar. According to ancient tradition, there was a time when the connection between the earthly and heavenly realms was so clear, so palpable, that marking these sacred times was an experience of divine revelation.
Rabbi Judah, in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (chapter 51), tells us of a time when the Israelites directly perceived the arrival of Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon. Can you imagine? On Shabbat, they saw that the holy day had arrived. They witnessed it. They felt it. So they sanctified Shabbat.
And it was the same with Rosh Chodesh. The people stood, watching, as the doors – doors to what, we can only imagine – opened by themselves. Through this miraculous sign, they knew it was the New Moon, and they sanctified it accordingly.
What's truly amazing is the implication: that this earthly sanctification preceded the heavenly one! Israel, in the lower realms, sanctified the New Moon first, and then, only afterward, was it sanctified in the heavens. This is because, as Rabbi Judah explains, the very beginning of the Molad, the moon's cycle, was defined in the presence of Israel. They were witnesses to the divine clockwork.
Why these doors? Because, as the text tells us, they knew that the Shekhinah, the Divine Presence of the Holy One, blessed be He, resided within. This is tied to a verse from Ezekiel (44:2): "For the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it." When they witnessed this, the Israelites didn’t just stand idly by. They fell down and prostrated themselves before their God. A powerful image, isn't it? A spontaneous outpouring of awe and reverence.
The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer emphasizes that this wasn't just a one-time event, a relic of the past. It was a model, a pattern. The text concludes with a quote from Ezekiel (46:3): "And the people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before the Lord in the Sabbaths and in the New Moons." This implies a continuous, ongoing connection, a future where the people will continue to recognize and honor these sacred times with reverence and devotion.
So, what does this mean for us today? We may not see doors opening on their own, but perhaps we can strive to cultivate that same sense of awareness, that same deep connection to the divine timing of the universe. To be present, to be mindful, and to recognize the Shekhinah in our own lives, as our ancestors did. To find those moments of awe that inspire us to bow down, not necessarily literally, but in our hearts, in gratitude and humility.