On Sunday we will get to say “Happy New Year!”  It will be Rosh Hodesh Nisan-the first day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar. We learn in the Talmud that there are 4 new years: the first of Nisan, the new year for festivals; the first of Elul, the new year for tithing animals; the first of Tishrei, the new year for years; and the fifteenth of Shevat, the new year for trees.[1]

          Parshat Pekudei also references this Sunday, the first of Nisan. God spoke to Moses saying, “On the day of the first new moon, on the first of the month, you shall erect the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.”[2] The date that the first House of God is set up is also the new year. The Mishkan represents a new beginning: no longer will Israel be wandering with an intangible God-now God will have a permanent home in the Mishkan, a tangible structure to which we can connect.

          This is a lesson for us as we approach Passover, or Pesach. Throughout the year we might struggle to find a tangible connection with God: on Passover, however, we have so many tangible symbols of God’s presence. For example, the shank bone, זרוע, represents not only the Paschal lamb but also God bringing us out with an outstretched arm, ובזרוע נטויה. Passover, and our special Haftarah HaHodesh, which we will read on Shabbat, come to symbolize that we are at an inflection point, or liminal moment, when we should strive to strengthen our relationship with הקדוש ברוך הוא, with God. That is our task not only for Rosh Hodesh Nisan, but also for the upcoming Passover holiday and the counting of the Omer-that we be centered and grounded as we seek God’s presence in our lives.

[1] Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1

[2] Exodus 40:2