Cheshvan:  A Month of Opportunities

by Reb Deb

It has been a fulfilling and very busy month of Tishri with all of the holy days and holidays.

During Tishri (and leading up to it with the introspective month of Elul) we listen to the daily blast of the shofar, waking us up to the process of reviewing the past year of our lives.

Rosh Hashanah provides an opportunity to celebrate the birthday of the world and the Jewish New Year. It is a time of judgment as we stand before the Holy One who decides our fate in the year ahead.

As Yom Kippur, the day of atonement approaches, we have the opportunity to engage fully in the process of teshuvah, return or repentance. We have the space to return spiritually to not only ourselves, but to others and ultimately, to God.

A breath of joyous relief comes with the weeklong harvest festival of Sukkot, A time of celebration, of dwelling in booths, of becoming close to nature and to the Eternal Source of all life.

And finally, we celebrate the completion of the cycle of Torah on Simchat Torah where we end the Torah and begin its reading again in the same breath.

The month of Tishri and the preceding one of Elul are an awesome annual time of life review and renewal.  They are a time of contemplation of change and new directions for our lives.

This time is followed by the month of Cheshvan, often called Marcheshvan, which by its full name references the bitterness of the month.  It is considered bitter and empty because it has no holidays.

I think of the month of Cheshvan as a time of wonderful opportunity.
It is a time when the soul can rest and reflect and the body can also rest
and slow down from the more frantic pace of Tishri.

May we all be able to use the month of Cheshvan as a time of inner reflection and planning for how we will proceed in the year ahead. Which goals will we work on? Which spiritual practices will we try to uphold or introduce? Which relationships will we hope to start or renew? How can we change the direction of our life if we wish to make that choice?

Wishing you all a month of reflecting on opportunities that you hope will become realities in the year ahead.

Blessings,
Reb Deb