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Ep. 2 // the Hebrew Month of Cheshvan and the Mazal / Zodiac Scorpio
The Second Month: Cheshvan
We have just left the month of Tishrei, the first in the year 5782. Tishrei is essentially half holiday - we had Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are extremely holy days and Sukkot is one of the Shalosh Regalim, the 3 Pilgrimage Holidays that in Temple-times would be one of the 3 times a year that Jews from all over would make the journey to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) to the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple.
The first 10 days of Tishrei, the 10 days from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are referred to as the Yamim Noraim, or the Days of Awe. The Yamim Noraim are this extremely concentrated, holy time. We're in metaphorical hot water during the Yamim Noraim, and if we're tea leaves, we are being brewed in a very intense way. These 10 days are our time to make our spiritual "tea concentrate" for the rest of the year. I don't know about you, but I don't spend full days reflecting in shul unless I absolutely have to. During the high holidays, we're consistently in shul, we're reflecting, we're actively working on bettering ourselves and we are expected to take this energy with us into the rest of the months.
Then the chagim are over and we enter the month of Cheshvan. A month with 0 holidays. Seriously! The Jewish calendar is notoriously packed with fasts, festivals, and other events, but this month of Cheshvan has a grand total of 0. Because of this fact, Cheshvan is also known as MarCheshvan. Mar can be translated as "bitter," referencing the fact that this month lacks any of the festival-related sweetness. Mar can also mean "a drop of water." This month is connected to water in a few ways. We add a sentence in the Amidah praying for rain in the land of Israel, and the Great Flood, the Mabul, of the story of Noach / Noah happened in the month of Cheshvan.
Tishrei is a month of prayer, asking G-d for the tools to succeed. We are saturated with blessings, with closeness to G-d. And then we enter Cheshvan, full of the seeds and potential for growth, only needing the water of Cheshvan to make our potential (seeds / deeds / plants / work etc) flourish. Water implies Avodat HaAretz, or working of the land. We can sow and plant, but if we lack water, the crops we plant will not flourish.
Cont’d…
For full text, email me at [email protected] or join my email list here.
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By Shira Kaplan
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The Second Month: Cheshvan
We have just left the month of Tishrei, the first in the year 5782. Tishrei is essentially half holiday - we had Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are extremely holy days and Sukkot is one of the Shalosh Regalim, the 3 Pilgrimage Holidays that in Temple-times would be one of the 3 times a year that Jews from all over would make the journey to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) to the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple.
The first 10 days of Tishrei, the 10 days from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are referred to as the Yamim Noraim, or the Days of Awe. The Yamim Noraim are this extremely concentrated, holy time. We're in metaphorical hot water during the Yamim Noraim, and if we're tea leaves, we are being brewed in a very intense way. These 10 days are our time to make our spiritual "tea concentrate" for the rest of the year. I don't know about you, but I don't spend full days reflecting in shul unless I absolutely have to. During the high holidays, we're consistently in shul, we're reflecting, we're actively working on bettering ourselves and we are expected to take this energy with us into the rest of the months.
Then the chagim are over and we enter the month of Cheshvan. A month with 0 holidays. Seriously! The Jewish calendar is notoriously packed with fasts, festivals, and other events, but this month of Cheshvan has a grand total of 0. Because of this fact, Cheshvan is also known as MarCheshvan. Mar can be translated as "bitter," referencing the fact that this month lacks any of the festival-related sweetness. Mar can also mean "a drop of water." This month is connected to water in a few ways. We add a sentence in the Amidah praying for rain in the land of Israel, and the Great Flood, the Mabul, of the story of Noach / Noah happened in the month of Cheshvan.
Tishrei is a month of prayer, asking G-d for the tools to succeed. We are saturated with blessings, with closeness to G-d. And then we enter Cheshvan, full of the seeds and potential for growth, only needing the water of Cheshvan to make our potential (seeds / deeds / plants / work etc) flourish. Water implies Avodat HaAretz, or working of the land. We can sow and plant, but if we lack water, the crops we plant will not flourish.
Cont’d…
For full text, email me at [email protected] or join my email list here.