The Dance of the New Moon

"Just as I dance and spring before you

and cannot reach you,

so shall none of my enemies

either reach me or harm me." 

                 

 

 

This poem, which we sing each month in the presence of the new moon, surprises us both by its form and its content.  Firstly, the fact that our prayer seems to be addressed to the moon is exceptional and requires an explanation.  For we propose a kind of exchange, a deal. We ask that our enemies not reach us or harm us, but what do we offer in exchange?  The simple fact of dancing before it without being able to reach it.  Normally, when we request a privilege, we use convincing arguments, merits.  Here, what we offer rather resembles a failure, an inability: to dance before the moon without being able to reach it.

 

For an explanation of this passage, and in order to reveal its message, we must decipher the symbols within it. The large luminaries are signs inserted by the almighty in the Book of the Firmament. These figures point to the Infinite Light from which their radiance emanates. If we grasp the idea contained in these symbols, our minds will be able to draw closer to this Light – and it is exactly with this intention that the luminaries were created. Let us meditate on this. Good eyesight alone does not allow us to see what surrounds us; light must also illuminate the objects. The sun represents knowledge: its light allows man to observe and to know. The moon, for its part, does not radiate light, but simply reflects the sun’s rays. Through its power of reception and according to its position, it will diffuse a salutary light on the earth’s dark hemisphere. This is exactly the principle of faith.

 

As long as we have not been initiated to knowledge, our minds remain confused, as if plunged into a nocturnal phase. When we orient our hearts receptively towards the rays of the teaching, then a gleam, a reflection of this teaching, will illuminate our ignorance (symbolized by the night).

 

The Torah teaches us that originally, the brilliance of the two luminaries was identical, but afterwards the moon was diminished. Thereby, the hemisphere not exposed to the sun was plunged into a darkness varying precisely according to the course and development of the moon. In other words, in an ideal world, faith would shine out to the same extent as knowledge. Commitment would be as obvious as experience… but the Creator reduced the moon’s light, thus rendering confidence less attractive than wisdom.

 

This cosmic episode has been projected later on into human consciousness: time for us espouses an alternating rhythms; succession of light and dark, days and nights, doubts and certainties which modulate man’s spiritual ups and downs. The mind goes first through stages of crisis and then moments of tranquility. This continual tossing about leads man to frequent misgivings: and he will be free to choose. Will he take advantage of the dark, and blindly give free rein to his passions? Or will he perceive the calls of his conscience, these heavenly messages? Will he allow himself to be guided by the landmarks and the signs that the Almighty has placed in his night? This is the alternative.

 

Our submission and commitment to divine Commandments are, above all acts of faith which are means to orient body and soul toward the Infinite Light from where the prophetic injunctions emanate. Their inner dimension, however, escapes us and we, therefore have free will: if they were obvious, if the enrichment that they bring about were to appear clearly, every one of us would submit himself to them willingly. Our acts would then be without merit and consequently without reward. Thus, by reducing the moon, by concealing the values of the Commandments, God has allowed free will. This enhances the value of our commitment and will cause us to win the promised reward. The reducing of the moon was, above all, an act of love.

 

Sensitive to this love, Israel will endeavor to respond. The People of the Book will opt for faith. The commitment will precede the explanation, action will take precedence over theory: "We will do, then we will understand!" our ancestors cried out at the foot of Mount Sinai. However, before reaching the threshold of the Revelation, the correct method had to be taught to them by Moshe (Moses) our guide: the first commandment that they received in Egypt was precisely to sanctify the new lunar month. Regulating the cycle of the holidays and thus the entire rhythm of Jewish life, this commandment prepares for receptiveness (without which no transmission would be possible).

 

This establishes the parallel between the people in search of enlightenment through obedience and the moon which illustrates so well this doctrine; it shines only through reflection. Israel and the moon henceforth will go forward side by side; they will traverse the events of history, a route designed to restore the original clarity. When, through the efforts of our hearts, the authentic faith asserts itself in the world, the moon will recover its initial splendor. This will be the advent of the Redemption.

 

The symbols explained above transform our ritual into a symphony, "Just as I dance and spring before you and cannot reach you…" the faithful worshipper, who dances before the moon, suddenly assumes the dimensions of the Jewish collective soul given over entirely to the search for truth through faith. He speaks to the moon, but this is not actually a prayer. It is rather kind of lyric poem dedicated to a soul-companion, this moon, this faith. When it wanes, we wane with it, and when it is triumphant, we rejoice with it.

 

Now the believer’s wish is understood: "I dance and spring before you. I am delighted at your return, even though I cannot reach you."

 

Some people are frustrated when they fail. If they do not attain their goal immediately, they give up. These people often embarked on the roads of high ambitions: peace, justice, fraternity, but lost patience when they came up against major obstacles. To justify their failure, they invented damaging theories. They declared that the enterprise was impossible. They resigned themselves and never resumed their attempt…

 

For my part, I persist, I persevere.  No failure will diminish my optimism. My hope is based on the promises of the Lord and the encouragement of His true prophets. Only they have really understood life and they teach me never to lose courage. The fact that they can transmit this valiancy to me means that they themselves have drawn it from the infinite wisdom. Am I in exile, rejected and fallen? All the same, I come back to dance, to start over, to search again and to hope. I am the living proof of this faith. The further I fall, the more incontestable is this proof. The mockers and the defeatists argue against me with their logic; they assail my contradictions, but they do not intimidate me. I know the source of their ideas… I persist and I persevere in spite of all syllogisms. Whatever happens, I will come back and dance before the moon. I have not yet attained you, O you luminous and perfect faith, but I come back again this month to delight in your radiance, in your return, and to tell you that I am still here. You were eclipsed, but you have come back – and so have I. If I fall again, I will pick myself up. If I fail, I will start over and over and over again…

 

Defeatism, skepticism, cynicism are enemies of faith; enemies of this believer who has maintained his perseverance for four thousand years and who, alone among the nations, has managed to survive the torments of history. If he has sometimes fallen prey to these enemies, if he considered resignation, assimilation, he will eventually somehow pick himself up, thanks to the principle, "over again."

 

On an individual level, as well as on the collective plane, the method is foolproof: whatever storms are tormenting your conscience, whatever doubts assail you, you will triumph if you apply this formula. Dance, and claim your joy; never pay attention to what you see in the immediate and short term – think of one thing only: start over again, in spite of all opposition.

 

If you emulate this believer, you will gradually see how the doubts that torment you in periods of crisis were merely illusions. This will strengthen you. What characterizes any depression is the aspect of forgetting the good moments of the past, as if they had never existed. We have the impression that all is lost and that yesterday’s light will never return. This is normal, in a way, since depression is a kind of mental extinction. However, you must not let yourself be caught in it. This is our trial here on earth, in this world where days are light and nights are dark. God decided to reduce the moon, to dull faith, to veil hope, to see how we react. If we give up when we think we have good cause, ultimately we will have proven nothing. If, on the other hand, we take strength, we take courage and we decide to carry on regardless, we will be worthy of the title, "captives of hope."  

 

Our part as Jews is to enlighten the world and bring about expanded consciousness. Each ray, each spark of such a light is a revival. It flashes out of the very depth of exile: how we have used our falls as springboards and turned our failures into victories.

 

Persevere, hope, sing and dance! From the depths of your harsh ordeals, never let go of this thread. You will become an architect of rebuilding and you will radiate faith in the world. God will not abandon us. He has sustained us until now. If He allows this exile to be prolonged, it is because the Messianic apotheosis of the restoring of the moon can be brought about only by our merit and our courage. The greater the depths, the more impressive will be the fulfillment: the Third Temple will never again be destroyed.

 

 

 

(Used with permission from COURAGE by Israel Isaac Besancon. Published by Shir Chadash Publishers)