Exodus 12: Like Diamonds in the Sky

“This month shall be for you the first of the months”הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים (Exodus 12:2).Rashi famously asks why this verse was not the first verse of the Torah. This is the very first mitzvah given to the Israelite nation. Rashi’s answer is that Genesis until now was setting the stage to show that God was the true custodian of the world and therefore could give the Land of Canaan to the Israelites. What Rashi’s answer does not address is why this was the first mitzvah given to the nation.To answer this question, we must go back to Abraham and the covenant of the parts. In chapter 15 of Genesis, God promised Abraham two things. The first is that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign land and the second is that they would be as numerous as the stars in the sky:יָדֹעַ תֵּדַע כִּי־גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה... וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה וַיֹּאמֶר הַבֶּט־נָא הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וּסְפֹר הַכּוֹכָבִים אִם־תּוּכַל לִסְפֹּר אֹתָם וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ (Genesis 15:13, 15:5).The connection with the promise that they will be slaves in a foreign land is clear with this chapter. Now, following slavery in Egypt, the Israelites are ready to leave and become a nation. What is the connection of the stars? The answer to that is a little bit of astronomy. The new moon, which is the beginning of the month, is when the moon is just a sliver in the sky. Without the bright moonlight, stars are allowed to shine even brighter. The new moon is the best time for stargazing. Therefore, when God promised Abraham that his descendants, the Israelites, would be as numerous as the stars, it must have happened at the first of the month. This would provide Abraham with the most dramatic effect of the promise.But why stars? By picking the first of the month when the moon is least visible and the stars are shining the brightest, God is also sending a message to the Israelites. For the past year He had been showing them the strength and power of God in order to get them out of Egypt, and now they were becoming a nation. God‘s message is: sometimes, like with the plagues, God will be the one who shines bright. However, now that the Israelites will be a nation, it is their job to shine brightly as well and not always rely on the bright moon to shield them.