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Thoughts to Nosh OnNovember 2005From the Desk of Rabbi SharffThe month of November coincides this year with the Jewish month of Mar Cheshvan. The word “Mar” in Hebrew means “bitter.” According to tradition, the rabbis felt Cheshvan was a bitter month because it does not contain any major Jewish holidays. This of course is in stark contrast to the month of Tishrei, which is filled to the brim with them. However there is something to be said for a month without celebration, for celebration can also be exhausting. Racing through the highs and lows of the High Holiday season can be a bit like sitting through an eighteen inning game. No matter how exciting the action is, one inevitably is worn out by the end. Amidst all of the pomp and circumstance we experience from Rosh Hashanah through Sukkot, it is very easy to become overwhelmed and forget to pause and listen to that still, small voice within our hearts. Therefore a pause in the action affords us the opportunity to catch our collective breaths before jumping into the celebration of Hanukkah. The “bitter” month of Cheshvan represents for us a unique intermission, which encourages us to stop moving about and instead listen to the voice of conscience, compassion, and inspiration in our own souls. Then after listening intently, we then need to go out and do something about it. Rabbi Hillel, a rabbi from the first century B.C.E. taught, “Do not be sure of yourself until the day you die. Do not judge your friends until you are in their place. And do not say, ‘When I have time I will study,’ you may never have the time.” From Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur, we often make promises to ourselves and to our God to do better and be better, but at the same time, we all too often forget to see them through because there is so much going on. Fortunately with the relatively quiet month of Cheshvan, we are all reminded, now is the time, now is the opportunity to see our resolutions through. So perhaps the month of Cheshvan only becomes bitter if one views the lack of holidays as a chance simply to do nothing, when instead we should all be asking ourselves the famous question first proposed by Rabbi Hillel, “If not now, when?” For there is no better time than today. Rabbi Ben Sharff |
