Happy Nisan! Today is just two weeks before Passover, and Rabbi Phyllis Sommer is launching #BlogExodus again! I’m so excited.

This morning, I had the privilege and pleasure of reading from the Torah to a minyan, an assembled quorum of people, who had come together at 7:15 am for that purpose. I read them the passage in which G-d tells Moses what sacrifices are appropriate for the New Moon, the first day of the month.

I do this every month, so what is special about this one? In the Torah, G-d tells Moses that this month of Nisan is now the first month of the year, in honour of the Exodus that took place on 15 Nisan. Such an honour for the month, and it is also called the first month of the year in the Book of Esther – so clearly it kept that place for a while. It’s a new year, mazal tov!

But wait, you cry. Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, is the first of Tishrei, which according to the Torah is the seventh month. It’s in the fall. What’s going on there? Does the Jewish calendar have two new years, one in the fall and one in the spring?

Answer: it actually has FOUR, if you include Tu B’Shvat, (15 Shvat) the New Year of the Trees, and 1 Elul, for tithing of cattle. 1 Tishrei is for taxes and kings, and 1 Nisan is for our nationhood. That is a long and murky story, and you can read a good explanation here.

All this to say, I am ready to make a new start here on my blog, which has been sadly neglected of late. I have a lot to say, and maybe dissipating it on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram isn’t the best way to communicate with you. So consider this a new launch! We will talk again soon.

Are you ready to launch or re-launch something? Let me know!