Our Gemara on Amud Aleph provides an aggadic backstory to explain why King Chizkiyahu sought atonement. The verse in Divrei Hayamim II (30:2) states:

“The good LORD will provide atonement for everyone who set his mind on worshiping God, the LORD God of his fathers, even if he is not purified for the sanctuary.”

The Gemara explains:

There was an incident involving Chizkiyahu, king of Yehuda, who intercalated the year due to ritual impurity (II Chronicles 30:2). And after doing so, he requested atonement for himself, as it is written: “For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Menashe, Yissachar and Zevulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the pesach offering in violation of what was written.”

Rabbi Shimon says…if ritual impurity is ultimately a legitimate reason for intercalating the year, for what reason did Chizkiyahu request atonement for himself? Because the court may intercalate only the month of Adar, and he intercalated the month of Nisan during the month of Nisan itself.

On a simple reading of the verse, it appears that Chizkiyahu sought atonement on behalf of the Jewish people for eating the Pesach Sacrifice while impure. However, the aggadic interpretation adds a more complex layer: Chizkiyahu overstepped his authority by declaring a leap year at an unsanctioned time — in the month of Nisan itself, rather than in Adar, as halakha requires.

The Malbim offers a clever synthesis of these two perspectives. He explains that Chizkiyahu took extraordinary action, hoping that the ends would justify the means. By adding a leap month, even in an improper fashion, he intended to create additional time for the Jewish people to purify themselves properly so they could bring the Korban Pesach in a state of purity. However, despite his efforts, many Jews remained negligent and did not purify themselves in time. This failure compounded Chizkiyahu’s sin, as the very justification for his controversial action was ultimately defeated.

This idea has echoes in our Rosh Chodesh Musaf liturgy. During the Musaf of Rosh Chodesh for all the months of a leap year (up until the added leap month), we add the phrase “u-lechaparas pesha” — “and to seek atonement for transgressions.” Eliyahu Rabbah (423:6) and Boruch Sheamar (335) explain that this additional supplication is connected to Chizkiyahu’s request for atonement. The Boruch Sheamar suggests that every Jewish court is anxious that it may have miscalculated the leap year. Such a miscalculation would disrupt the observance of the yamim tovim for the entire year. Therefore, a preemptive request for forgiveness is included as part of the Musaf liturgy, just as King Chizkiyahu so forgiveness for his improper ruling.

But what is the deeper connection between the leap year and the need for forgiveness? If we follow the Malbim’s peshat, Chizkiyahu’s sin was not merely technical but conceptual. His mistake was the result of good intentions gone wrong — a classic case of hoping that the ends would justify the means, only to have the effort backfire. His leap month failed to achieve its goal, and this failure added weight to his error.

This idea has profound relevance to all of us. Life is filled with judgment calls. As we reflect on our actions from the past month with an eye toward the future, we often face similar dilemmas. Life is messy, and decisions are rarely clear-cut. Parents, educators, and leaders make calculated risks, hoping that their choices will lead to the desired outcomes. But outcomes are beyond our control, and sometimes our best efforts fall short. Like Chizkiyahu, we must take responsibility for those miscalculations, even if our intentions were noble.

The lesson of “u-lechaparas pesha” is that we all seek atonement for these moments. Whether we are members of a Sanhedrin calculating the leap year or parents making choices for our children, we face the same human condition: we act with limited knowledge and hope for the best. We ask for Divine compassion and understanding, hoping that our intentions were sincere, even if our judgment was flawed.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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