It is so very dark outside. No wonder. My nifty moon-phase, desk-top gadget tells me that 0% of the earth-side moonface is lit up. It is, after all, the start of a new month. The moon is rising and setting with the sun, hanging out between us and Sol, so the illuminated side of the moon is totally facing away from the earth.

It is hard for us to imagine what such a dark night must have felt like centuries ago, especially for the poor for whom candles and oil were spare and expensive commodities. Today, we just flip the switch and light comes on. Even for the poorest among us, light is not so expensive. If we have power at all, we have light.

But ages ago, to light up a dark night was an indulgence that many could not readily afford. They had to save fuel and lighting supplies for the essentials: warmth, cooking and lighting the home when people were supposed to awake or work needed to be done. To burn precious resources to ward off the terrors of the night was a spiritual luxury only the comfortable could afford.

Why not, then, turn the darkest night of the month into a time of celebration, a time of expected, even mandated light?

So it was in Jerusalem in the days of old. Witnesses from the country-side surrounding the great city were bidden to come to Jerusalem upon glimpsing the first sight of the sliver of the new moon. The date and time of the new moon were not predicted, after all, as is done today. The calendar was not pre-set. The beginning of the month was only declared after either (1) the new moon was officially declared by the Sanhedrin, the high court of Israel, to have been seen or (2) if the nights were cloudy, only after the last possible time of its appearance was at hand.

So, every month, the watch was on! Since the new moon rises with the sun, potential witnesses, eager for the honor of ushering in the new month, would rise early, too. Should they see the new moon, they would hightail it to Jerusalem. There, they would be questioned about the shape and time and details of the moon-rise. If everything passed muster, the new month would be declared.

And to encourage the populace to serve as these first responders, to entice them to make the long journey despite any inconvenience, for the witnesses were all volunteers, they were feted once they were in Jerusalem. A feast was laid out for them all, and their efforts and alertness were celebrated. So the darkest nights of the month were greeted with anticipation, and the second darkest nights of the month were punctuated with torches and company and food and celebration.

What’s not to like about such a new moon and such dark nights? May you too celebrate this turning of time toward a new moon, a new month, and a new season of renewal.