Ep. 2 // the Hebrew Month of Cheshvan and the Mazal / Zodiac Scorpio

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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. 2 // the Hebrew Month of Cheshvan and the Mazal / Zodiac Scorpio

Iggeret HaLevana ~ the Message of the Moon

12 minutes 13 seconds

4 years ago

Ep. 2 // the Hebrew Month of Cheshvan and the Mazal / Zodiac Scorpio

The Second Month: Cheshvan

We have just left the month of Tishrei, the first in the year 5782. Tishrei is essentially half holiday - we had Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are extremely holy days and Sukkot is one of the Shalosh Regalim, the 3 Pilgrimage Holidays that in Temple-times would be one of the 3 times a year that Jews from all over would make the journey to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) to the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple.

The first 10 days of Tishrei, the 10 days from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are referred to as the Yamim Noraim, or the Days of Awe. The Yamim Noraim are this extremely concentrated, holy time. We're in metaphorical hot water during the Yamim Noraim, and if we're tea leaves, we are being brewed in a very intense way. These 10 days are our time to make our spiritual "tea concentrate" for the rest of the year. I don't know about you, but I don't spend full days reflecting in shul unless I absolutely have to. During the high holidays, we're consistently in shul, we're reflecting, we're actively working on bettering ourselves and we are expected to take this energy with us into the rest of the months.

Then the chagim are over and we enter the month of Cheshvan. A month with 0 holidays. Seriously! The Jewish calendar is notoriously packed with fasts, festivals, and other events, but this month of Cheshvan has a grand total of 0. Because of this fact, Cheshvan is also known as MarCheshvan. Mar can be translated as "bitter," referencing the fact that this month lacks any of the festival-related sweetness. Mar can also mean "a drop of water." This month is connected to water in a few ways. We add a sentence in the Amidah praying for rain in the land of Israel, and the Great Flood, the Mabul, of the story of Noach / Noah happened in the month of Cheshvan.

Tishrei is a month of prayer, asking G-d for the tools to succeed. We are saturated with blessings, with closeness to G-d. And then we enter Cheshvan, full of the seeds and potential for growth, only needing the water of Cheshvan to make our potential (seeds / deeds / plants / work etc) flourish. Water implies Avodat HaAretz, or working of the land. We can sow and plant, but if we lack water, the crops we plant will not flourish.

Cont’d…

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