What is Rosh Chodesh?
Rosh Chodesh — which literally means “head of the month” — is the minor holiday that marks the beginning of every Hebrew month. The Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar, so the months are based on the lunar cycle and years are counted based on solar years. The calendar year has twelve lunar months of twenty-nine or thirty days, with an extra "leap" month (called Adar II) added periodically to synchronize the twelve lunar cycles with the longer solar year. (These extra months are added seven times every nineteen years). The occurrence of Rosh Chodesh was originally confirmed on the testimony of witnesses observing the new moon, but is now a fixed calendar - just a different one than the Gregorian/secular calendar (which is a solar calendar).
Women on Rosh Chodesh
Rosh Chodesh has long been considered a special holiday for women. Some say that this is because the women of Israel did not offer their jewelry for the creation of the Golden Calf. As a result, they were given Rosh Chodesh as a day when they could abstain from work. To this day, some women refrain from some forms of labor on Rosh Chodesh. Others have connected the waxing and waning of the moon to a woman’s menstrual cycle.
Today, woman-centered Rosh Chodesh observances vary from group to group, but many are centered on small gatherings of women, called Rosh Chodesh groups. There is often a particular interest in the Shekinah, considered by the kabbalah to be a feminine aspect of G!d. These groups engage in a wide variety of activities that center around issues important to Jewish women, depending on the preference of the group's members. Many Rosh Chodesh groups explore spirituality, religious education, ritual, health issues, music, chanting, art, and/or cooking. Some groups also choose to educate young Jewish women in their community about sexuality, self-image, and other women's mental and physical health issues.
Whatever the reason, Rosh Chodesh has long been a time for Jewish women to gather for a wide variety of activities, from reciting traditional liturgy to sharing a meal, discussing Jewish ethics, and working for social change.