The Head of the Month is the 1st day of each month on the Biblical Calendar.
This day would be observed by the blowing of silver trumpets to let the people know the new month had begun.
Occasionally, the Head of the Month specifically refers to the 1st day of the 1st month of each of the 4 seasons of the year (the 1st day of the 1st month, 4th month, 7th month and 10th month of each year).
General commandments:
Required burnt offerings (`olah):
Required food offerings (minchah) for the burnt offerings (`olah):
Required sin offerings (chatta’ah):
Exodus 12:1 And YAHWEH said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
Exodus 12:2 This month shall be the head of months for you. It shall be the first of the months of the year for you.
Exodus 13:3 And Moses said to the people, Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slaves. For by the might of His hand YAHWEH brought you out from here. And no leaven shall be eaten.
Exodus 13:4 Today, in the month of the Aviv, you are going out.
Numbers 10:1 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,
Numbers 10:2 Make two trumpets of silver for yourself. You shall make them of hammered work, and they shall be to you for the calling of the congregation, and for causing the camps to pull up stakes.
Numbers 10:3 And when they blow with them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the tent of meeting.
Numbers 10:4 And if they blow with one, then the rulers, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall assemble to you.
Numbers 10:5 And when you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall then pull up stakes.
Numbers 10:6 And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall pull up stakes; they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
Numbers 10:7 But when the assembly is gathered, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm.
Numbers 10:8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets. And they shall be to you for a never ending statute throughout your generations.
Numbers 10:9 And when you go into battle in your land against the foe distressing you, then you shall blow with the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before YAHWEH your Elohim. And you shall be saved from your enemies.
Numbers 10:10 And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and in your new months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. And they shall be to you for a memorial before your Elohim. I am YAHWEH your Elohim.
Numbers 28:11 And in the beginning of your months you shall bring near a burnt offering to YAHWEH: two bulls, sons of the herd, and one ram, seven lambs, sons of a year, ones without blemish.
Numbers 28:12 and three tenth parts of flour, a food offering mixed with oil for the one bull; and two tenths parts of flour as a food offering mixed with oil for the one ram;
Numbers 28:13 and a tenth part of flour mixed with oil as a food offering for the one lamb; a burnt offering, a soothing fragrance, a fire offering to YAHWEH;
Numbers 28:14 and their drink offerings shall be a half of a hin to a bull, and a third of a hin to a ram, and a fourth of a hin to a lamb, of wine. This shall be the burnt offering of every month for the months of the year.
Numbers 28:15 And one kid of the goats for a sin offering to YAHWEH; it shall be prepared besides the continual burnt offering, and its drink offering.
Misconception #1 – The New Moon Announces the Start of the New Month
The current Hillel II calendar, followed by most of the Jewish people around the world today, is based on a luni-solar orientation. Instead of simply marking the months according to the pattern given in the 1st Book of Enoch, the Jewish people mark the beginning of the month when the new moon is sighted over Israel.
This misconception is due to how the Hebrew word “chodesh” is translated and understood. This word appears nearly 200 times in the scriptures, and is almost always translated correctly as “month”. The few times that it is mistakenly translated as “moon” it is easy to see, from the context, that it is referring to the month and not the moon.
The reason this misconception was started has to do with the people of Babylon. The Babylonians were worshippers of a false moon god called Nanna (or Sin). As such, their calendar was based on 12 lunar months, and each month was started when a crescent moon was sighted. After being in exile for 70 years in Babylon, the Jewish people (who had lost much of their own culture) began to adopt the Babylonian way of observing time.
Although the original calendar ordained by YHVH was still being used around the time of Yeshua Messiah (albeit with a few Babylonian name modifications), by the 4th century the Jewish people had abandoned that calendar and adopted the Hillel II calendar which relies on the sighting of the new moon to start each month, rather than the pattern given to us in the Book of 1st Enoch.
NOTE: Some of the Jewish traditions associated with the Biblical Calendar are steeped in Kabbalah beliefs. More information on the Kabbalah aspects of the Biblical Calendar can be found here at Chabad.org.
Rosh Chodesh (Head of the Month)
The Jewish people currently observe a calendar that begins each month when the new moon is seen, and they consider the start of each month to be a “semi-celebration”. This comes from the long-held belief that the Jewish nation is like the moon, in that, throughout their history, their “light” has waxed and waned but has never gone completely out, even in total darkness. Because of this belief, the Jewish people like to celebrate the start of each new month with the sighting of the new moon.
Shabbat Before Rosh Chodesh
The Shabbat before the start of the new month is called Shabbat Mevarchim. On this Shabbat, special prayers are recited at synagogue asking for the new month to bring only happiness, goodness, health and all good things.
Sanctifying the Chodesh (Start of the New Month)
Originally, the Hebrew people entrusted the Sanhedrin (rabbinical supreme court) to decide when each month officially started. Visual observation of the new crescent moon would be the proof used, and then the Sanhedrin would sanctify the start of the new month. The Sanhedrin would also decide whether the new month would be a 29-day month or a 30-day month, depending on when the sighting of the crescent moon took place.
On the 30th day of every month,7 the Sanhedrin would “open for business” in a large courtyard in Jerusalem called Beit Ya’azek. Witnesses who claimed to have seen the new moon on the previous night would come to give their testimony and be cross-examined.
At the end of each month (the 30th day) the Sanhedrin would meet in a large courtyard in Jerusalem called Beit Ya’azek. Here, witnesses who claimed to have seen the new moon on the previous night (at sunset) could come and give their testimony. The Sanhedrin required 2 witnesses to establish the start of the new month. As such, the witnesses would individually need to answer a series of questions…
This questioning was done privately with each witness being separated from the other, with the eldest witness questioned first. The Sanhedrin members, being schooled in astronomy, would be able to determine if the witnesses were being truthful or not. If the witnesses’ testimonies agreed and were found to be truthful, the day was declared “mekudash” (sanctified). The Sanhedrin would cry out “Mekudash!” and the people would respond “Mekudash! Mekudash!”.
Bonfires were then lit on mountain tops to alert all the people of the land that the new month had been sanctified.
In later years, messengers were dispatched to outlying communities to relay the information, to avoid confusion created by the Samaritans who tried to manipulate the calendar by purposely lighting fires on the wrong days. This created delays in announcing the start of the new month to Jewish people further away from Jerusalem… which eventually lead to the tradition of most holy days (mo’edim) being celebrated for 2 days by Jewish people in the diaspora, to make up for starting their months a day late.
If no witnesses came forth on the 30th day to declare the sighting of the new moon, the Sanhedrin would then retroactively declare the previous month to be a “30-day month” and the new month would start the following day.
Rosh Chodesh Greeting
The customary greeting used on Rosh Chodesh is to wish people “chodesh tov” (a good month).
General Laws of Rosh Chodesh
The Jewish people have certain rabbinical laws they hold in regard to the start of the new month.
Special After Grace Prayers
During the 3 “After Grace” prayers that follow a meal, a paragraph is added asking YHVH to remember the Jewish people and give them favor.
If the person reciting the prayer forgets to add this paragraph before starting the section of the prayer that begins with “And rebuild Jerusalem”, then they are to add the following to the end of the prayer:
Special Daily Prayers
A shortened version of the Hallel (Psalms of praise) is read on Rosh Chodesh that includes:
When read in a minyan (group), only the cantor needs to read the Psalms with the rest of the members of the minyan responding “amen”.
Torah Reading
The 4 “aliyahs” (elevations) are read from the Torah on Rosh Chodesh:
Shir Shel Yom (Psalm of the Day)
At the end of the morning prayers, the Psalm of the Day is read. In addition to the Psalm of the Day, Psalm 104 is also read.
Musaf (Additions) Prayers
An additional set of prayers is read on Rosh Chodesh that focus on asking YHVH to restore the Temple so that sacrifices can once again commence.
More details on the Jewish traditions surrounding the Musaf Prayers can be found here at Chabad.org.
Women’s Traditions
Jewish women will frequently skip the daily chores on Rosh Chodesh in favor of meeting together for Torah reading, reciting the Psalms and sharing with one another.
More details on the Jewish traditions surrounding the Biblical New Moon can be found here at Chabad.org.