Where can it be shown that the New Moon is a Sabbath – that no trade or heavy labour can be done on this day?
The clearest texts we have are in Exodus at the Sanctification of the Temple as a Day of Solemn Assembly and also in Amos 8:5. Amos castigates Israel for wanting the Sabbath and New Moon to be ended so that they could commence trading. They were keeping them, but God was unhappy that they were not keeping them with a whole heart and they wanted them to end to begin trading. Amos 8:5 5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great, and deal deceitfully with false balances, (RSV) Amos 8:5 which is the only other place which talks of trade and a New Moon is ambiguous. Is it a general reference to all new moons or could it relate to Trumpets only, or could it even be a reference to a seasonal requirement as with new and old harvest restrictions marked by the offering of the wave sheaf? There is nothing in this verse to indicate that it is dealing with any specific har
