Kiddush Levana

Wacław Koniuszko : From the Synagogue (Kiddusch Lewana) ( Polish : Powrót z synagogi) (1880), National Museum Warsaw

Kiddush Levana ( Hebrew קִדּוּשׁ לְבָנָהdt. moon sanctification, moon consecration) or Birkat haLewana ( Hebrew בִּרְכַּת הַלְּבָנָה; dt. moon blessing) is the Jewish blessing of the new moon. It takes place after the beginning of the month of the Jewish calendar ( Rosh Chodesch ), which is based on the time of the new light (Moled).

description

The time of Kiddush Levana is determined according to the lunar calendar . It lies between the fourth day after the new moon, as the new moon can only be seen in the sky at this point, and the 14th or 15th day in the middle of the month, i.e. the time when the moon is no longer increasing. The most common appointment is the Motza'ei Shabbat, i.e. the Saturday evening after Shabbat when the moon is visible. Since the moon must be visible and must not be completely covered by clouds, the new moon blessing is spoken in places where the weather is rainy or the sky is often cloudy, at the earliest possible point in time, i.e. possibly also before Motza'ei Shabbat.

In the Babylonian Talmud , Jochanan ben Sakkai compares the prayer who performs the moon's blessing with the one who greets the Shechina . The moon blessing there is traced back to Ex 12.2 ELB ("This month should be the beginning month for you, it is the first of the months of the year for you!"). The moon blessing is symbolically related to the renewal of the Jewish people according to Ps 89:38 ELB .

The ceremony is usually held outdoors after the moon rises. For this reason, the blessing is often printed in particularly large letters in the prayer books or can be read on the outside of the synagogue.

In the Hasidic congregations , the Kiddush Levana is a ceremony for the whole congregation: "The congregation gathers in the open air - especially among the Hasidim, great importance is attached to the communion of the Birkat Lewana [...]" or at least the minjan . The moon blessing can also be performed on a working day and alone: “Now that the new month has started, one expects the waxing crescent moon to become visible in the first few days. After dark you go to the window or out and, when you see the new moon, say a blessing on it, Birkath haLevanah. [...] "

In the month of Tishri, the Kiddush Levana is handled differently depending on the tradition because of Yom Kippur : Actually, the moon blessing is a joyful thing, but since the days of repentance in Tishri lie between the beginning of the month and Yom Kippur , some communities postpone the blessing until Yom Kippur, while in the tradition of the Gaon of Vilna the moon blessing as a commandment ( mitzvah ) should be spoken at the earliest possible point in time - i.e. before Yom Kippur.

literature

Ronald L. Eisenberg: Jewish Traditions. A JPS Guide. Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia 2004, 168-170.
Ron H. Feldman: "On Your New Moons": The Feminist Transformation of the Jewish New Moon Festival. In: Journal of Women & Religion. 19: 26-51 (2001). ( questia )
Abraham Zebi Idelsohn : Jewish Liturgy and Its Development , Henry Holt and Company, New York 1932, 160f.
Eliezer Levi : Yesodot ha-Tefillah , Bitan ha-Sefer, Tel Aviv 1947, 2nd edition 1952, 302–305.
Elie Munk: The World of Prayer. Commentary and Translation of the Siddur. Vol. 2. Sabbath and Festival Prayers. Feldheim, New York 1963, 94-101.
Geela-Rayzel Raphael: Kiddush HaLevana: Santifying the New Moon. In: Susan Berrin (Ed.): Celebrating the New Moon: A Rosh Chodesh Anthology. Rowman & Littlefield, Oxford 1996, 144-150.
David M. Rosen, Victoria P. Rosen: New myths and meaning in jewish new moon rituals. In: Ethnology. 39/3 (2000), 263ff.
Rabbi Nosson Scherman (Ed.): The ArtScroll Siddur. Mesorah, Brooklyn 1969.
Meir Ydit: Article MOON, BLESSING OF THE , in: Encyclopaedia Judaica . 2nd ed., Vol. 14, 468.

Web links

Commons : Kiddusch Lewana - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Cf. the commentary on Shulchan Aruch (Siman 426) by Israel Meir Kagan : Mishnah Berura .
↑ See e.g. B. The Koren Siddur , Koren Publishers, Jerusalem 2009, 1232 .
↑ Talmud Bavli , Sanhedrin 42a, Hebrew e-Text ; engl. Translated by Jacob Shachter (London 1935 / ed. I. Ipstein, Soncino, New York 1959 and others).
^ ^A ^b Leo Hirsch: Jewish faith world. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1966, pp. 109–111. Alois Payer: Judaism as a way of life , 15th other festivals and fasting days , version dated February 26, 1999, materials on religious studies, keywords: Rosh Chodesch, new moon day (beginning of the month).
↑ Otiyot kiddush levana, Haaretz
↑ Michael Rosenkranz: Rosch Chodesch - New Moon and Beginning of the Month, talmud.de (accessed on March 23, 2014).
↑ Eliyahu Ki Ṭov, Dovid Landesman and Nachman Bulman: The book of our heritage. The Jewish year and its days of significance. Feldheim Publishers, New York 1999, ISBN 0-87306-768-1 , p. 240.

[1] Cf. the commentary on Shulchan Aruch (Siman 426) by Israel Meir Kagan : Mishnah Berura .

[2] See e.g. B. The Koren Siddur , Koren Publishers, Jerusalem 2009, 1232 .

[3] Talmud Bavli , Sanhedrin 42a, Hebrew e-Text ; engl. Translated by Jacob Shachter (London 1935 / ed. I. Ipstein, Soncino, New York 1959 and others).

[Hirsch/Prayer-4] A ^b Leo Hirsch: Jewish faith world. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1966, pp. 109–111. Alois Payer: Judaism as a way of life , 15th other festivals and fasting days , version dated February 26, 1999, materials on religious studies, keywords: Rosh Chodesch, new moon day (beginning of the month).

[5] Otiyot kiddush levana, Haaretz

[6] Michael Rosenkranz: Rosch Chodesch - New Moon and Beginning of the Month, talmud.de (accessed on March 23, 2014).

[7] Eliyahu Ki Ṭov, Dovid Landesman and Nachman Bulman: The book of our heritage. The Jewish year and its days of significance. Feldheim Publishers, New York 1999, ISBN 0-87306-768-1 , p. 240.