Too Much Chiddush for Rosh Chodesh!

Rav Shternbach (Moadim UZ'manim vol. 1 19) presents an interesting and brilliant suggestion to explain why it was necessary for Moshe Rabbeinu to view the new moon of Nisan of the Exodus prophetically. The questions one may ask regarding this opinion, though, are:

1) Is Rav Shternbach taking too literal of an approach to a piyut, perhaps, it is meant to be taken metaphorically?

2) What does one do when the information provided does not work out historically/astronomically?

Rav Shternbach quotes from the yotzer to Parshas HaChodesh that the lunar conjunction (the moment the sun, moon and earth are in a direct line) of Nisan in the year of the Exodus was at midday. Since the new moon is visible only after six hours from this point in time (see the Superhuman Sight post from August 5 in order to reconcile this seemingly impossible fact), Moshe Rabbeinu required seeing it prophetically. Moshe was located in Egypt and the conjunction is calculated, halachically, based on Yerushalayim time, therefore, the moon would really be big enough to be visible approximately ten minutes before sunset. Although it would be big enough, the fact that the sun would not have set in Moshe's location would mean that he would not be able to see such a faint moon. Therefore, Hashem allowed him to view it prophetically.

Let us first address the second question raised earlier. What does one do with the fact that this information does not work out historically. If one recalculates the year of the Exodus (based on the classic midrashic literature) he will find that the lunar conjunction was not at midday precisely, rather, it was in the middle of the afternoon!

Perhaps, the reconcilliation comes from the answer to the first question asked above. If one looks at the source of the piyut, Bereishis Rabbah (6), he will notice that the purpose of the fact of the conjunction being expressed as midday is not to be specific, rather, it is to say that it happened post midday. That being the case, one could suggest that these words were not meant to be taken literally as "midday", rather, just used to convey the general purpose of the Midrash. Once that has been resolved the question no longer starts. Of course, once resolved in this fashion, the pshat expressed in Moadim U'Zmanim no longer seems viable. The proof of this suggestion is that it is the one taken by the earlier commentaries. Rashi's comments to the Midrash explicitly state that midday is not to be taken literally, rather, the author of the Midrash is to be understood as expressing the conjunction as happening in the afternoon.

With this information (and reading the rest of the astronomical information provided by the Midrash and piyut) one can actually see how the Midrash and piyut astoundingly are synchronized with the actual celestial happenings of that day!

Mincha 3 Minutes After Chatzos?

Now that the clocks have changed, many are finding themselves able to daven mincha at very early (and often times convenient times.) Couple that with the fact that we find Yitzchak Avinu davening mincha in this week's parsha and it makes for a great topic. Many are familiar with the common halachic practice of waiting 1/2 hour (defined as a 1/24 of the time between sunrise and sunset or 30 minutes, whichever is longer) from midday to daven. Upon further analysis, one must ask why one cannot daven much earlier (say 3 minutes after midday) during many times of the year.

The reason for this practice is as follows. The Gemara (Yoma 28b) tells us that they delayed from davening mincha (or bringing the afternoon offering in the Beis HaMikdash) until they could be certain that it was after midday. Since the walls in the Beis HaMikdash were sloped, it took 1/2 hour after midday for them to cast a noticeable shadow. Therefore, we wait this amount of time (the Mishna Berurah in his Shaar HaTziyun 233:8 is unsure if this half hour is 1/24 of the day or 30 minutes and this is why many take the longer of the two; athough ALL the earlier sources maintained it was 1/24 of the day).

We must identify upon which day we are talking regarding the shadow from the walls. The sun always "travels" at the same speed. However, during some days the sun is going in more of an east/west motion and others it is going more up/down. In the summer when the days are long, the sun is not taking a steep angle at midday and most of its motion is seen going east/west. During the winter, the sun is going at a steep angle because the day is short and it is starting to go downwards quickly. The sun will therefore cast the same amount of shadow in the summertime at a far shorter time interval than the winter.

The Gemara tells us that the day we are talking about is when Erev Pesach falls on Erev Shabbos. On such a day, the afternoon offering would be brought a half hour after midday, as opposed to a normal day when it would be brought three and a half hours after midday. Since Pesach is around the time of the vernal (spring) equinox, one can now figure the time required for the shadows throughout the rest of the year.

In the summertime, it would only take 9 minutes for the sun to travel from midday in a westward direction to reach the same point. In the winter it would take 50 minutes. This does not take into account the fact that the sun is higher in the summer than winter. That would make the times more extreme. If one goes to a latitude higher than Yerushalayim, that will also shorten the amount of time necessary to cast the shadow.

All this can be seen via a simple experiment. Take something like a book and lean it against a wall. Then take a flashlight and move it from one side to the next and watch how quickly the shadow is cast. Notice that if the "across" motion is done more quickly the shadow is cast faster. Also, notice that if the flashlight is held higher the shadow is cast sooner.

Could this mean that here in Baltimore we could daven mincha in the summer at 3 minutes after midday? The answer would most certainly be "no." A reading of the Rambam (Hilchos Tefillah 3:2) makes it clear that we are not mimicking what could be happening in the Beis HaMikdash if it were in your location and on the day you are davening. We are calculating the concept of the time based on the Beis HaMikdash and utilize when they would bring the sacrifices. Since the only day this offering was offered so closely to midday was around the vernal equinox we only take that day as a reference point. Therefore, even though the shadow would be cast much sooner in the wintertime and in Baltimore, we don't care. It must also be noted that one should preferably not daven prior to 3 1/2 hours after midday unless there is a pressing need. This is seen in the Shulchan Aruch and comes about from the fact that they only offered the sacrifice earlier in the Beis HaMikdash when there was a pressing need.