Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 23:24

בחדש השביעי. כי תחלת החשבון מניסן כי בו יצאנו ממצרים ועוד כי אביב השעורים תחלה ואחר כן בכורי קציר חטים ואחר כך באספך את מעשיך ואלה המועדים תלוים להיותם בימים הנזכרים: IN THE SEVENTH MONTH. We begin the count of months from Nisan,¹⁸⁷See Ex. 12:2. for we then left Egypt. Furthermore, the festival of the new ears of barley¹⁸⁸The omer. comes first,¹⁸⁹Scripture lists it first. Or it is first in the agricultural year. next come the first-fruits of wheat harvest (Ex. 34:22),¹⁹⁰Shavu’ot. and then the time when you gather in the produce of your work (Deut. 16:13).¹⁹¹Sukkot. These festivals are contingent upon the days that are mentioned.¹⁹²In our Torah portion.

ואחר שאמר לתקוע בחצוצרות בכל חדש הנה זכרון תרועה גם יום תרועה מצוה לתקוע בשופר וכן ביום הכפורים ואני הנה ארמוז לך סודות ושים לבך אולי תבינם אמרו המעתיקים שיום ראש השנה יום הדין וטעם התרועה זכר למלכיות השם ואחר שהעיקר כל ר״ח היה ראש חדש ניסן נכבד כי בו הוקם המשכן ובעתיד אמר יחזקאל בראשון באחד לחדש וכן תעשה בשבעה בעבור המרובע והנה חמשה עשר לנכח ויום שביעי גם מרובע ופסח שני יתחלפו הגדול והקטן על כן יום ראש השנה גדול מכולם אף על פי שהוא יום דין אסור להתענות בו ועזרא יוכיח ויום הכפורים הקטן במחברת והנה סכות כחג פסח רק שמיני ואין שביעי ומזה יתברר לך הסוד וסוד השבת: Scripture commands that trumpets are to be sounded on all new moons.¹⁹³Num. 10:10. It follows from the aforementioned that zikhron tru’ah (a memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns) and yom tru’ah (a day of blowing the horn) refer to the sounding of a shofar.¹⁹⁴Not to trumpets, for otherwise Scripture would have referred to the new moon as a yom tru’ah, or Scripture would have explicitly stated that trumpets be sounded on Rosh Ha-Shanah. Similarly, on Yom Kippur.¹⁹⁵The Torah commands that a shofar tru’ah be sounded on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year. See Lev. 25:9. I will hint at some secrets to you. Pay attention. Perhaps you will understand them. The transmitters of tradition said that Rosh Ha-Shanah is a day of judgment and that the sounding of the shofar proclaims the kingdom of God.¹⁹⁶See Rosh Ha-Shanah 16a. Now, since the new moon¹⁹⁷The first day of the month. is the most important [day of the month], the first month of Nisan¹⁹⁸The first month. The point is just as the first day of the month is special, so is the first month. is the most glorious month because the tabernacle was erected then. Ezekiel in speaking of the future says, In the first month, in the first day of the month (Ezek. 45:18). Similarly, And so thou shalt do on the seventh day of the month (Ezek. 40:20) because of the quarter.¹⁹⁹The seventh day of the month marks a quarter of the month. That day has astrological significance. Note,²⁰⁰I.E. points out that the days on which the festivals fall have astronomical significance. the 15th day of the month²⁰¹When Passover falls. corresponds to the time when one half of the month faces the other half.²⁰²The 15th day of the month marks half a month. The seventh day²⁰³Of Passover. is also a quarter.²⁰⁴Of the month. On the second Passover²⁰⁵Those who for certain stated reasons could not observe it in the first month slaughtered the paschal lamb on the 14th day of the second month and ate it on the eve of the 15th. See Num. 8:6-12. the great²⁰⁶The true Passover. and the small²⁰⁷Those who could not observe the first Passover offer the Passover sacrifices on this day. I.E’s point is that the second Passover, like the first, is observed in the middle of the month which he believed had astronomical significance. interchange.²⁰⁸The substitute or second Passover is then observed (Weiser). The day of Rosh Ha-Shanah is therefore greater²⁰⁹It falls at the time of the new moon, it falls on the first day of the first quarter of the month, and it is the day on which the world was created. That day is thus more significant than the other days mentioned (Weiser). than all of them. Now, even though it is the Day of Judgment it is prohibited to fast on it. The Book of Ezra shows that this is the case.²¹⁰Ezra told the people to eat and enjoy themselves on Rosh Ha-Shanah. See Neh. 8:2-10. I.E. considered Ezra and Nehemiah as one book. On Yom Kippur the small light²¹¹The moon. is in the conjunction.²¹²In a propitious heavenly conjunction. Some interpret I.E. as referring to the end of the first third of the month. If we divide the month into three parts then the moon is most powerful on the 10th day of the month, for on the 20th it is waning and at the 30th it is invisible. Others say that the moon and sun are then in Saturn’s “house,” which is good for the moon and unfavorable for the sun. Note, Sukkot is like Passover.²¹³Both fall in the middle of the month. However, its eighth day, not its seventh, is a festival. From this, the secret²¹⁴Of why the festivals fall on certain days. and the secret of the Sabbath²¹⁵Why the Sabbath falls on the seventh day. According to I.E. the Sabbath falls on the seventh day because the seventh day has astrological significance. See I.E. on Lev. 13:2 and Gen. 8:5 (Vol. 1, p. 114). will become clear to you.