Sources

Here are some of the sources we use in preparing our reflections on the coming month.

Borowski, Oded.  Agriculture in Iron Age Israel.  Winona Lake, Indiana:  Eisenbrauns, 1987.

Elon, Ari; Naomi Mara Hyman, and Arthur Waskow, eds.  Trees, Earth and Torah:  A Tu B’Shvat Anthology. Philadelphia:  The Jewish Publication Society, 2000.

Hammer, Jill.  The Jewish Book of Days, A Companion for All Seasons.  Philadelphia:  The Jewish Publication Society, 2006.

Jacobson, Simon. היום יום אחד: A Spiritual Guide to the Counting of the Omer, the Forty-Nine Days of Sefirah.  2013, Brooklyn NY:  The Meaningful Life Center, http://www.meaningfullife.com.

Lew, Alan.  This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared:  The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation.  New York:  Little, Brown and Company, 2003.

Ribner, Melinda.  Kabbalah Month by Month:  A Year of Spiritual Practice and Personal Transformation.  New York:  John Wiley & Sons, 2002.

Teutsch, David A.  A Guide to Jewish Practice:  Everyday Spirituality.  Wyncote, PA:  Reconstructionist Rabbinical College Press, 2011.

Web pages of interest:

Ritualwell, a web site and resource housed at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, PA.  Its Rosh Hodesh page has articles, resources, and more information on the Jewish lunar cycle. https://www.ritualwell.org/rosh-hodesh

Hebcal is a web site with downloadable Hebrew calendar information, including a date converter, key dates including Rosh Chodesh, and a calendar you can synch with your cloud-based device calendar. https://www.hebcal.com/

Timeanddate.com has information for your zip code on the phases of the sun and moon throughout the month.  https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/

Fun Joel’s Israel Tours has an Israeli produce calendar, noting which local fruits and vegetables are available in season at Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market.  The variety is amazing!  http://funjoelsisrael.com/produce-calendar/

Daily Dose of Wisdom is a blog/newsletter of Chabad editor and Rabbi Tzvi Freeman.  These short inspirational gems, based on the writings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem M. Schneerson (z”l), come daily to your inbox, and remind you of your higher purpose and connection to the Divine, and a good life worth celebrating.  https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/67324/jewish/Daily-Dose-of-Wisdom.htm

Chabad has a large collection of Rosh Chodesh resources on their web site. This includes Beyond Zodiac, a page featuring video insights for each lunar month from the thoughtful and spiritual Shimona Tzukernik. https://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/2091677/jewish/Beyond-Zodiac.htm Note that Chabad refers to Rosh Chodesh as “a holiday for Jewish women” while we believe it is a holiday for all Jews to celebrate the natural cycles embedded in Jewish tradition. See https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2100138/jewish/Rosh-Chodesh-The-New-Moon.htm for the main page.

The Farmer’s Almanac has an astronomy page that gives the dates for the full moons throughout the year, as well as interesting names and lore associated with each full moon. https://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-dates-and-times