Meditations for
Rosh Ha-Hodashim, the New Year
7: Counting the Years – Why?
As we saw in Meditation 1, the Hebrew of the commandto begin each year with the month of “aviv” (or in the spring) speaks of “new things”:
החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים ראשון הוא לכם לחדשי השנה׃
As we mentioned, a straightforward reading from the unpointed Hebrew could be:
“This new thing is for you abeginning [or, chief /Head] of new things; it is a first for you for new things of the year.”
As to why “for you” (plural) is mentioned twice, we proposed that it means we are to accept upon ourselves, as a Torah community in Messiah, two things: “this” new thing/month, and its place as a “head” or lead-in to all the other new things/months that G-d ordained throughout the year.
In seeking to learn all the ways in which this month is a beginning of G-d’s new things, we realize that there are several good reasons to be marking the years as they pass this milestone.
Orderlyhistory.While the Torah command doesn’t explicitly say so, it’s logical to keep track of the years as they accumulate – how else can we distinguish in the future between the first month this year and the first month ten years ago? And of course this is why every nation and civilization has had a starting point for counting the years.
National identity.Israel'sdeliverance from Egyptwas the birth of our nation. Every nationremembers and celebrates the year theywerefounded. The USA made a huge celebration out of its “bicentennial” year (1776-1976). Every city in Israelon the previous Yom Atzma'ut(Independence Day) hadthereckoning since 1948lit up in big numbers (64 this year).How much more should we count from the onlytimein history when anationwas created byG-d "through signs and wonders and an outstretched Arm"?
Scriptural support.More important than human tradition is biblicalevidence that the nation of Israeldid originallytrack the years from the Exodus:
"In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, during the month Ziv (the second month), he began building the L-RD's temple."(1 Kings 6:1)
There is rabbinic acknowledgement of this custom as well, even after instituting the year-counting from Tishei 1. As discussed in the Talmud (Rosh Hashana 2b), the base was another scriptural reference to the reckoning from the Exodus:
“But how do we know that the years from the exodus from Egypt itself are reckoned as
commencing with Nisan? Perhaps we reckon them from Tishrei? — Do not imagine such a thing. For it is written [Num.33:38]: ‘And Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month,on the first day of the month.’”
In other words, since the context was Israel’s departure from Egypt, the rabbinic community interpreted “the fifth month” here to be counting from the month we left Egypt.
The Challenge in Restoring This Tradition
So why does the rabbinic community no longer track time from the Exodus? The problem is that sometime during the first exile, the reckoning of the years was lost. The Persian line of kings, which was not recorded in a distinct way, has given rise to confusion.
By some calculations (see Yaakov Megan, "ARevolutionaryCalendar" SegulaIssue 4 Nisan 5771/April 2011, pages 6-7), one segment of the Jewish community places 2011 as the year 3325AE (after the Exodus).See our Appendix 6 in the Sources file for this Meditation, listed in the Index.)
However, the rabbinic community itself admits to uncertainty in the above-mentioned time period, and numerous scholars have tried to repair the recognized gap in the rabbinic reckoning, which is calculated as anywhere from 134 to 240 years. Please refer to our Sources file (see the link on our Index page) to see how wearrived at our own reckoning.
Is it Worth the Effort?
This is a reasonable question. In spite of the logical reasons given earlier, there are so many other pressing needs for restoration in the Lord’s Body. Is this issue of restoring the year-count from the Exodus worth our time? RZ director Arye Powlison investigated the question. Here is a summary:
Calculating the Years
If the number of years since the Exodus has been lost track of, our involvement in restoration also means re-establishing the correct number, to the best of our ability. Since the numbering used in the periodicals Segula / Mekor Rishon does not correct the apparent errors in the traditional Jewish calendar calculation, we should thoroughly investigate, and then correct it as required.
In the appendices to this file are a number of different views regarding the dating of the Exodus from Egypt. It is my opinion that the first of these positions is the most developed, accurate, scholarly, and honoring of the Scriptures among all those I have read. It is fully presented in the book "Redating the Hebrew Kings" written by Bruno Kolberg in 2010, which is available on-line as a pdf file at: .
Based on Bruno Kolberg's combination of Scripture analysis and scholarship, the date of the Exodus was 1457 B.C. This places us, as of Pesach 2011 A.D. in the year 3468 A.E. (After the Exodus). I propose that we use Mr. Bruno's date until we discover an improvement on "Redating the Hebrew Kings". In the tradition of Jewish Hebrew dating, this would be תס"ח ליציאת מצרים.
At the end of that file, there are detailed descriptions of the different attempts (by both Christians and Jews) to reconstruct missing pieces in Jewish history -eachtheoryis presented in a separate "appendix" withits strengths and weaknesses. After reading through them, I understood that Arye had done a good job choosing the most likely date.
My conclusion is "good enough for now, unless something new surfaces." I believe the Lord will honor our attempt to go back and restore something that the Judges and King Davidfaithfully kept and handed down.
Now for another vital question: "What spiritual profit is there in restoring such amarginal command?Shouldn'twe beworking on something that really impacts our lives?"
The Spiritual Parallel
If there is a spiritual lesson in this command, it seems to be that our months (and probably our years) should be counted from our personal exodus from slavery to sin, and the beginning of our walk following the Way in which we are lead by our Spiritual "pillar of cloud" / "pillar of fire".
This is both the day of our death (of our old man), and the day of our birth (our new man). We die with the Lord (Jewish Rabbis are remembered by the day of their death), and we are raised with Him from death – that is. He is formed within us, as our spiritual New Birth. Gentile kings are remembered by their birth day. As we reign in Him from the day of our new birth, this also is appropriate for us.
Likewise, we ought to remember our Rabbi by the day of His death. And our King by the day of His resurrection, from whence He "sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven": "[Water of baptism] saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand - with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him." (I Pet. 3:21-22)
Feedback and questions are welcome. Write to Hannah Weiss at Restorers of Zion:
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