The Month of Cheshvan 5766
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Miriam Ben-Yaacov

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan—30 Tishrei -1 Cheshvan—falls on November 2-3.

He made the letter Nun king over smell
And He bound a crown to it
And He combined one with another
And with them He formed
Scorpio in the Universe
Cheshvan in the Year
And the intestine in the Soul male and female.
--Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation)

Menasheh was Yosef’s first son:
And Yosef called the name of his firstborn Manashen, “for Gd said He has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” —Genesis 41:51

Yaakov adopted Yosef’s sons as his own:
And Yosef took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Yisrael’s left hand and Menashen in his left hand toward Yisrael’s right hand, and he presented them to him. —Genesis 48:13

And he blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Yisrael bless, saying, “Gd make you as Ephraim and as Menasheh,” setting Ephraim before Menasheh. —Genesis 48:20

When Moshe blessed the tribes, of Menasheh he said:
“The firstling of his herd, grandeur is his
And his horns are like the horns of a wild ox
With them he shall push the peoples
Altogether to the ends of the earth
And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim
And they are the thousands of Menasheh.” —Deuteronomy 33:17

There are no holidays in the month of Cheshvan; it is like a time of rest after all the activity of the preceding month of Tishrei. Cheshvan is connected to Tishrei, just as Menasheh is connected to his brother, Ephraim. They are two sides to the complete renewal of Yosef, their father—repentance and reinstatement. Yosef’s life in Egypt, with his marriage and the births of his sons, was his own renewal. With Menasheh’s birth, he said Hashem was allowing him to forget the pain of the past. Tishrei is the month of repentance; Cheshvan, a word that sounds very close to the Hebrew word cheshbon, which means “accounting,” is the month of taking stock of the progress of one’s soul--cheshbon nefesh.

The yartzeit (anniversary of death) of Rachel Imanu (our mother), Yosef's mother, is Cheshvan 11. She, too, is a symbol of renewal—Rachel crying for her children, the lost tribes of the North, to be restored to the nation of Israel and returned to the Land. The Prophet Yechezkiel (Ezekiel 37) saw this as the stick of Yosef (Ephraim) joined to the stick of Yehudah.

In this month we read parshat Noah, in which Mankind is given a chance to begin over. The waters of the Flood brought forth a new world. Water is the element that corresponds to Hashem’s attribute of mercy; the letter Mem, which represents water (mayim), has the value of 40. The rains of the Flood lasted 40 days; a fetus is in the waters of his mother’s uterus 40 weeks. The creature that survived without being brought on the Ark was the fish; the Hebrew letter of the month, Nun, is connected to the fish. The numerical value of Nun is 50, which is 40 plus 10, a number representing Hashem’s attributes.

In Genesis 7:11 we read that the Flood began on the seventeenth of the second month. This would have been Cheshvan, the second month from the creation of Man. The yartzeit of Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach is the sixteenth of the month and that of Rabbi Meir Kahane is eighteenth. Each of these great souls brought light into the world during our generation. It's interesting to note that the anniversaries of their lights leaving this world "bookend" the anniversary of the primordial devastation of all Mankind.

Further into parshat Noah we read of the failing of Mankind again in the building of the Tower of Babel. However, this parsha is followed with Lech Lecha, in which we see a new beginning with Avraham being called to leave and go to a country Hashem would show him. Each challenge Avraham successfully faced brought all the people of the world closer to rectification. He would be the father of the nation that would channel the Torah into the world, and this was the ultimate renewal that was Hashem’s goal for Mankind from the beginning.

Avraham epitomizes chesed (loving-kindness and giving). His tent was open on all sides so he could see travelers coming and they would know they were welcome. He did not ask what had come before they stepped into his tent; they were welcome. He and Sarah taught the people around them and brought many to belief in the Oneness of Hashem in a world of idolatry. The Torah says that when they left Haran, they took with them the many souls of people who had converted from idolatry (Gen. 12:5). Avraham is called the father of converts to this day. Conversion is the ultimate renewal. Converts to Judaism are officially considered his children and are called “Ben/Bat Avraham.” In Avraham’s day, before the giving of the Torah, the conversion of the people around him was strictly to the practice of, and belief in, the Universal Laws of Noah.

Shabbat shalom,
Miriam

Contact:
Miriam Ben-Yaacov