The Jewish Year Seen Through Its Months SeasonsSeasons ofof thethe MoonMoon
The Month of Cheshvan Cheshvan 5759 / Oct. 21, 1998 - Nov. 19, 1998
krav is a water sign. Its the However, G-d did not command its Atime of year when rain is plen- THIS MONTHS SIGN inauguration until the following tiful. The connection to water Tishrei some twelve months later. is also clear in Cheshvans association Akrav / Scorpio But Cheshvan will eventually lose with the great flood, when water its bitterness, because it is in the destroyed the earth. For this reason, this month is also called month of Cheshvan that the third, and final, Beis HaMikdash MarCheshvan, or bitter Cheshvan. (Temple) will be inaugurated. Another reason for the bitterness of Cheshvan: Cheshvan In a way, Cheshvan is a parable for the history of the Jewish is the only month of the year that has no Yom Tov, no festival People. When we look at our history, it seems fraught with bit- of its own. terness, rejection and hardship. But in the end, the bitter sting Really, there should have been a festival to inaugurate the of the scorpion will be transformed into the greatest sweetness, First Temple, which Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon) com- when all the nations will come to realize who the Jewish People pleted during Cheshvan after seven years of building. are and who they have always been.
f you want someone to be quiet, if you want them in the inner world of the heart. In the cosmos, world to listen, you raise your finger to your lips and say shattering events are taking place. All the dwellers of Ishh! This sound of air flow- earth pass before the Divine ing over the lips is the univer- THE SOUNDS Throne like sheep. Nations are sal sign to be still, to be quiet. The judged. Fortunes are made and English word hush is connected OF SILENCE lost. Earthquakes and hurricanes with this sound. Strikingly, the are prepared and canceled. And same sound appears in the in the inner world, the heart of name of our month man is pierced to the very Cheshvan. The root of the quick and examined in all- word Cheshvan is chash penetrating detail. The which in Hebrew means quiet. inquiry is total. In the end it The very name of the month hinges on a single question: commands us to be still, to be Whose side are we on? Are we quiet. What is this stillness like the goat in the Yom that is Cheshvan? Kippur service who is offered It is two months since the up on the altar of the living G- beginning of Elul. The shofar d? Or are we the goat that is blast which begins the month sent to Azazel? the goat of Elul signals the onset of the which represents the forces of gathering storm. A cataclysm denial that lurk in the heart. is about to be unleashed. And This goat watches his near- on Rosh Hashana, the entire twin offered on the holy altar world stands at attention in front of the Master. The and thinks That idiot! Look at him now! Offered up storm has broken; a storm in the cosmos and a storm on the altar, his life-blood daubed on its corners! But
Continued over seasons of the moon
THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE continued
Im getting away! Im getting out of here! His ela- returns to the solitude of its homes. tion, however, is short-lived. In just a short while, he The month of Cheshvan says to us Hush! Be still is ignominiously pushed over a cliff, and his body is and listen to your heart! Listen to the quiet after the torn limb from limb on the jagged rocks. storm. Listen to the still small voice of the soul Someone once said about Life: No one gets out washed pure by the great storm of Tishrei! of here alive. The question is: How will we use the In Hebrew the word for the senses is chushim, time that we have? Will we offer to dedicate our which is connected to the word chash silence. lives to G-ds eternal Torah, or will we try and fool For the senses operate in silence. They are the silent ourselves into thinking that we can escape mortality recorders of reality. They record in silence and they and live forever? Will we recognize that life has been play back their message in silence. And to decode given to us to strive for eternity by following in the what our senses tell us when they replay the souls path of G-d, or will we fritter our time away trying to diary of the month of Tishrei, we must listen to the immortalize ourselves through fame or cryogenics? sounds of their silence. Whichever choice we make, no one gets out of here Thus, even though Cheshvan is devoid of festivals, alive. it is in a sense one of the most important times of the After the great storm-tossed moments of Truth year. It is a period when we can reflect on what we that we experience during the Days of Awe, we leave have learned during the Days of Awe. In the tran- the trappings of our false security and dwell in the suc- quility of our homes, in the hush of Cheshvan, we can cah under the shade of faith. In the times of the Holy reflect on what those days taught us. We can look at Temple all of Israel would gather in Jerusalem, living our lives through the wistful eyes of autumn. As the as one nation under G-d. After G-d keeps us close to leaves fall, we reflect how transitory is our brief walk Him for one more day on Shemini Atzeres, we return on this planet. How much have we made of that most to our normal lives. The great storm is over. Israel precious gift called time? TEASER
Autumn is a beautiful evening, Every Jew is a stone-mason Falling like yards of ochre tulle, Hewing his heart All that is left of the train of Summer To build a universal space As she rounds the bend and is no more. Out of time, timelessly, The Golden Hour darkens to a deep flame red. Where G-d and Man The time of dwelling together is passed. Will meet on un-equal And each of us must take our leave un-ending terms. back to a winter solitude.
Sources: Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch
SEASONS OF THE MOON is written by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair and edited by Rabbi Moshe Newman. Designed and Produced by the Office of Communications - Rabbi Eliezer Shapiro, Director Published by OHR SOMAYACH/TANENBAUM COLLEGE, 22 Shimon HaTzadik Street, Jerusalem, Israel. tel: 972-2-581-0315; fax: 972-2-581-2890; e-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://www.ohr.org.il © 1998 All Rights Reserved This publication contains words of Torah. Please treat it with due respect.