Ep. 11 // the Hebrew Month of Av and the Mazal / Zodiac Leo

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Iggeret HaLevana ~ the Message of the Moon

Shira Kaplan

13 episodes

5 days ago

Hi! Welcome to Iggeret HaLevana, a year-long ~spiritual~ journey with me, Shira. I’m working to tap into the mystical magical energies of the Hebrew months in the hopes that when next year’s Rosh Hashanah comes around, I will be set up to ascend into an inspired 5783 (aka next year). Growing up in a rural area, I always loved gazing at the expansive, fabulously glittering moon and stars. Now I live in New York, and I realize I took that night sky for granted. I can't see the stars now, but thank G-d I can still see the moon :) Email list opt-in: https://forms.gle/gvqBSKZz8feCkShd9

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Judaism

Religion & Spirituality

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Ep. 11 // the Hebrew Month of Av and the Mazal / Zodiac Leo

Iggeret HaLevana ~ the Message of the Moon

5 minutes 53 seconds

3 years ago

Ep. 11 // the Hebrew Month of Av and the Mazal / Zodiac Leo

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…

For full text, email me at shirajkaplan@gmail.com or join my email list here.