Hi! Welcome to Iggeret HaLevana, a year-long ~spiritual~ journey with me, Shira. I’m working to tap into the mystical magical energies of the Hebrew months in the hopes that when next year’s Rosh Hashanah comes around, I will be set up to ascend into an inspired 5783 (aka next year).

The Jewish year is one based upon the cycle of the moon, and we mark the beginning of a new month by the sight of the sliver of a crescent of the new moon the sky. Growing up in a relatively rural area, I always loved gazing at the expansive, fabulously glittering moon and stars. Now I live in New York, and I realize I took that night sky for granted.

I may not be able to see the stars now, but thank G-d I can still see the moon!

Here we go!

I find the High Holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, to be overwhelming.

I dread their arrival every year - particularly Rosh HaShanah, the head of the Hebrew New Year.

The Jewish year is a circle, and every Aleph Tishrei, or the first of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, is our January 1st. The idea of Rosh Hashanah is to prepare ourselves for the Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgement - Yom Kippur. On Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur, we chant Unetaneh Tokef, “On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed and on Yom Kippur it is sealed” - “בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן, וּבְיוֹם צוֹם כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן”

And what is inscribed / sealed are the events of the coming year - who will live, who will die, who will accrue wealth, who will lose it, who shall rest, and who shall wander, who will be peaceful and who will be tormented. So, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are big days. And in the same way we’d prepare ourselves for actually standing in a secular court, we prepare ourselves for the High Holidays.

But the high holidays stress me out exactly because of this — they feel like a rapidly approaching exam that I can never be prepared enough for. I’ve never been one for cumulative final exams, but I’m always here for a unit test. They’re so much more manageable.

I bring up the unit test because, while they are definitely not as important or life-altering as the final test, they still do contribute to your comprehension of the total topic and definitely count for something.

Rosh Hashanah is at the tail end of the 12 months and is what I am equating to the Final Exam. Each Hebrew month, then, is the Unit Test — an opportunity to work on a specific unit within the Final Exam (RH 5783). My goal for myself, and for those of you on this journey with me, is that by working hard for the Unit Test every month, we’ll be SUPER prepared for the Final Exam, in Rosh Hashanah 5783 (next year)!

Enter my new podcast idea - Iggeret HaLevana.

Don’t be stressed about the Final Exam, when you can focus on the Unit Test for now.

Each new month, each new moon has the energy of renewal. Month (חודש / Chodesh) comes from the word for “new” (חדש / Chadesh), and just like we have Rosh HaShanah, the head of the new year, we also have Rosh Chodesh, the head of the new month.

An opportunity for renewal every 30 or so days.

Join me on this Moon-centric journey! Check the podcast page for episode 1 - the Hebrew month of Tishrei.

Email me at [email protected] or join my email list here.