Kiddush Levanah: Under the Light of the Silvery Moon (Part 10)
“My walk on the moon lasted three days. My walk with
(Charles Duke – Lunar Module Pilot, Apollo 16)
Kiddush Levanah then continues with the following sentence, which is repeated three times: “David, King of Israel, lives and endures.”
The Talmud relates that Rebbi (Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi) sent Rabbi Chiya to a place called Ein Tav to sanctify the new moon. Rashi explains that the Romans, who had conquered the Land of Israel, enacted a series of edicts to try making living a Jewish life impossible. One of their decrees was forbidding the Sages from sanctifying the new month. Rebbi sent Rabbi Chiya to Ein Tav because it was sufficiently out of the way such that the Romans would not bother him there. Rebbi instructed him to give him a sign once the new month had been sanctified. This sign was to send back the words “David, Melech Yisrael, Chai v’Kayam – David, King of Israel, lives and endures.”
What is the connection between the sanctification of the new moon and King David? Rashi cites Tehillim (89:37-38), which compares King David’s kingdom to the moon: “His seed will endure forever... Like the moon, it will be established forever, and the witness in the sky is faithful, Selah.” Rabbi David Kimche writes that the Davidic line will retain the status of royalty for all time. One of the prerequisites for being accepted as the Mashiach is to be a direct descendent of King David. And, just as the light of the moon at times radiates brilliantly, so too, it sometimes dims and even seemingly disappears altogether. In the same way, when we, the Jewish People, do Hashem’s bidding, we infuse the world with the purest and most vivid light of all. Just like the moon does in the middle of the month. But, if we rebel against Hashem, if we turn our backs on Him, we mirror the trajectory of the moon, and the pristine light dims until it is obscured. We descend into darkness.
When we declare, “David, King of Israel, lives and endures,” we are declaring our certainty that with the advent of the Messianic Era we will once again suffuse the entire world with the purest and the most profound light that ever existed. As Rashi writes, the eternal presence of the moon bears witness to the equally eternal character of the Davidic line.
In Tehillim 61:7, King David writes, “May You add days on to the days of the king.” The Brisker Rav points to a disagreement among the commentaries about the identity of the “king” in the verse. It is either referring to King David, or it is a reference to the Mashiach. If the “king” refers to King David, the verse is easy to understand. King David is beseeching Hashem to grant him a long life. But, asks the Brisker Rav, if it is referring to the Mashiach, how are we to understand the verse, since the Mashiach will live forever. How can “days be added” to eternity? The Brisker Rav answers: It is true that Hashem has set a final date for the Mashiach to come. But, it is within our power to bring the Mashiach earlier than that time. If we serve Hashem properly, if we serve Hashem in the way we have been commanded, we can bring about the final redemption right now. And, by doing so, we will be “adding to his days.”
May we all merit to experience it very, very soon.
To be continued…
