**Visit our newest service: www.DAILYTEHILLIM.com**
Each month, we recite the Birkat Halebana blessing over the new moon. How early in the month may one recite this Beracha?
The Rashbetz (Rabbi Shimon Ben Semah Duran of Algiers, 1361-1444) held that one may recite Birkat Halebana immediately after the Molad – the first appearance of the new moon. In fact, he maintains that it is preferable to recite this Beracha as soon after the Molad as possible, in accordance with the fundamental Halachic principle of "Zerizin Makdimin Le’misvot" (one should always perform Misvot with zeal and alacrity). Rabbenu Yona (Spain, 1180-1263), by contrast, held that one may not recite Birkat Halebana until three days have passed since the Molad. According to this view, the small size of the moon during the first three days does not offer any benefit in terms of light, and therefore one cannot recite the Beracha during that period.
There is a third position, as well, which requires waiting seven days after the Molad before reciting Birkat Halebana. This is the view held by the Kabbalists, including the Ben Ish Hai (Rabbi Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909) and others. This is also the view of Maran (author of the Shulhan Aruch) both in his Maggid Mesharim (a record of the Torah taught to him by an angel) and the Shulhan Aruch. It must be emphasized that the Kabbalists are particularly strict in this regard, and insist on waiting seven days after the Molad before reciting Birkat Halebana, and this is indeed the proper practice.
However, Hacham Ovadia Yosef rules in his work Yehave Da’at (2:24) that in places where the skies are often cloudy during the winter months, one may recite Birkat Halebana before the seventh day under certain circumstances. If, for example, the skies are clear three or four nights after the Molad, and by delaying the recitation one might forfeit the opportunity to recite the Beracha that month, then he should recite the Beracha on that night. So long as three nights have passed since the Molad, one may be lenient in situations where he might otherwise run the risk of missing Birkat Halebana that month. Otherwise, one should certainly wait until seven days have passed before reciting the Beracha.
It must be emphasized that we speak of seven days past the Molad, and not seven days after Rosh Hodesh. One must therefore consult a calendar that presents the Molad times in order to determine the earliest time for reciting Birkat Halebana.
Summary: One should not recite Birkat Halebana until seven days have passed since the Molad (the first appearance of the new moon), as printed in the calendars. In places with frequent cloud cover during the winter months, there is room to allow reciting the Beracha already three nights after the Molad, if otherwise one runs the risk of missing the Beracha altogether.
