If you were to ask someone to tell you the first month of the Jewish calendar, they would likely reply Tishrei, when we celebrate Rosh HaShannah, literally translated as the beginning of the year. But if you look in the Torah, you will see that Rosh HaShannah is described as falling in the seventh month. When the Jews are about to leave Egypt, they are given their first mitzvah as a people. It is the mitzvah of Kiddush HaChodesh, sanctifying the months, beginning with the month of Nisan.

שמות פרק יב (א) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֔ן בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ב) הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם רֹ֣אשׁ חֳדָשִׁ֑ים רִאשׁ֥וֹן הוּא֙ לָכֶ֔ם לְחׇדְשֵׁ֖י הַשָּׁנָֽה׃

Shemot 12 (1)The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, (2) This month shall be to you the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of the year.

רמב"ן שמות יב:ב

החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים – זו מצוה ראשונה שצוה הקב"ה את ישראל על ידי משה…

וטעם החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים – שימנו אותו ישראל חדש ראשון, וממנו ימנו כל החדשים שני ושלישי עד תשלום השנה בשנים עשר חדש, כדי שיהיה זה זכרון בנס הגדול, כי בכל עת שנזכיר החדשים יהיה הנס נזכר. ועל כן אין לחדשים שם בתורה, אלא יאמר: בחדש השלישי (שמות י"ט:א'), ואומר: ויהי בשנה השנית בחדש השני נעלה הענן (במדבר י':י"א), ובחדש השביעי באחד לחדש וגו' (במדבר כ"ט:א'), וכן כולם. וכמו שתהיה הזכירה ביום השבת במנותנו ממנו אחד בשבת ושני בשבת, כאשר אפרש (שמות כ':ז'), כך הזכירה ביציאת מצרים במנותנו החדש הראשון והחדש השני והשלישי לגאולתנו, שאין המנין לשנה, שהרי תחלת שנותינו מתשרי, דכתיב: וחג האסיף תקופת השנה (שמות ל״ד:כ״ב), וכתיב: בצאת השנה (שמות כ״ג:ט״ז), אם כן כשנקרא לחדש ניסן ראשון ולתישרי שביעי, פתרונו ראשון לגאולה ושביעי אליה, וזה טעם ראשון הוא לכם, שאיננו ראשון בשנה, אבל הוא ראשון לשם שנקרא לו לזכרון גאולתנו.

Ramban Shemot 12:2

This month shall be unto you the beginning of months — This is the first commandment which the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Israel through Moses…Now the purport of the expression, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months, is that Israel is to count this as the first of the months, and from it they are to count all months — second, third, etc., until a year of twelve months is completed — in order that there be through this enumeration a remembrance of the great miracle, [i.e., the exodus from Egypt, which occurred in the first month]. Whenever we will mention the months, the miracle will be remembered. It is for this reason that the months have no individual names in the Torah. Instead, Scripture says: In the third month; And it came to pass in the second year, in the second month … that the cloud was taken up from over the Tabernacle of the Testimony; And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, etc., and so in all cases. Just as in counting the weekdays we always remember the Sabbath-day since the weekdays have no specific name of their own, but instead are called "one day in the Sabbath," "the second day in the Sabbath," as I will explain, so we remember the exodus from Egypt in our counting "the first month," "the second month," "the third month," etc., to our redemption. This order of the counting of the months is not in regard to the years, for the beginning of our years is from Tishri, [the seventh month], as it is written, And the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year, and it is further written, And the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year. If so, when we call the month of Nisan the first of the months and Tishri the seventh, the meaning thereof is "the first [month] to the redemption" and "the seventh month" thereto. This then is the intent of the expression, it shall be the first month to you, meaning that it is not the first in regard to the year but it is the first "to you," i.e., that it be called "the first" for the purpose of remembering our redemption.

The Ramban helps us to understand this leading mitzvah and the multiple ways in which we refer to the months of the year. In commemoration of the miracle of the exodus and the formation of our people, we reference the months of the year from the exodus. The Torah describes annual events in reference to this singular event. This is similar to how we reference the days of the week in terms of Shabbat. Rosh HaShannah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot are described by the Torah as falling in the seventh month. When it comes to calculating complete years, we count from Tishrei.

Our system of tracking time reflects and continually references the foundational events of the exodus from Egypt. The Ramban also notes that sanctifying the months “is the first commandment which the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Israel through Moses” (ibid). The Rav explains some of the philosophy of the this mitzvah and why it is so central to our transition from slavery to freedom:

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik - “Slavery and Freedom”

Time is of critical importance—not years or months, but seconds and split seconds. This time-awareness and appreciation is the singular gift granted to free man, because time belongs to him: it is his time, and he can utilize it to the utmost or waste it. A free man does not want time to pass; he wants time to slow down, because to him time is a treasure. To the slave, however, time is a curse; he waits for the day to pass. The slave's time is the property of his master. No matter how hard he may try to be productive in time, he will not reap the harvest of his work; therefore, he is insensitive to time. His sense of the movement of time, the passing of hours, days, weeks, is very dull. Life, to the slave personality, is motionless.

The Judaic philosophy of time comes to expression in the text of Kiddush. In physics, time is quantified, measured by the clock. But pure time, real time, cannot be quantified; it is pure quality. With Kiddush, we sanctify time and endow it with creativity and meaning. It is the first thing we do as free people at the Seder. The first commandment they were given in Egypt, marking the commencement of their liberation, was to mark time: "This month shall be to you the beginning of months" (Ex. 12:2). We have gained the consciousness of time, and therefore we are free. (p.41-42)

As we stood upon the precipice of freedom, we were poised to leave slavery behind us. Having been subservient to Pharaoh, we would soon be able to design our own lives and direct our own time. Prior to this transition, we were given the mitzvah of Kiddush HaChodesh, sanctifying our time. Freedom is a means to living lives of purpose and ultimate value. We count, calculate, and appreciate our time in reference to this Divine gift of freedom.

References

Nahmanides & CB Chavel (1999). Commentary on the Torah. New York: Shilo. https://mg.alhatorah.org/Full/Shemot/12.2#e0n6

Rosenberg, A. (1980). A new English translation of the Hebrew Bible text and Rashi, with a commentary digest. New York: Judaica Press. Retrieved from: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/

Soloveitchik, J. D. (2006). Festival of freedom: Essays on Pesah and the Haggadah. New York: KTAV Publ. House.

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