Rosh Chodesh
The new crescent moon was sighted from Israel on the evening of 10/4/2024, making the first day of the 8th scriptural month 10/5/2024.
The Rosh Chodesh was sighted from the Zevulun Valley at 6:42pm by Yoel Halevi and his wife, and by two other people also in northern Israel.
For those of you who are celebrating this new moon as the 7th scriptural month according to the mainstream Rabbinical calendar, which has “Rosh Hashanah” on 10/2/2024 as the first day of the month, you may want to hold your horses and maybe celebrate a couple more days. The Torah says in no uncertain terms that this festival must be on the first day of the month – the new moon. There was no way, anywhere on earth, that a new moon was sighted on 10/2/2024. In fact, no new moon could have even been sighted in Israel on 10/3/2024. It is not possible.
Three criteria which absolutely establish whether the moon can be seen are:
1. Fraction of illumination – the disc of the moon must be illuminated by at least 1%
2. Lag Time – the distance between sunset and moonset must be at least 27 minutes
3. Geocentric Elongation – the subtended angle between sun, moon, and earth must be at least 10%
It takes roughly 29.5 days for a complete lunation, meaning no new moon can be seen prior to day 29. On 10/2/2024 it was only the 28thday since the last new moon. On the evening of 10/3/2024, the following criteria were established:
1. Fraction of illumination – 0.7%
2. Lag Time – 17 minutes
3. Geocentric Elongation – 9.3%
A failure to meet any one of the above absolute established minimums will result in a new moon not being seen. As you can see, even on 10/3/2024, not one of those were met. Those who celebrated their festival on either of those days, celebrated them in the wrong month. No new moon was sighted until 10/4/2024.