10 min
Ep. 9 // the Hebrew Month of Sivan and the Mazal / Zodiac Gemini Iggeret HaLevana ~ the Message of the Moon
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- Judaism
The Ninth Month: Sivan
While Sivan is the 9th month from Tishrei (the beginning of the Jewish year), it is the 3rd month from Nisan. Tishrei is the new year for years, but Nisan is the new year for months, because Nisan is when we were first given the commandment of recognizing the beginning of the months.
In Kabbalah, there is a three column system - right, left, and central. This is reflected in the first 3 sefirot, or divine emanations of G-d. We have been thinking a lot about the sefirot these past few weeks because of the role of the sefirot in Sefirat haOmer, the counting of the Omer.
The first sefira is Chesed, or loving kindness. Chesed is characterized by endless giving, flowing. The second sefira is Gevurah, strength. Gevurah is characterized by restriction and receiving. The third sefira is Tiferet, or beauty and is characterized by splendor / harmony. As seen in the diagram above, Tiferet is at the meeting place of Chesed and Gevurah, making it a place of synthesis of the 2. If Chesed is the right and Gevurah is the left, then Tiferet is the central column.
Tiferet represents taking two concepts that on their own are good, and making them even better - transforming and balancing their qualities.
So if we're talking in terms of 1 (Nisan, Chesed), 2 (Iyar, Gevurah), and 3 (Sivan, Tiferet) we see this right, left, center pattern again.
I think of it like this: Nisan (the month we celebrate Passover) is endlessly flowing with the energy of freedom, cherut, connected to the flowing of chesed. Then we have Iyar, the month with the majority of the time we spend counting the Omer. In this month we are working on our character traits, restricting ourselves (like Gevurah) and building up our strength. I also think of it as the time for healing. Literally, for the Jews who were just freed from 200+ years of slavery, but also for modern Jews. We have the hustle and bustle of Passover for the second half of Nisan and then... it's over! We get rest/recovery from the jostling that comes with figurative slavery and corresponding freedom of Passover. Iyar is also said to stand for Ani Hashem Rofecha - אני ה' רופאך - I am G-d your Healer, which completely fits with this image.
So Nisan is flowing and free, Iyar is more stable, growth oriented, and Sivan incorporates those 2 different concepts. To me, Sivan has this characterization because it's the month we celebrate the giving of the Torah. More on that shortly. So, we celebrate the giving of the Torah, Matan Torah, on the holiday of Shavuot. (Shavuot is a harvest festival celebrated 7 weeks, 50 days after the second night of Passover. Over the years and throughout Jewish tradition, Shavuot became associated with the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai, Mount Sinai.)
To have the beautiful, miraculous world that we do, and not have any sort of guidance would be difficult - aka totally unbound free will. This is the existence of only the energy of Nisan / Chesed. To have too harsh of rules, though, would be difficult to maneuver as well. This is in the energy of Iyar / Gevurah, or the idea of determinism, that the world is set by G-d and we have no say.
So Sivan / Tiferet embodies what the Torah is - synthesizing free will with our experience of G-d in the world. There's both - and with the guidance of the Torah we can experience the beauty and harmony - Tiferet.
______________
Cont’d…
For full text, email me at shirajkaplan@gmail.com or join my email list here.
---
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/iggerethalevana/message
The Ninth Month: Sivan
While Sivan is the 9th month from Tishrei (the beginning of the Jewish year), it is the 3rd month from Nisan. Tishrei is the new year for years, but Nisan is the new year for months, because Nisan is when we were first given the commandment of recognizing the beginning of the months.
In Kabbalah, there is a three column system - right, left, and central. This is reflected in the first 3 sefirot, or divine emanations of G-d. We have been thinking a lot about the sefirot these past few weeks because of the role of the sefirot in Sefirat haOmer, the counting of the Omer.
The first sefira is Chesed, or loving kindness. Chesed is characterized by endless giving, flowing. The second sefira is Gevurah, strength. Gevurah is characterized by restriction and receiving. The third sefira is Tiferet, or beauty and is characterized by splendor / harmony. As seen in the diagram above, Tiferet is at the meeting place of Chesed and Gevurah, making it a place of synthesis of the 2. If Chesed is the right and Gevurah is the left, then Tiferet is the central column.
Tiferet represents taking two concepts that on their own are good, and making them even better - transforming and balancing their qualities.
So if we're talking in terms of 1 (Nisan, Chesed), 2 (Iyar, Gevurah), and 3 (Sivan, Tiferet) we see this right, left, center pattern again.
I think of it like this: Nisan (the month we celebrate Passover) is endlessly flowing with the energy of freedom, cherut, connected to the flowing of chesed. Then we have Iyar, the month with the majority of the time we spend counting the Omer. In this month we are working on our character traits, restricting ourselves (like Gevurah) and building up our strength. I also think of it as the time for healing. Literally, for the Jews who were just freed from 200+ years of slavery, but also for modern Jews. We have the hustle and bustle of Passover for the second half of Nisan and then... it's over! We get rest/recovery from the jostling that comes with figurative slavery and corresponding freedom of Passover. Iyar is also said to stand for Ani Hashem Rofecha - אני ה' רופאך - I am G-d your Healer, which completely fits with this image.
So Nisan is flowing and free, Iyar is more stable, growth oriented, and Sivan incorporates those 2 different concepts. To me, Sivan has this characterization because it's the month we celebrate the giving of the Torah. More on that shortly. So, we celebrate the giving of the Torah, Matan Torah, on the holiday of Shavuot. (Shavuot is a harvest festival celebrated 7 weeks, 50 days after the second night of Passover. Over the years and throughout Jewish tradition, Shavuot became associated with the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai, Mount Sinai.)
To have the beautiful, miraculous world that we do, and not have any sort of guidance would be difficult - aka totally unbound free will. This is the existence of only the energy of Nisan / Chesed. To have too harsh of rules, though, would be difficult to maneuver as well. This is in the energy of Iyar / Gevurah, or the idea of determinism, that the world is set by G-d and we have no say.
So Sivan / Tiferet embodies what the Torah is - synthesizing free will with our experience of G-d in the world. There's both - and with the guidance of the Torah we can experience the beauty and harmony - Tiferet.
______________
Cont’d…
For full text, email me at shirajkaplan@gmail.com or join my email list here.
---
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/iggerethalevana/message
10 min