The Month of Tevet 5766
~~~
Miriam Ben-Yaacov

The Hebrew month of Tevet begins January 1, 2006. The two days of Rosh Chodesh Tevet are December 31, 2005 (30 Kislev) and January 1, 2006 (1 Tevet).

He made the letter Ayin king over anger
And He bound a crown to it
And He combined one with another
And with them He formed
Capricorn in the Universe
Tevet in the Year
And the liver in the Soul
male and female.
--Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation)

When Yaakov blessed the tribes, of Dan he said:
”Dan will champion the right of his people, as only one of the tribes of Yisrael. Dan will become a serpent on the highway, a viper on the path, which bits the charger's heel so that the rider falls backward. For Thy help do I hope, O Gd!”
--B’reshith (Genesis) 49:16-18

When Moshe blessed the tribes,
Of Dan he said:
“Dan is a lion cub, leaping forth from Bashan.” --Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 33:22

When Yaakov blessed his sons as the tribes of Israel, he looked into the future. In Dan he saw the hero Samson, who would selflessly defeat the enemies of his people. He was one of the last judges of Israel. Samson was the “serpent on the highway”, biting the heels of the Philistine horse, bringing down the rider as the temple fell on the whole crowd. Yaakov saw him passing judgment on the enemy and defending his people, a messianic figure, even from this small tribe in Israel.

Following on the heels of Kislev, at whose end we celebrate Hanukkah, we enter into a theme of judgment. The dream of victory has been realized; now we are ready to enter into the judgment of resolution. The Hebrew letter Ayin, shaped like an eye, conveys the idea of seeing, which is essential for proper judgment. The sense of anger is not necessarily bad, if it is a righteous anger, such as Samson displayed when he pulled the idolatrous temple of the Philistines down on top of himself, as well as those enemies of his people. It took a selflessness that is essential in any righteous judge. The zodiac sign Capricorn, the goat, was also that of the Philistines, but the opposite, unrectified, type of the tribe of Dan and Samson himself. In his dealings with the Philistines, specifically the women, Samson was trying to rectify the negative aspects of the people. Failing this, he resorted to angry warfare that ultimately ended his life.

Notice that the readings of the month involve some type of judgment. There is the tension of something being resolved, from the brothers encountering Yosef again, after selling him twenty-two years before, to the rise of Moshe, who will take the people out of the Land of Egypt. In each case the personal anger of the offended is subjugated to the higher purpose of Heaven. Decisions of the Heavenly Court are being played out in the formation of the Nation of Israel from the seventy souls of Yaakov’s family that descended to Egypt. The players in the drama are sensitive to those decisions and lay aside personal goals, aspirations, and grudges. We see Yosef essentially lift his brothers to their rightful place in the world, rather than destroy them for valid personal reasons. It is the prelude to the auspicious prophetic vision of Ezekiel 37—the re-unification of the stick of Yosef and the stick Yehudah.

In Parshat Vayechi, the end of the Book of B’reshit, Yaakov blesses all the brothers, speaking his definitive judgment on each tribe. The people of Israel in slavery contain their fear of, and anger at, Paro, “who knew not Yosef,” in order to continue building up the nation. Moshe has to undergo dramatic changes of his own to make the choices necessary to mold him into the selfless leader who will bring the people out of Egypt. The mightiest empire in the world, made so by Yosef Ben Yaakov, is going to be judged and brought down through another son of Yaakov’s family—Moshe. In the epic story of Israel’s Exodus we see Heaven’s blueprint of all the future exiles and of the ultimate Redemption.

Previous Months Kislev 5766 Cheshvan 5766 Tishrei 5766 Elul 5765

Shabbat shalom,
Miriam

Contact:
Miriam Ben-Yaacov