The month of Nissan has the distinction of being designated as the first month of the year.
HaShem said to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt, saying: This month shall be for you the beginning of the months; it shall be for you the first of the months of the year.
This commandment is considered the first commandment for Israel in the Torah, followed by the laws of the Pessach sacrifice and the exodus from Egypt.
This chapter is so important for underlining the special status of this month that on the the Shabbat when we bless the new month we read it for Maftir and the Shabbat is called shabbat hachodesh.
This commandment, according to the Sages, established the lunar calendars as the basis for defining the month. When the moon reappears, the month starts and lasts 29.5 days. This gives us a year of 354 days, which causes a lagging behind the solar year, which has 365.25 days. To remedy this situation, the Jewish calendar adds a month, Adar II, seven times in a cycle of nineteen years. This is to assure that Nissan, the month of àáéá is really in the Spring season.
The seasons are determined by the relative position of the Globe to the sun. This brings us to point out that we are privileged this year to perform a îöåä that occurs only once in twenty eight years the blessing of the sun.
The Gemara says:
Our Sages taught: When one sees the sun in its season… should say: Blessed be He who created the Beginning - and when does this happen? Abbaye says: every twenty eight years.
The circling of earth around the sun determines the seasons. In Nissan the spring season starts, but its beginning is not always on the same date, because we do not have an exact 364 days that can be divided into four seasons of 91 days. Our Sages took into consideration the exact numbers which had to be adjusted to figure out when the sun will be on the same spot as it was when it was put in the firmament by HaShem in îòùä áøàùéú. The day was Wednesday. So on Wednesday, the cycle of the twenty eight years will be completed and we shall recite the blessing, which is mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch.
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