An Opportunity To Rise Up
On 30 Cheshvan 5785, in the usual Hebrew calendar, there will be a divergence from the calendar according to Ben Meir, the calendar of Eretz Yisrael. In the latter calendar, this day is called Kislev 1, 1985. To say it differently, the year 1985, a CA5 year in the usual calendar, is a CR5 year in the calendar of Eretz Yisrael. The last day of divergence, in this millennium, is 29 Kislev in 5790. The year 5790 is an LD2 year in the usual calendar, but an LA7 year in the calendar of Eretz Yisrael.
So, from 30 Cheshvan 5785 to 29 Kislev 5790, there is an opportunity for the level of Klal Yisrael to rise up, by annulling the Cherem of Ben Meir, and similar bans throughout history, perpetrated on individual, well-meaning Jews. More often than not, these Jews were right, and we lost the opportunity to learn from them, and even if they were not right, the issuing of a Cherem did not help in our quest for the truth.
Yes, we must change the calendar. We must not change to the calendar of Eretz Yisrael, proposed by Ben Meir. We must learn from history. The calendar was not given to us as a fixed system. It was given to us, in the sense that it is in our hands to change it. The old calendar stinks as it has stains on it. The silent agony of Ben Meir. The awkward lie that this calendar is the one that was given to us from Heaven.
If a calendar does not keep Pesach near the Spring equinox, it is incorrect. And incorrectness is not from Heaven, the place of Hashem, the place of the Truth. As the Truth has arranged things, we, the Nation of Israel, can change. And we must change, loudly and proudly. We can change, perhaps in stages, to one of the calendars that I put before you, to the Yerushalayim calendar, and/or to the new Hebrew calendar.
Kitvei ha-Rav Yehudah Alkalai, Rav Kook Institute, Jerusalem, 1975.
So, from 30 Cheshvan 5785 to 29 Kislev 5790, there is an opportunity for the level of Klal Yisrael to rise up, by annulling the Cherem of Ben Meir, and similar bans throughout history, perpetrated on individual, well-meaning Jews. More often than not, these Jews were right, and we lost the opportunity to learn from them, and even if they were not right, the issuing of a Cherem did not help in our quest for the truth.
Yes, we must change the calendar. We must not change to the calendar of Eretz Yisrael, proposed by Ben Meir. We must learn from history. The calendar was not given to us as a fixed system. It was given to us, in the sense that it is in our hands to change it. The old calendar stinks as it has stains on it. The silent agony of Ben Meir. The awkward lie that this calendar is the one that was given to us from Heaven.
If a calendar does not keep Pesach near the Spring equinox, it is incorrect. And incorrectness is not from Heaven, the place of Hashem, the place of the Truth. As the Truth has arranged things, we, the Nation of Israel, can change. And we must change, loudly and proudly. We can change, perhaps in stages, to one of the calendars that I put before you, to the Yerushalayim calendar, and/or to the new Hebrew calendar.
כי אמרתי תכתב זאת לדור אחרון, ואם לא יעשה השכל יעשה הזמן
(Harav Yehudah Alkalai)Kitvei ha-Rav Yehudah Alkalai, Rav Kook Institute, Jerusalem, 1975.