Mar Cheshvan
Our month is referred to as Mar Cheshvan, Bitter Cheshvan. That’s a pretty harsh description. And to describe it as such from the outset. Who says good things can’t happen this month?!We are taught that each month corresponds to a hebrew letter. The letter nun characterizes the month of Cheshvan. The gemara teaches that the letter nun is connected to the word nofel, which means to fall. In fact, in the tefila of Ashrei, which is written in alphabetical order, the sentence which should begin with nun is skipped and only referenced in the following verse which begins with the letter samech, which means support. Rav Tzadok explains that the falling depicted by the letter nun is not merely a regular fall. Rather, it’s always connected to getting up, and rising again.The falling, the depletion, the challenges of Cheshvan that we refer to are a descension which leads to an ascension. It’s a fall that will ultimately lead us to a stronger, more developed and capable state of being. This is why Kislev, the month following Cheshvan is characterized by the letter samech, to support. After the fall and the struggle, a person is able to get up with a renewed strength, focus and determination.Interestingly, if you switch the letters of mar around, you get ram, elevated. Mar Cheshvan is a month without holidays, it’s a month of nun, of challenge. However, from those challenges, there is a goal, a destination of ram, a destination of growth, progress and an elevation of self.Certainly today we are living in challenging times. If we can just remember that this challenging time has a purpose of growth and elevation which is beyond returning to normal, but which will ultimately take us to heights we could not have imagined.Chodesh tov