After the turbulent and holy days of the month of Tishrei comes Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan – a time when the soul of the Jewish people, as it were, takes a breath. This new month marks the transition from the spiritual peak of the holidays to the weekdays, which require no less holiness. In the month of Marcheshvan there is not a single holiday commanded to us by the Torah. Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan is celebrated for two days – the first day falls on the 30th of Tishrei, and the second on the 1st of Cheshvan. This custom is connected to the fact that Tishrei is a full month (30 days).
The Sages taught that the Musaf prayer on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan is read only from the prayer book, and not from memory.
“Passages from the Torah are not recited from memory” (Halachah).
Why specifically Cheshvan?
Because the Musaf of this day is read after a two-month interruption – for on Rosh Hashanah the new month is not mentioned. Therefore, Jews fear making a mistake even in a single word of the sacred text.
“The words of the Torah should be fresh in your mouth every day” (Talmud, Tractate Eruvin 54a).
Cheshvan is the eighth month in the count from Nisan and the second from Tishrei.
In Tanach it is called Bul:
“In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul – that is the eighth month – he completed the building of the Temple” (Melachim I, 6:38).
The word Bul means “withering” – the grass dries up, and the livestock begin to be fed hay.
According to another interpretation, it is connected to the word Yevul – harvest, for in Cheshvan the sowing begins.
And also – to the word Mabul (Flood): it was in this month that the rains of the Flood began, which submerged the earth in the days of Noach.
In the Midrash it is said:
“Since the Flood began in the month of Cheshvan, it will remain rainy forever.”
In Jewish tradition, it is believed that the Great Flood began in the month of Cheshvan (or Marcheshvan), on the 17th day, and ended on the 27th day of the same month, a year later. That is why the month received the name “Marcheshvan,” which means “bitter Cheshvan,” since this period is connected with punishment for sins and with grief over the calamities that befell Israel.
Why Is Cheshvan Called “Marcheshvan”?
After the return from Babylon, Jews began to call this month Marcheshvan.
The word “mar” means “bitterness” – for in this month there is not a single holiday.
The Midrash gives another explanation: “The bitterness of Cheshvan will be turned to joy – in the future the Almighty will give it a holiday” (Yalkut Shimoni).
The month of Cheshvan holds within it pain:
• In this month the Flood began.
• In Marcheshvan Yeravam introduced idolatry.
• In Marcheshvan the Babylonians killed the sons of King Tzidkiyahu.
But in each of these events there is a hint of purification, of return to G-d. For from the rains life is born.
It was in the month of Cheshvan that King Shlomo completed the building of the Temple.
But the dedication took place only a year later – in Tishrei.
Cheshvan remained without a holiday, but not forever:
“In the future the Almighty will complete the portion of the month of Marcheshvan – the holiday will be established precisely in it” (Midrash).
The constellation of Marcheshvan corresponds to Scorpio.
Just as a scorpion cannot live without moisture, so the land of Israel in this month thirsts for rain.
7 Marcheshvan – they begin to pray for rain:
“Give rain for blessing and not for curse, for life and not for death, for satiety and not for hunger” (Geshem Prayer).
11 Marcheshvan – the Day of the death of the Matriarch Rachel
“– Hey, hey, quickly call the midwife! Yaakov’s wife, Rachel, is giving birth to a second child!
– Hurry, Rachel is getting worse and worse, she is dying! What should we do?! Woe to us, woe!”
…Rachel could not be saved. The Patriarch Yaakov was inconsolable. For he loved his wife and knew that he would not even be able to be buried next to his beloved! But they say that Rachel, even after death, continues to pray for us. She asks that all Jews be whole and unharmed and return to the Land of Israel. The prophet Yirmeyahu was certain that the Almighty listens to her every word:
Ko amar A-donai mini kolech mibechi ve-einayich midimah ki yesh sachar lifulatech neum A-donai veshavu me-eretz oyev.
“Thus says the L-rd: Hold back your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your labor – says the L-rd – and they shall return from the enemy’s land” (Yirmeyahu 31:15).
20 Cheshvan – the Birthday of Rabbi Shalom Dovber (the Rebbe Rashab)
In 5621 (1860), which the Tzemach Tzedek called Kisra (“crown”). Rabbi Shalom Dovber was named in honor of the Mitteler Rebbe (Rabbi Dovber) and in honor of the father of the Tzemach Tzedek (Rabbi Shalom Shachna).
The Rebbe Rashab was born on the second day of the week, the 20th of Marcheshvan 5621, in Lubavitch.
When the boy turned three years old, during his first haircut, his grandfather the Tzemach Tzedek designated him to be Rebbe, saying: “Our teacher the Baal Shem Tov handed to his disciple Rav the Maggid a spiritual pitcher of oil so that he might anoint the Alter Rebbe for leadership in his generations. By this power my father-in-law, the Mitteler Rebbe, was anointed, and I anointed you [the Rebbe Maharash] with it, and now – this child.”
After the passing of his father (the Rebbe Maharash), Rabbi Shalom Dovber refused to become Rebbe. This took 11 years, until he officially accepted the reins of leadership of the Chabad Chassidim on Rosh Hashanah 5654. On that day he began to pray in the permanent place of his father and began to receive Chassidim for audiences.
The Rebbe Rashab founded the “Tomchei Tmimim” yeshiva. He announced this at an assembly in Lubavitch, where fifty rabbis and philanthropists were present, and admitted that for ten years he had prostrated himself on the graves of his forefathers in order to realize this plan. The innovation of the yeshiva was that Chassidus was studied there at the same level as the Talmud.
The Rebbe Rashab cared not only for his own Chassidim but also for Jews in other countries. He sent his emissaries there to instill in people the spirit of Torah and mitzvos.
The treatises on Chassidus of the Rebbe Rashab were of particular depth, with numerous metaphors and examples. His famous “Continuations” became the foundation for the study of Chassidus in the yeshivas, and he himself received the title “the Rambam of Chassidus.”
Conclusion
The month of Cheshvan teaches us to see holiness in simplicity. After the radiance of Tishrei comes silence – but it is precisely this that allows the Torah to penetrate the heart.
May this Cheshvan become a time of rain of blessings, spiritual renewal, and a quiet, deep connection with the Creator.
