Zmanim For Kiddush Levana Before Shavuos 5778

Rarely do you find zmanim that are days apart based on your location, but this year, that is exactly what will happen. With Shavuos falling on a Sunday and Monday, we end up with a “three-day Yom Tov” that impacts the earliest time / zman that קידוש לבנה Kiddush Levana can be said (for those who say it 3 days after the מולד molad). With the minhag that Kiddush Levana is not said on Shabbos or Yom Tov, there is only a small chance to say Kiddush Levana on Thursday night based on your location. The molad for the month of Sivan was at 6:00:23 am in Yerushalayim (5:21 am and 6 chalakim local mean time using the traditional calculation) on Rosh Chodesh Sivan, Tuesday May 15. This results in techilas zman kiddush levana 3 days later at 6:00:23 am Friday morning May 18. This is well after the moon sets, and actually after the sun rises. It can’t be said on Friday night, or Motzai Shabbos since it is Yom Tov. The earliest it can be said in Israel is on Sunday night. Much farther west in NY or Lakewood, NJ, where 2 days of Yom Tov are observed you get close to being able to say it on Thursday night, but not close enough. Kiddush Lavena could theoretically be said at 11:00 pm Thursday night, but by that time, the moon will already set (at 10:38 pm in Lakewood, and at 10:39 pm in Brooklyn, NY) and you end up having to wait until Monday night to say Kiddush Levana. From 11:00 pm on Monday night, even those who do not recite Kiddush Levana until 7 days after the molad can say it (moonset is at 1:20 am). Traveling farther west to Cleveland, OH with a moon set of 11:14 pm would seem to allow Kiddush Levana to be said on Thursday night. However, with the moon this close to the horizon, it would be almost impossible to see the moon and say Kiddush Levana on Thursday night before the moon set. Going a little farther west, we hit the first locations that can say Kiddush Levana on Thursday night. Chicago (and other areas along their longitude) with a techilas zman Kiddush Levana of 10:00 pm and a moonset of 10:40 pm would likely be the first places in the world to say Kiddush Levana this year.
Thus, from Chicago to the west coast of the USA and Canada, Kiddush Levana can be said 3 days before Israel, and 4 days before Europe and eastern USA and Canada.