<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 7:09 PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:T613K@aol.com">T613K@aol.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
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<div><font style="background-color: transparent;" color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2">From: <a href="mailto:rabbirichwolpoe@gmail.com" target="_blank">rabbirichwolpoe@gmail.com</a><div class="im"><br> <br> >>
Also see above that the Aruch Laner that states "New moon is never<br>visible in
the morning" <<<br><br>>>>>></div></font></div>
<div><font style="background-color: transparent;" color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2">Those of you with scientific knowledge -- is this true?
</font></div></div></div></font></div></blockquote><div><br>Yes.<br><br>As you quote below, "each <font color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2"><font style="background-color: transparent;" color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2"> day the moon rises and sets about
fifty minutes later than the previous day. In the middle of the lunar
month when the moon is full, it rises at about sunset and sets at about
sunrise." Around new moon</font></font> it rises at about sunrise and sets at about sunset.<br><br>So the moon can't be seen during the day around full moon, when it is only in the sky during the night, and around new moon when it is too close to the sun and its light is lost in the glare (except in the case of a solar eclipse). A day or two before the molad it is rising a little before the sun, and is close enough to the sun that it can only be seen after moonrise and before sunrise; and a day or two after the molad it is setting a little after the sun and close enough that it can only be seen after sunset and before moonset -- which was the time when potential eidim looked out for it.<br>
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<div><font style="background-color: transparent;" color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2">Re Ber. 19:23, Sodom was destroyed as the sun rose. Rashi says
there it was the time when the sun and the moon are both in the sky (so that
sun-worshippers and moon-worshippers would both see that their gods could not
save them). A/S in a footnote says, "Each day the moon rises and sets about
fifty minutes later than the previous day. In the middle of the lunar
month when the moon is full, it rises at about sunset and sets at about
sunrise. Thus, on the dawn of the sixteenth of Nisan, the day on which
Sodom was destroyed, the sun and the moon are both visible at dawn." This
seems to indicate that only the full moon, but not the new moon, is visible
at dawn. <br></font></div></div></font></div></blockquote><div><br>Digression: one might ask why davka the 16th, since the moon is visible at dawn throughout the second half of the lunar month. I believe this is because AZ connected to the moon (and some modern superstitions) believed that the power of the moon varies with its phases, so that they would have expected it to be it at its most powerful at this time, thus making the lesson most effective.<br>
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<div><font style="background-color: transparent;" color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2">However, see this picture that I found of the new moon apparently visible
at dawn -- or perhaps this is just /before/ dawn and once the sun rises, the new
moon will no longer be visible?</font></div>
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<div><a href="http://thegreenbelt.blogspot.com/2009/05/sky-watch-new-moon-and-morning-star-2.html" target="_blank">http://thegreenbelt.blogspot.com/2009/05/sky-watch-new-moon-and-morning-star-2.html</a></div></div></div>
</font></div></blockquote><div><br>That's not the new moon, it's the old moon. How do I know? Firstly because the moon has a "D" shape in the first half of the month and a "C" shape in the second half (mnemonic: it's the opposite of what you would expect: C for Crescendus and D for Decrescendus), and secondly because the blogpost is dated May 24 2009 and says the picture was taken "Tuesday morning", which would put it on 25 Iyyar)<br>
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