God tells Moses and Aaron to designate “this month” as the “first month.” Ramban explains which month this is and why it doesn’t have a name.
Here are the first 3 verses of Exodus 12:
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
2. This month shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house.
You will have noticed the blank line between verses 2 and 3. These two verses represent very different ideas, as Ramban will soon explain.
Why Mention Egypt?
Verse 12:1 states that God “spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt.” What’s the point of mentioning Egypt? Why would we think that Moses and Aaron were in any other country?
Ramban offers two explanations.
First, this was the first commandment that God commanded the Jewish people with Moses acting as an intermediary.
Exodus 12 continues with several commandments about observing Passover.
Therefore, the verse mentions Egypt because all the other commandments were given at Mount Sinai.
Second, he suggests that the verse is making a distinction between the capital city and the places outside the city.
This distinction was made at the end of the plague of hail. Moses told Pharaoh (Exodus 9:29) that he would pray for the plague to end after he left the city.
Who is Being Commanded?
Ramban is bothered by the wording of Exodus 12:1 compared to 12:3.
He wonders why verse 1 isn’t written this way:
12:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying …
Why are the words in bold not included in the verse?
Exodus 12:1-2 are about the Jewish months and the New Moon. Exodus 12:3 introduces the commandments about celebrating Passover.
So, another way we could ask Ramban’s question is: what is different about the commandments of New Moon and Passover that requires a different wording in their introductions?
Answer #1 – When to Teach
Ramban explains that in Exodus 12:2 Moses and Aaron represent the entire Jewish people. The verse includes the phrase “to you” [Hebrew: lachem]. In this context, “to you” means Moses and Aaron.
Moses and Aaron accepted the command about the New Moon on behalf of the Jewish people. But, they didn’t need to teach the people about the New Moon at this time.
By way of contrast, the commandments about Passover needed to be taught immediately. [commentary Ramban HaMevoar]
The phrase speak to all the congregation of Israel indicates that the verses about Passover needed to be taught to all of the people right away.
Answer #2 – The Jewish Court
Ramban adds that “to you” [Hebrew: lachem] also teaches us that the sanctification of the New Moon (which signals the start of a new Jewish month) requires a Jewish court composed of expert judges.
This concept of “expert judges” is represented by Moses and Aaron. Even though in the future the judges would not be of the same caliber as Moses and Aaron, the judges should be among the leading scholars of each generation.
The First Month
What is the meaning of This month shall be to you the beginning of months?
Ramban explains that “this month” should be counted as the 1st month. After it, the months are to be numbered in order: 2nd, 3rd, and so on, up to the 12th month.
That is to say, the Jewish months do not have names, they have numbers.
The First Month is the month of the Exodus from Egypt. Thus, the mention of each month by its number is to be a reminder of the Exodus.
In a similar way, in Hebrew the days of the week do not have names. As I write these lines, it is Wednesday on the secular calendar. In Hebrew, Wednesday is called “yom revi’i” the 4th day of the week.
When we speak of a day using it’s number, we are hinting at how far away it is from the previous Shabbat and how close it is to the coming Shabbat.
The Beginning of the Year
Ramban explains the distinction between the First Month and the beginning of the year.
Rosh HaShanah, the holy day that marks the beginning of the new year, is in the 7th month of the calendar.
1. And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have an holy gathering…
The numbering of the months is a remembrance of the redemption from Egypt.
The numbering and timing of the new year is based on Jewish tradition about the creation of man.
This leads to an additional understanding of the phrase “to you” [Hebrew: lachem]. This month will be the first month to you, the Jewish people, who were redeemed from Egypt in this month. It’s not the first month of year, but the first month of redemption.
The Months DO Have Names
Yes, the Jewish months have names and, in our times, we seldom refer to them by number.
When and where did the names come from?
Rabbi Chanina said, The names of the months ascended from Babylon.
According to Ramban, until the exile to Babylon, the months were only referred to by number. And, as mentioned above, that number was a reference to the redemption from Egypt.
The return of the Jews from exile in Babylon marked a new redemption.
14. Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that it shall no more be said, As the Lord lives, Who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15. But, As the Lord lives, Who brought the people of Israel from the land of the north …
To memorialize this event, the Jewish people continued to use the names of months that were used in Babylon. It’s as if they were saying, “We were in Babylon and, now, God brought us up from there.”
That is why we now call the first month Nisan, the second month Iyar, … the 7th month Tishrei, and so on. Ramban writes that these names are Persian, though others think these are Chaldean.
We find these month names used in several books of the Bible:
- Zechariah 1:7 – Shevat
- Ezra 6:15 – Adar
- Nehemiah 1:1 – Kislev
- Nehemiah 2:1 – Nisan
- Esther 3:7 – Nisan and Adar
All of these books were written during or after the Babylonian exile.
But, maybe the names are Hebrew but the people preferred the numbers?
Ramban quotes this verse to demonstrate that the names were not Hebrew:
7. In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast “pur,” that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
Ramban points out that the Persian word “pur” needed to be translated into the Hebrew “goral” (here translated as “lot”).
In a similar way, the names of the months mentioned in this verse (Nisan and Adar) had to be specified as the 1st and 12th month, because these were Persian names and not known to everyone who would read Megillat Esther.
Thus we see the redemption from Babylon / Persia is given a remembrance similar to the redemption from Egypt.
Further Reading
You can read a summary of Parshat Bo here.
Here’s a little bit about the month of Shevat.
Here’s an article about the month of Tammuz.