Note 59 — II. OUR DUTIES. (continued 4)
Reading edition
According to Tradition, Exod. xii. 2 not only deals with the appointment of Nisan as the first month of the year, but implies also the rules for fixing ראש חדש, New-moon, or the first of the month; and this verse, with its traditional interpretation, was therefore considered as the basis of the Jewish Calendar. Hence the prominence given to this section of the Pentateuch by having it read on the 1st of Nisan or on the Sabbath before the 1st of Nisan. ↑