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Blessed are You, Adonai Elohanu, King of the Universe, who has commanded us to commemorate the beginning of each month at the new moon. Blessed are You, Adonai Elohanu, King of the Universe, who gives us Yeshua, our Messiah, the Light of the World.
Rosh Chodesh means "head of the month." In the Book of Exodus it is written, "And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: 'This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.'"
Later, in Number 10:9 - 11 it says: "Also at your times of rejoicing - your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals - you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God."
Traditionally, Rosh Chodesh has been a women's holiday. The Talmud (tractate Megillah 22b), says the reason women merit this monthly holiday is "in commemoration of the Biblical women's refusal to relinquish their earrings to the men who were building the golden calf.
As a reward, God gave them an extra holy day each month, free from work. It is customary to wear new clothing on Rosh Chodesh, in celebration of the day's special character."
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, in She Who Dwells Within, when relating the origins of Rosh Chodesh, says the celebration of Rosh Chodesh started as a way of honoring women and the connection between women's menstrual cycles and the cycles of the moon.
She believes there were ancient rituals - the baking of special bread, the lighting of fire, the cessation of work - and their origins have been obscured over the centuries.
She also points out that the phases of the moon are exactly seven days apart: Day 0 - New Moon, Day 7 - First Quarter, Day 14 - Full Moon, Day 21 - Last Quarter. Until the lunar calendar was synchronized with the solar calendar, it seems that the Shabbat fell on these days.
In temple times, the Sanhedrin would determine when Rosh Chodesh started and would light fires on the hills of Jerusalem to tell the outlying villages Rosh Chodesh had begun and women were to cease working.
Rabbi Isaac of Homil says, "The moon, when she was first created, was a glistening jewel. She did not merely reflect light, but rather transformed it and brought out its inner beauty, much as a precious stone glistens with a secret, hidden light all its own.
In her own way, the moon was greater that the sun - for the sun only shines from its surface, whereas the moon shines from its inner essence. The sun holds the light that extends outward, whereas the moon holds the light of being.
And so will be, once again, and much more so, in the time to come, once we have transformed the world with the Torah and its mitzvahs."
A thousand years after its revelation, observance of Rosh Chodesh was forbidden during the Syrian-Greek persecution along with the Sabbath and circumcision. The grouping of Rosh Chodesh with these essential commandments indicates its importance. In fact, it is mentioned numerous times in Scripture, along with the Sabbath, inferring a great importance to the celebration as a holy day.
Since Jewish festivals were entirely calendar based and the calendar required witnessing and proclaiming the new moon, without the calendar there would be no festivals. By stopping the celebration of Rosh Chodesh, the Syrian-Greeks could also eliminate many of the mitzvoth.
In addition, the Syrian-Greeks strove to eradicate the notion of Jewish renewal. The new moon symbolized the rising up of the Jewish people. Just as the moon disappears and returns every month, the Jews thought of themselves, when suffering exile and persecution, as renewing themselves continually until the coming of the Messiah.
Not only was the New Moon celebrated in the past, but in Isaiah 66:23 we are told that we will celebrate this festival in the future.
The act of women honoring each other at the New Moon has been revived. In 5767, we women of Bet Ami started a living, sacred Bet Ami holy day that is special and we have filled it with our own rituals.
Here are some websites where you can learn more about Rosh Chodesh:
http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/default.htm
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/About_Jewish_Holidays/Rosh_Chodesh.htm
http://www.jewfaq.org/chodesh.htm