שלא לברך על הלבנהThe Moon on a Festival Night

she-lo le-varekh al ha-levanahIn Gamatria ↗

Once she has risen, do not bring her down.

Irgas is asked for a hidden reason behind a ruling of the codifiers: when a festival begins on Saturday night, the new moon is not blessed. Their stated reason, he says, does not satisfy. He borrows a rule from the Ari's Kavvanot on Ḥanukkah. On Friday the Ḥanukkah lamp is lit before the Sabbath candles, because the feminine, Malkhut, should rise step by step. Once the Sabbath has lifted her to the head, how could Ḥanukkah's light return her down to netzaḥ, hod and yesod? The moon blessing works the same way. In its three leaps the moon rises through ḥesed, gevurah and tiferet of Ze'ir Anpin to join her husband. On a festival, a 'holy convocation', she has already risen to the supernal Imma. Blessing the moon then would bring her down again.

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