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Tashlich is performed just once over the two days of Rosh Hashanah, usually on the first day (unless that's Shabbos)

If one had a personal ritual / event one liked to perform / hold each month to mark Rosh Chodesh then, in those instances when Rosh Chodesh lasts two days, the 30th of the old month and the 1st of the new month, would it be better to perform / hold it on the first or the second day? (Supplementary question: if practical, would it be ideal to perform it on both days?)

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    Note Rosh Hashana is on days 1 and 2 not 30 and 1
    – Double AA ♦
    Aug 4, 2015 at 18:01
  • @DoubleAA - indeed this made it less useful as a hint: is Tashlich on day 1 so as be done asap, or done on day 1 because day 1 is generally pre-eminent?
    – chrysanthemum
    Aug 4, 2015 at 18:05
  • Extra thought: if one has saved new clothes to be worn for the first time on Rosh Chodesh, obviously they can't be worn for the first time on both days
    – chrysanthemum
    Aug 4, 2015 at 18:10
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    As an aside, Tashlich doesn't have to be done on Rosh Hashanah; any of the 10 days work. As a matter of fact, one place I've attended specifically requested its' constituents not to do Tashlich on Rosh Hashanah, as it was becoming too much of a 'social scene' not befitting for one of the most somber days of the year.
    – Salmononius2
    Aug 4, 2015 at 19:18

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The gemara in Maseches Nedarim Daf 60b (Art Scrool 60b2) says that if a neder is made "for a month), it starts on the first day of Rosh Chodesh (the 30th of the preceding month) if it starts with two days Rosh Chodesh. If it ends with two days Rosh Codesh, the first day of Rosh Chodesh is treated as the neder having ended even though it is technically the 30th day of the current month.

This is at the top of 60b2 and explained in notes 11-15.

Extrapolating from this, you would observe your holiday on the first day of Rosh Chodesh, if you said your minhag is to do this on Rosh Chodesh. If you said "the first of the month" (meaning the date) then you would do it on the second day of Rosh Chodesh. If you said "the start of the month" the Gemara says that the first day of Rosh Chodesh is treated as the start of the month in normal speech.

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  • Note that this answer applies assuming that people still colloquially use the terms "Rosh Chodesh" and "for a month" the same way they did 1500 years ago.
    – Double AA ♦
    Aug 4, 2015 at 21:03
  • @DoubleAA When talking about "Rosh Chodeh" people seem to do that. At least that is the way I have heard them speak.
    – sabbahillel
    Aug 4, 2015 at 21:12
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We call the two days of Rosh Hashana "1" and "2" (of Tishre) because we know the correct day of RH is the day we call "1" (and indeed Israelis keep only "15" as yom tov, not "16"). Similarly, we call the two days of rosh chodesh "30 and "1" because we know the correct day of RC is the day we call "1" (and indeed we keep "17" (of Tamuz) as a fast, not "16"). So the second day of RC is preeminent.

However, I don't know the answer to your question about when to perform a personal event that one likes to perform on RC. I guess he can perform it whenever he likes, or both days: I doubt Jewish law or philosophy has anything to say about when one should do something that he likes to do on RC. That said, Mishna B'rura 417:4 gives preeminence to the second day of RC with respect to one particular RC practice.

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