Iggeret HaLevana ~ the Message of the Moon Shira Kaplan

The Twelfth Month: Elul

It's Elul! Time keeps doing that thing where it passes!!! On one hand - wow how lucky are we to have reached this point? And on the other hand - we continue our hurtle toward the great unknown. *shrugs*

The month of Elul, as the final month of the Jewish year, is a time for introspection and spiritual work / reflection on the time that has passed since the LAST Elul. It is taught that this month is a time where our words and petitions to G-d are more potent. Also it's my birthday month!

There's a Hasidic idea that in the month of Elul is when "the King is the field." The concept is that a King is returning from a trip and on his way back into the kingdom, he is passing through the fields of his subjects. Once the king reaches the castle though, it will be difficult to get in front of him again. This time of the king being reachable and close by is extremely important to take advantage of - and we look at our closeness to G-d in this month in the same way.

I started this whole podcast really because of Elul. For the past 3 years, I've done a Cheshbon HaNefesh, or an Accounting of the Soul - essentially reflecting on the past year in a concrete way - making lists, assessing yourself honestly, etc. What you liked/disliked, how you want to improve, what you are proud of. Summarizing the past year and taking from this summary key points. AKA - what I'm trying to do right now, in closing out this year-long Rosh Chodesh journey.

If you've been with me from the start, you'll know that another reason I began this podcast / essay series was because I was stressed out about the finality and the seriousness of the Jewish High Holidays.

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Cont’d…

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The Eleventh Month: Av

Av is, famously, a bummer of a time. Literally (in stark contrast to the happy month of Adar) the Talmud says that when we enter the month of Av, our joy decreases. It's funny language, right? Why not "increase our sadness" - why decrease joy?

The reason sometimes given reminds me of the Winnie the Pooh quote - "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard?"

Among other things, we lament the destruction of both of our Temples in Jerusalem during the month of Av, specifically on the 9th of Av - Tisha b'Av (which was observed this past Sunday). The Temple or Beit HaMikdash does the job of being the physical or tangible representation of something very abstract - our connection to G-d.

We decrease our joy rather than increasing our sadness because we're not coming from a place of pure despair. We once had something very special and holy, and one day we will have it again. And this is the great gift AND curse of a very lofty end goal (I.e. - Moshiach / the Messiah coming, and rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash). But how lucky are we to have had it!

We learn that the second Beit HaMikdash was destroyed due to Sinat Chinam, baseless hatred between the Jewish people. But it is also taught that the Jews of this era were occupied with mitzvot and kindness - so how could they have ALSO been baselessly hating one another? We learn that while they were mitzvot-focused, the Jewish community of this era was very sectarian. Each group considered themselves the one and only correct way to observe and live, viewing all other Jews as heretics.

Not even a warm take, but doesn't this sound like today's cultural environment even beyond religion?

It's hard to relate to the destruction of a building we've never even seen, but this polarization and lack of respect we experience in our world today is much more accessible.

So, in this month of Av, we are reminded of a few things:

- just because people existed a while ago doesn't mean they were perfect

- just because we exist now doesn't mean we have a free pass to be imperfect

- respect of all groups is ALWAYS relevant

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Cont’d…

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The ​Te​nth Month: Tammuz

I will always think of late June / July as schools-over-summer-camp-time. Like mental imagery of over air conditioned echoey hallways and sweltering golden hour mornings. Maybe that's just summer in the south though.... lol.

I don't know if it's the cloudless skies paired with the dry air and crazy strong sun, but my brain associates the peak summer month of Tammuz with slow paces and / or restlessness. I have learned that the cloudlessness of the sky means that Tammuz is a good month to connect with G-d - fewer barriers between us and G-d. This quiet also lends to our connecting with G-d.

Tammuz is the 10th month from Tishrei, but the 4th month from Nisan. Nisan, Iyar, and Sivan are considered the "spring months," and the summer months begin with Tammuz.

The month of Tammuz is a month of transformation - from one end of the spectrum to the other. By definition, Tammuz was a Mesopotamian god of fertility. This juxtaposition of this non-Jewish deity's name and the fact that it's still on our calendar exemplifies this quality of transformation.

Reuven, the tribe of the month, was the first child of Leah and Jacob. Reuven is shown to concern himself with his mother's fertility as well as the status of Leah and Jacob's relationship in the Torah. The connection of Reuven's focus on family life, matched with the origin of Tammuz's name isn't coincidental.

One of the main events of this month is the fast day of ShveiEsrei b'Tammuz / the 17th of Tammuz, the day that both the Sin of the Golden Calf and the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple in Jerusalem, occurred. It is said that when the Messiah / Moshiach comes, all of our saddest days, (like the 17th of Tammuz), will be our most major holidays. The big ones like Pesach and Sukkot will become secondary because these days will hold the energy of 180 degree transformations - from destruction to rebuilding.

Back to the summer and the quality of change - I feel like kids always come back to school in the fall as transformed people. Maybe tanned, or taller, or weighed down with friendship bracelets, more confident having learned a new skill / hobby... hopefully all positive transformations and growths. So I am tapping into this energy of change and growth in Tammuz.

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Cont’d…

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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.

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Cont’d…

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The Eighth Month: Iyar

Iyar is unique in a few ways - it's the only month in the year where each day has a special, time-bound mitzvah to perform: the counting of the Omer. We count 49 days - 7 weeks, 7 days, from the evening of the second day of Pesach (Passover) in Nisan (last month) until the 50th day - Shavuot, the holiday where we celebrate the giving of the Torah, in Sivan (next month). The idea is that, like a birthday or any other special event, we are joyously counting our way toward one of the greatest days in Jewish history​, refining our character and our behavior, until we reach the day of Matan Torah​ ​- the giving of our Torah.

Iyar is also unique in that, in addition to Torah-time observances such as Pesach Sheni and Lag BaOmer, it has quite a few days commemorating / relating to the modern state of Israel.

It is taught that Iyar (אייר​) ​is an acronym for​ "I am G-d your Healer - Ani Hashem Rofecha -​ אני יי רופאך​"​

Iyar comes from the Akkadian "ayari" meaning "rosette, blossom." In the Talmud it is called "Chodesh Ziv," or the month of light.

How do all these names relate to this month?

This idea of G-d being our healer, and this time being one of "light" and blossoming feels related to the Israel-centric energy of the month. For thousands of years we were wandering Jews. A people without a protected home - running from place to place seeking refuge from a world with baseless, unwavering hatred for u​s. This month, unbeknownst to every generation of Jew prior to 1948, though, has become a month that is true to its name. A month of healing, light, and blossoming. It's a month that has become centered around the Jewish Homeland. The Jewish Homeland which has healed, shown light, and blossomed in every sense - literal and metaphorical.

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4 Iyar 1963 - first Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and civilian victims of terror

​5 Iyar 1948 - first Yom HaAtzmaut, Israeli Independence Day

10 Iyar 1860 - birth of Theodore Herzl​, father of Modern Zionism

13 Iyar 1427 - Jews expelled fro​m Bern, Switzerland​​​

14 Iyar 1933 - Nazis burned thousands of bo​oks​ written by Jews

14 Iyar 1960 - Adolf Eichmann captured in Buenos Aires

15 Iyar 1945 - Dachau concentration camp liberated

16 Iyar 1939 - The Nuremberg law​s, ​depriving Jews the rights ​to ​citizenship, were passed by the government of Nazi Germany in 1935. In 1939, on the 16th of Iyar, the laws went into effect in Nazi-allied Hungary

17 Iyar 1945 - Death of Adolf Hitler

18 Iyar 1948 - Israeli Defense Forces are created

20 Iyar 1942 - All pregnant women in the Kovno ghetto are sentenced to death by Nazis

24 Iyar 1945 - Nazi Germany surrenders to Allied Forces

26 Iyar 1945 - Theresienstadt concentration camp liberated

​28 Iyar 1967 - Yom Yerushalayim, the reunification of Jerusalem

I kept these dates in month chronology rather than year chronology, because it's moving / insane / frustrating / horribly unfair / disturbing to see what can occur on the same day, different year.

How lucky are we to know this whole list?

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Cont’d…

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The Seventh Month: Nisan

Right in between the 9th and 10th plagues, G-d gives Moshe (Moses) and Aharon (Aaron) the first mitzvah, the first commandment, to the Jewish people as a whole.

*record scratch*

Wait haven't the Jewish people existed since Avraham (Abraham)? Yes, they have, and even though there were definitely families / clans / groups of Jewish people, we didn't officially become a united nation until the end of our slavery in Mitzrayim (Egypt). With the promise of the Matan Torah (the giving of the Torah) and the promise of the Promised Land, HaEretz HaMuvtachat, all of the families / clans / groups became one - B'nei Yisrael, the children of Israel. Israel being Yaakov (Jacob), the patriarch at the time of the Egyptian slavery.

This first mitzvah, of course, is the commandment to sanctify the new moon as the beginning of a new month - to celebrate Rosh Chodesh, the head of the new month, starting with Chodesh Nisan.

Right before the final plague, Makkat Bechorot - Death of the First Borns, we get this mitzvah. Directly following this final plague, the Jewish people are set free.

Two commentators, Sforno and the Netziv, connect the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh directly to Yetziat Mitzrayim - the Exodus from Egypt.

Sforno emphasizes the fact that as slaves, the Jewish people had no control over their time. They were told when and where to work, when and where to eat, when and where to rest, etc. Rosh Chodesh is a symbol of the autonomy they were now granted as free people, taking back their control by sanctifying the passage of time.

Earlier into Moshe's leadership, the Jewish people are reluctant to listen to his message that G-d will free them soon. The Torah tells us this is due to their Kotzer Ruach, their shortness of breath from hard work. Pharaoh kept them working to the point of exhaustion so they didn't have the mental or physical energy to rebell or desire anything more than what their lives held.

The Netziv points out that the Jewish people had been living under the control of a foreign nation for so long that they needed something to distinguish themselves when emerging into the free world. The Egyptian society was highly connected to the sun, to the solar calendar. Our connection to the moon and the lunar calendar further removes us from that.

There's no one forcing us into labor today, but we easily lose control of our time by submitting to the constant dinging of our phones, computers, TVs, etc. Taking one look at your screen time reminds us of this. We are active in this loss of control though, and there are lots of good, amazing things that we have due to our hyperconnectivity.

And for the same reason kashrut (the laws of keeping kosher), our davening (praying) schedule, and our other unique ways of life keep us reminded who we are, Rosh Chodesh is another example of sanctifying the mundane. We make something as bland as the passing of time a ceremony! There are certain brachot and tefillot (blessings and prayers) for Rosh Chodesh and it has a great all around vibe.

Cont’d…

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