On the surface, Cheshvan seems kind of like a “blah” month. We just finished all of the chagim with simcha, excitement and deep connection to Hashem and those around us and then Cheshvan rolls in. It has a purpose, it allows us to connect back to routine and to apply all of the deep insights we’ve gained over the last month, but at the same time it’s devoid of holidays and feels more like a supporting role than one of the key players.
That is, until I started learning more about Cheshvan. It’s possible, that at the true end of days, Cheshvan will be the most important month of all. Cheshvan is the eighth month on the Jewish calendar (when starting from Nisan). Eight, according to the Sefer Yetzirah (via inner.org) is related to the eternal revelation of the supernatural. The number seven relates to this world that we’re in, while eight is one above.
The “harp” played by King David and used in the Temple has seven strings while the harp of Mashiach possesses eight strings. The letter of the month is a nun. The shape of the nun is bent over, “confined by the boundaries of nature.” With the coming of Mashiach, the nun will straighten out and turn into the final nun, breaking through the boundaries of nature and descending into the subterranean realms of reality in order to reveal G-d’s all-encompassing Infinite light.
There is so much more that Inner.org shares on the connections between Cheshvan and Mashiach and it’s pretty mind-blowing that we’re not focusing on the potential of this month more. Actually, our recent podcast guest, Danielle Renov, has shared that she believes Mashiach is primed to come in Cheshvan because it feels like a humble month. The Torah was given on Mt. Sinai, the smallest, or most humble mountain and Cheshvan, a month with no holidays or real excitement to it feels like it is a month that would take us by surprise and ultimately become the month that redeems us.
Of course, in learning about all of this I feel hopeful while at the same time feeling a bit confused. This month Mashiach could come!! Every day we wait and hope that we will finally see even more revealed good in this world, all of the atrocities will be explained, the Third Temple will be built and finally things will straighten out. Yet at the same time, things are looking bleak. Personally, my anxiety is high. Tensions about the election have never been greater. There are still hostages being held captive, there are still soldiers fighting and falling to save Israel, there are still rockets and terrorist attacks being thrown at Israel every day, there are antisemitic incidents in America, it is scaaaa-ry.
The only thing I keep coming back to in this time is that through the darkness, through the waves, we have to just cling to Hashem harder and with more force. The sense of the month, according to the Sefer Yetzirah is smell, which it details is the most spiritual of all senses. Apparently, the sense of smell is the only one that did not participate in the sin of man in the Garden of Eden. Further, it is the sense which saved the Jewish people in the time of Mordechai and Esther who are called More veHadas (myrrh and myrtle, the two primary sources of fragrance).
Of course, practically I don’t know what this means, but connecting it to Purim, with Mordechai and Esther, one of just two holidays we will still celebrate when Mashiach comes, is giving me a clue that Hashem is with us right now and saying something.
“Maybe Cheshvan is the most important month Mashiach-wise because we have to work harder to connect to Hashem when He’s not right in front of our faces.”
When we read Megillat Esther, Hashem’s name is not mentioned once, yet Hashem is really running the whole show beneath the text. If you had to choose the most important holidays on the Jewish calendar, I don’t think Purim would be in the top three, yet it’s actually at the top in terms of what we will continue to celebrate at the end of days.
In all of this thinking and analysis, I wonder if Cheshvan is the most important month Mashiach-wise because we have to work harder to connect to Hashem when He’s not right in front of our faces. We don’t have the Days of Awe with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We aren’t sitting right next to Him in the sukkah. We aren’t dancing with Him on Simchat Torah. We are simply being, living our lives, trying to fight to keep hope alive, to keep our connection strong and remembering that while we are fighting to cling to Hashem in the regular, day-to-day moments, stress and all, and at the same time, Hashem is trying to cling to us.
The flood, when Noah built his ark, occurred in Cheshvan. It began on the 17th and on the 28th, Noah brought his sacrifice to G-d and G-d wore He would never bring a flood on the earth to destroy all mankind again, using a rainbow as His covenant with the world.
Hashem has promised to never destroy us again and to date, He has kept that promise. In all of these years, why should I worry that He will let us down now?
Maybe the rainbow is the symbol of the covenant because of how brightly it shines, how the colors cannot be ignored, how people stop and stare every time a rainbow appears. It feels supernatural when you see a rainbow in the sky.
Maybe that’s what we need to remember going into this new month. Hashem will never destroy us. He is always here with us, thinking about us and guiding the story and He is constantly creating beauty, just waiting for us to notice.
In Cheshvan, we may have to look a bit more closely to see Him, to feel Him, but when in doubt, think of the rainbow, and you will know He is always there.
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