Mount Sartova A Rosh Chodesh Signal This Shabbat there will be a
special Torah reading called Parshat Hachodesh which recalls the
first mitzvah given to the Jewish People – the sanctification of
the new month. Once the Sanhedrin in Yerushalayim determined, on
the basis of testimony by witnesses who had sighted the new
moon, that a particular day was to be Rosh Chodesh, it was
necessary to communicate this information to the Jews living in
Babylon. This was achieved by waving large flaming torches on
high places whose fire could be seen from one place to another
until the message finally reached Babylon. Mount Sartova, about
830 meters above sea level, was the second station after Mount
of Olives where the first torch was waved. It was followed by
another three stations, the last of which was Beit Baltin, from
which the torch waver could see a part of Babylon lit up with
fires, indicating that the message of the new moon had been
received.