Rosh Chodesh Tamuz

Rosh Chodesh or Rosh Hodesh (Hebrew: ראש חודש; trans. Beginning of the Month; lit. Head of the Month) is the name for the first day of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the birth of a new moon. It is considered a minor holiday, akin to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot.

Origin

The Book of Exodus establishes the beginning of the Hebrew calendar:
"And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: 'This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you.'" (12:1-2)

In the Book of Numbers, God speaks of the celebration of the new moon to Moses:
"And on your joyous occasions - your fixed festivals and new moon days - you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well-being." (10:10)

In Psalm 81:3, both new and full moon are mentioned as a time of recognition by the Hebrews:
"Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast day. For this is a statute for Israel, a law of the God of Jacob."

The occurrence of Rosh Chodesh was originally confirmed on the testimony of witnesses observing the new moon. After the Sanhedrin declared Rosh Chodesh for either a full month or a defective, 29-day month, news of it would then be communicated throughout Israel and the diaspora.

A custom was developed in which an additional day could be added to the month to ensure that certain holidays (such as Yom Kippur) did not fall on the days before or after Shabbat.

The Month of Tamuz

Beginning of new Hebrew month of Tamuz. Tamuz (sometimes transliterated Tammuz) is the 4th month of the Hebrew year. Corresponds to June or July on the Gregorian calendar.

"And He brought me to the entrance at the Gate of the House of the L-rd which was at the north; and there were there women sitting, bewailing the Tamuz" (Yechezkel 8:14)

"Tamuz" is the Babylonian name of this month, as are all of the "official" names of the months in the Hebrew Calendar. In the Bible, however, the month is referred to as "the Fourth Month," with reference to Nisan, the First Month.

Biblical Significance of the Month

As mentioned above, the name which "came up" from Babylon with the Jewish People was Tamuz. In this case, consideration of the use of the name in Yechezkel would make it appropriate to say that the name "Tamuz" brought down the Jewish People. The verse in Yechezkel cited above speaks of the worship of a Babylonian idol, known as "Tamuz." And it seems most odd, at first glance, that this name would be chosen as the name of a Hebrew month.

However, in the context of the month that we are dealing with, a month of tragedies which would lead to still greater tragedies, the appropriateness of the name becomes clear. The Prophet Yechezkel was being shown by G-d the reasons for His great Anger against the Jewish People, namely, the various forms of idol-worship which had been adopted by them to replace the Divine Service. This behavior would result, if the Jewish People would not repent, in the Destruction of the Once-Holy, but now desecrated, Temple.

Earlier Biblical Significance

We read in the Book of Yehoshua (10:11-14) of the Battle of Yehoshua and the People of Israel against the five kings of the Emorite Nation. In the Biblical account, we find mention of "great stones" thrown, as it were, by G-d, upon the Emorites. This could refer to hail, as the verse itself mentions (Yehoshua 10:11).

But in light of the great astronomical miracle detailed in the following verses (12-14), in which the sun and the moon are pictured as having not advanced, until the People of Israel had achieved complete victory, there is here the suggestion of a tremendous suspension of the paths in Heaven, perhaps caused by a contact of the Solar System with an intense meteor, or asteroid, shower.

Whatever the case, according to Jewish tradition, this great miracle is supposed to have occurred on the third of Tamuz.