Blessing For The New Month

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Blessing For The New Month

On the Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh (except the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah) the following blessing is said.

One should know the anticipated date and time of the reappearance (or “birth”) of the new moon. It is customary for the gabbai to announce this information before the blessing is said.1

The blessing is said while standing. The chazzan holds the Torah throughout the blessing.

Congregation then chazzan:

May God redeem us from exile

Hebrew

מִי שֶׁעָשָׂה נִסִּים לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ2, וְגָאַל אוֹתָם
מֵעַבְדוּת לְחֵרוּת, הוּא יִגְאַל אוֹתָנוּ
בְּקָרוֹב, וִיקַבֵּץ נִדָּחֵינוּ מֵאַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת
הָאָרֶץ, חֲבֵרִים כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן:

Sephardi

Mi she-asah nisim la'avoteinu2, ve-ga'al otam
me-avdut le-cherut, hu yig'al otanu
bekarov, vi-kabetz nidacheinu mei'arba kanfot
ha'aretz, chaverim kol Yisrael, venomar amen:

English

May God, Who performed miracles for our ancestors2 and redeemed them from slavery to freedom, also redeem us soon and gather those of us who are scattered across the four corners of the earth, uniting all the Children of Israel, and let us say Amen.

Chazzan then congregation:

Hebrew

רֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ (say the name of the new month)
בְּיוֹם (say the day/s of the week the new month will occur on)
הַבָּא עָלֵינוּ לְטוֹבָה:

Sephardi

Rosh Chodesh (say the name of the new month)
be-yom (say the day/s of the week the new month will occur on)
haba aleinu letovah:

English

The new month of (say the name of the new month) will be on, (say the day/s of the week the new month will occur on) which comes us for the good.

Congregation then chazzan:

When the chazzan repeats this paragraph, the congregation responds אמן as shown.

May God bless the new month

Hebrew

יְחַדְּשֵׁהוּ3 הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עָלֵינוּ, וְעַל
כָּל עַמּוֹ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, לְחַיִּים
וּלְשָׁלוֹם (אָמֵן), לְשָׂשׂוֹן וּלְשִׂמְחָה (אָמֵן),
לִישׁוּעָה וּלְנֶחָמָה, וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן: (אָמֵן)

Sephardi

Yechadshehu3 HaKadosh Baruch Hu aleinu, ve'al
kol amo Beit Yisrael, lechayim
u-le-shalom (amen), lesason ulesimchah (amen),
lishu'ah u-le-nechamah, venomar amen: (amen)

English

May the Holy One, blessed be He, renew3 the month for us and for all of the House of Israel, His nation, for life and for peace (Amen), for joy and for happiness (Amen), for salvation and for comfort, and let us say Amen. (Amen)

The following paragraph is omitted on the Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh, and whenever Tachanun would not be said were it a weekday (see page 108). However, it is said on the Shabbat before the month of Sivan4 and on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah.

Hebrew

אָב הָרַחֲמִים שׁוֹכֵן מְרוֹמִים,
בְּרַחֲמָיו הָעֲצוּמִים, הוּא
יִפְקוֹד בְּרַחֲמִים, הַחֲסִידִים
וְהַיְשָׁרִים וְהַתְּמִימִים, קְהִלּוֹת
הַקֹּדֶשׁ שֶׁמָּסְרוּ נַפְשָׁם עַל
קְדֻשַּׁת הַשֵּׁם, הַנֶּאֱהָבִים
וְהַנְּעִימִים בְּחַיֵּיהֶם, וּבְמוֹתָם
לֹא נִפְרָדוּ. מִנְּשָׁרִים קַלּוּ,
וּמֵאֲרָיוֹת גָּבֵרוּ, לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן
קוֹנָם וְחֵפֶץ צוּרָם. יִזְכְּרֵם
אֱלֹהֵינוּ לְטוֹבָה, עִם שְׁאָר
צַדִּיקֵי עוֹלָם, וְיִנְקוֹם נִקְמַת דַּם
עֲבָדָיו הַשָּׁפוּךְ, כַּכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרַת
מֹשֶׁה אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים: הַרְנִינוּ
גוֹיִם עַמּוֹ, כִּי דַם עֲבָדָיו יִקּוֹם,
וְנָקָם יָשִׁיב לְצָרָיו, וְכִפֶּר
אַדְמָתוֹ עַמּוֹ. וְעַל יְדֵי עֲבָדֶיךָ
הַנְּבִיאִים כָּתוּב לֵאמֹר: וְנִקֵּיתִי
דָמָם לֹא נִקֵּיתִי, וַיְיָ שֹׁכֵן בְּצִיּוֹן.
וּבְכִתְבֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ נֶאֱמַר: לָמָּה
יֹאמְרוּ הַגּוֹיִם אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם,

Sephardi

Av harachamim shochein meromim,
be-rachamav ha-atzumim, hu
yifkod berachamim, ha-chasidim
ve-ha-yesharim ve-ha-temimim, kehillot
hakodesh she-masru nafsham al
kedushat ha-Shem, ha-ne'ehavim
ve-ha-ne'imim be-chayeihem, u-ve-motam
lo nifradu. Mi-nesharim kalu,
u-me-arayot gaveru, la'asot retzon
konam ve-chefetz tzuram. Yizkerem
Eloheinu letovah, im she-ar
tzaddikei olam, ve-yinkom nikmat dam
avadav ha-shafuch, kakatuv be-Torat
Moshe ish ha-Elohim: Har'ninu
goyim amo, ki dam avadav yikom,
ve-nakam yashiv le-tzarav, v'chiper
admato amo. Ve'al yedei avadecha
ha-nevi'im katuv leimor: Ve-niketi
damam lo niketi, v'Adonai shochen be-Tziyon.
u-ve-chitvei hakodesh ne'emar: Lamah
yomru hagoyim ayeh Eloheihem,

English

May God, the All-Merciful Father, Who dwells in the heights of heaven, with His tremendous mercy remember the devoted, upright, and perfect people with mercy. May He remember the holy communities who gave up their lives to sanctify God’s name, with mercy. They were loved and pleasant in their lifetimes, and even when they died they were not separated from God. They were quicker than eagles and stronger than lions to do the will of their Maker and the desire of their Creator. May our God, remember them with favor, together with the other righteous people of the world, and may He take retribution from those responsible for the bloodshed of the Jewish Nation, His servants. As it is written in the Torah of Moses, a man who was completely devoted to God: Nations of the world, sing the praises of God’s nation, the Jewish Nation, because God will avenge the blood of His servants, and He will repay His enemies for what they have done. He will soothe His land, the Land of Israel, and His nation, the Jewish Nation. The following is written by Your servants, the prophets: I will forgive and clean away the sins of the nations. However, I will not forgive and clean away their bloodshed and murder of my nation. The Lord will rest in Zion (Jerusalem) when the Redemption arrives. In the holy writings of Psalms it says: Why should the nations be able to say about the Jewish Nation, “Where is

Commentary

1 It is proper to know the time of the rebirth of the new moon before saying the blessing for the new month. The Rebbe Rashab explained: Chodesh comes from the word חָדָשׁ, meaning new. Before beginning a new form of service of God, we must first know the purpose of our “birth”—our creation.

2 We mention God’s miracles when we commemorate the new month—a seemingly natural occurrence—to highlight the fact that even natural occurrences are the result of God’s actions. In the merit of recognizing that all of nature is really a Divine miracle, God will perform supernatural miracles for us and will redeem us from our exile.

3 Six expressions of blessing are mentioned in this prayer. During the times when the Jewish court of law would establish Rosh Chodesh, there were six months of the year when it was necessary for the court to publicize the day of the sanctification of the new month. These six blessings correspond to those six months. (Only Rosh Chodesh that followed a 29-day month would need to be publicized. If people heard nothing on that day, they would conclude that the current month consisted of 30 days and that Rosh Chodesh was on the following day) …

4 Unlike the Shabbat before all other months—when this prayer is omitted—it is said on the Shabbat preceding Sivan. One of the reasons for this is because in Sivan, in the year 4856 (1096 C.E.), thousands of Jews were massacred by Crusaders. This prayer is a memorial for those killed for being Jewish.