The Month of Tishrei

The month of Tishrei is the seventh of the twelve months of the Jewish calendar and the first month of the Jewish year. Changing the order of the letters permutes the word Tishrei to Reishit, which means "beginning." This month begins a new cycle of Divine service and spiritual awareness.

The number seven is considered in Kabbalah a dear and precious number. As the seventh month of the year, Tishrei is satiated with holy days and with mitzvot that generate their effect throughout the entire year. The Zodiac sign of Tishrei is moznayim — the scale (Libra) — representing the process of Divine judgment during the ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, when every person is examined according to the choices of the passing year. The word moznayim (scale) contains the word oznayim (ears); it is the inner ear that is responsible for balance, and spiritually the ears represent the power of Binah, through which we generate the highest levels of Teshuvah, culminating on Yom Kippur.

According to the book of Yetzirah, the letter that dominates Tishrei is "Lamed," which means to learn and understand; it ascends above all the other letters, representing the inner longing of every Jew to return to and connect with the source of life. The tribe of the month is Ephraim, whose name means procreation, alluding to the union between the male and female aspects of the Divine that takes place during the holidays of Tishrei. The sense of the month is the sense of touch, which enables us to reach out and unite with others.

Rosh Hashana

Rosh Hashana is the day on which Adam, the first man, was created — and though he was the last being created, this day is called "the beginning of Your deeds." Man is the goal of creation, the being who can bring the whole world to perfection by recognizing G-d as Master of the Universe and crowning Him as King. Adam was the first to enroll the totality of creation in coronating the King, and by doing so solidified the existence of the universe. Every year on Rosh Hashana, Jews all over the world gather to renew their subjugation to the King of kings.

According to Kabbalah, on the eve of every Rosh Hashana G-d withdraws His light from creation; all worlds are in a state of "faint," their existence brought to the bare minimum. It is through the intense process of Teshuvah and recommitting to the Master of the Universe that the Jewish people draw down anew the Divine will to be King — the "rebuilding of the sphere of Malchut," the source of the power of creation. Chassidus explains why the day is called Rosh (head) and not Techilah (beginning): just as the head contains the life-force of all the organs, so Rosh Hashana contains the life-force of all the days of the year. This is why we treasure every moment of this holiday, avoiding unnecessary sleep and spending our time in prayer and Psalms.

The main mitzvah of the day is hearing the blowing of the shofar, whose plain, moving sound touches the depth of our hearts and reaches the essence of G-d Himself. There is a custom to dress in white, representing innocence and purity, and to visit the gravesites of the righteous before Rosh Hashana. At the festive meal we dip an apple in honey and ask for a good and sweet year. After the afternoon prayer we go to a place of water and recite the Tashlich prayer, asking G-d to cast our sins into the depths.

The Days of Teshuva

The days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are called the Ten Days of Teshuva; anyone who repents during these days, his teshuva is immediately accepted. The Talmud tells of three books opened on Rosh Hashana — of the completely righteous, the completely wicked, and the beinonim, those in between, who are held until Yom Kippur. During this time it is desirable to approach those we may have hurt, to reconcile and ask forgiveness, and to increase in charity and acts of kindness.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the peak of the days of Teshuva — a day of Divine forgiveness and atonement, the day Moses came down from Sinai with the second Tablets after G-d's complete forgiveness following the sin of the Golden Calf. When a person does Teshuva, his awareness of reality is raised to a higher plane, more receptive to the Divine in daily life. This is expressed at the conclusion of the Neilah prayer, when the entire congregation declares "Hashem hu haElokim" — the supernatural and the natural are one, both expressions of the same G-d.

The core of the Jewish soul — the Yechida — awakens on Yom Kippur, bringing us back to our true, untainted selves. On this day we refrain from physical activities and resemble the holy angels. In our prayers we relive the service of the High Priest in the Holy Temple, who entered the Holy of Holies with the silent, burning incense as the whole nation stood trembling. Each of us is a living sanctuary, and after refining our own temples we too can experience that awesome Divine service within us.

Between Yom Kippur and Sukkos

According to Kabbalah, the four days between Yom Kippur and Sukkos correspond to the four letters of G-d's name. After the awe of Yom Kippur we continue to ascend, but now all that was achieved through fear can be achieved through joy.

Sukkos

Sukkos is Chag Ha'asif — the Holiday of Gathering. The Torah's command to rejoice is more explicit for Sukkos than for the other holidays, corresponding to three stages of spiritual harvest: Pesach, when the grain is not yet ripe; Shavuot, when it is cut but not yet gathered; and Sukkos, when it is fully gathered and available. The joy of Sukkos is the joy of the mitzvot — shaking the lulav, sitting in the succah — the culmination of the work of Torah and mitzvot: gathering all the sparks of holiness and centering all our thoughts, words and actions around holiness.

The succah, the temporary hut, represents the seven clouds of glory that protected the people of Israel in the desert. It is the one mitzvah that encompasses the entire person in all his activities; on Sukkos even the daily conduct of a person becomes a mitzvah, teaching us to connect even mundane activities with G-d throughout the year. The word "Chag" means to circle, representing the Encompassing Light of G-d, which the succah surrounds us with, while the lulav draws down the Internal Light — combining both. The letters of the word succah equal 91, the same as the combined value of two of G-d's names, uniting the Encompassing and Internal Light, the male and female aspects of G-dliness — which is why Sukkos is also called Zman Simchateinu, the Season of Our Joy.

During the times of the Holy Temple, the Simchat Beit Hashoeva — the Joy of the Drawing of the Water — was celebrated with such joy that the sages said one who has not seen it has never seen joy in his life. Though the Temple is destroyed, we still draw great joy from this holiday, and in many communities people gather on the nights of Sukkos to sing and praise G-d in its memory.

Meditation on Joy

Become aware that from the joy of Sukkos one can draw the ability to rejoice for the entire year — not a passing mood, but a joy generated from the essence of the soul, which by definition flows with the joy of being present to G-dliness. Begin by committing to the behavior of joy in thought, speech and action, knowing that the essence of your soul, connected to the source of life, is infinitely joyful. This storehouse of joy is available at any time; all you need to do is connect to it.

Shmini Atzeres and Simchas Torah

There is a parable of a father whose children visit for seven wonderful days; when they are about to leave, he says, "It is hard for me to say goodbye — please stay one more day." This is Shmini Atzeret, the eighth day: after seven days in G-d's Sukkah, G-d asks us to stay with Him one more day. It is also Simchat Torah, the Joy of the Torah, when we complete the yearly reading and dance with the Torah scrolls. Chassidus explains that we keep the scrolls closed while we dance to remind us that Torah is not only about intellect — it is about celebrating the holiness of the Torah, in which a simple person can be as connected as the greatest sage. Simchat Torah is for everyone.