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From: teitz@aecom.UUCP (Eliyahu Teitz)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Moled -- Why is it always not on the same day as Rosh Chodesh
Message-ID: <1255@aecom.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 14-Mar-85 14:44:39 EST
Article-I.D.: aecom.1255
Posted: Thu Mar 14 14:44:39 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Mar-85 01:06:01 EST
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Organization: Albert Einstein Coll. of Med., NY
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> MOled -- Why is it always not on the same day as Rosh Chodesh?
> Is the calendar off? Or did this have something to do with when the 
> witnesses would come?

	The moled is the beginning of the new month, meaning, the time when
 the new moon can first be seen. a lunar month is 29 days, 12 hours, 44
 minutes and one chalek ( 1/18 of a minute ) long. 

	In the time of the Temple, and imediately following it, the new month
 was decreed to start by the court sitting in the Temple ( and after the 
 destruction, by the same court, just not in its old quarters ). The judges
 of the court could not decide on their own when he new onth was to start.
 Rather, witnesses would come, testifying that they had see the new moon. The
 judges would cross-examine the witnesses thoroughly to see if they were lying
 and if the judges were satisfied with the testimony, they could declare the
 new month to begin.

	The court was empowered though, if it saw a need, to delay the sart
 of the new month. Since the whole process was given to the court to decide
 ( as is learned from the verse Exodus, 12, 2 ) This month is to you the
 head of the months... The Torah said it was given to the court to decide 
 when to declare the new month, so they could delay it. They could not, 
 however, declare the month to start early ( before witnesses came ). Also
 they could only delay it one day, since a month has either 29 or 30 days
 in it.

	In the times of the witnesses, the moled could have been the day of
 Rosh Chodesh ( new month ) if te witnesses came quickly. Otherwise it would
 be te next day, the day they came to testify in court.

	When our present calendar was set up it was arranged in such a way
 that certain occurrences would not happen. Yom Kippur was always arranged
 to not fall out on Friday or Sunday ( because there would be two successive
 days when food could not be prepared ). Therefore, the first day of Pesach
 cannot come out on either Monday or Wednesday. It cannot fall on Friday
 either, because then Hoshana Rabba, when we take the willow in shul, would
 fall on Shabbat, and we wouldn't be able to go around. Hoshana Rabba, is the
 day before Shmini Atzeret, and both are considered days when we are judges as
 to how much rain will fall in the coming year.

	Because of these considerations, the new month does not always 
 coincide with the moled. 

	Another point. The time announced as the moled is in Jerusalem local
 time, since the new month's declaration was always in Jerusalem. Therefore
 it is possible to come to shul and say ( at 10:00 am ) the moled was this
 afternoon at 2pm ( since 10 am in America is after 2 pm in Jerusalem ).

	This whole discussion appears in many places in the Talmud, including,
 as I recall, Tractate Rosh Hashana.

			Eliyahu Teitz.