I Shmuel 20: Goodnight New Moon

No one knows for sure why the Haftorah is read every week. The practice appears in the Talmud, but no reason is given. The popular opinion is that during persecution at the hands of the Romans, when the reading of the Torah was forbidden, the Rabbis established the practice of reading a part of the book of Neviim that related to that week’s portion. The problem is that this theory only appears in commentary hundreds of years after the Roman period. The Gemara does talk about special haftorot that were read if a holiday falls out on Shabbat. When Rosh Chodesh falls out on a Sunday, the day after Shabbat, the Haftorah is chapter 20 of Samuel. The Haftorah acts as acalendar reminder with David and Jonathan’s discussion that “tomorrow is RoshChodesh.” The chapter is the first reference to a Rosh Chodesh ceremony sinceMoshe commanded the people to observe the new moon as the first mitzvah. Whatis the significance of the story taking place on the day before Rosh Chodesh? Itcould simply be that this seminal story took place on Rosh Chodesh. It was atime that David was expected to be at the king’s side for a feast. It is clearfrom this chapter that the date had strong significance in Israel at the timethat the king would have an official feast on that day. Based on David andJonathan’s alibi for David, it also seems that it was a date that familieswould get together for their own feasts. But there must have been otheroccasions for David to go missing. He was Shaul’s court musician and one of hiswarriors, so this answer does not seem fulfilling. The new moon is also the best time for a secret meeting to take place in a field. During a full moon, the sky is bright and someone could not as easily slip away into the shadows. On Rosh Chodesh, the moon is just a sliver, filling the land in darkness. Another possibility is that Rosh Chodesh and its sliver of a moon had a dual symbolism for the shift that was happening in the leadership of Israel. The new moon wasat the same time symbolic of the new kingship of David that was just forming and also symbolic of Shaul’s reign coming to an end with the light of the first king the darkest it has ever been.