Today, with the setting of the sun, the first day of the month of Sivan begins. In the Torah, this month is referred to simply as “the third month” since the count of months starts from Nisan. The name “Sivan” is of Babylonian origin, like most month names in the Jewish calendar.
Rosh Chodesh Sivan always lasts only one day because the preceding month, Iyar, is always incomplete. Sivan itself is always a full month with 30 days.
It was in the month of Sivan that the Jewish people received the Torah at Mount Sinai. The festival of Shavuot is the central event of the month and infuses it with unique holiness. Tradition teaches that on Rosh Chodesh Sivan the Jewish people arrived at Mount Sinai and camped there. As it is written in the Torah: “In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai” (Exodus 19:1).
The zodiac sign of Sivan is Gemini (Twins), which many interpret as an allusion to Moses and Aaron—equal in spiritual stature—who received the Torah during this month.
Many significant events in Jewish history occurred in the month of Sivan. It is the month when the founder of Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov, passed from the material world. A year later, leadership and the title of “Head of the Generation” were taken up by Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezritch. Also in Sivan, the Third Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel—known as the Tzemach Tzedek—assumed leadership.
In the Land of Israel, the first twelve days of Sivan carry a special level of holiness (though less than the festival days). Outside the Land of Israel, it is customary not to fast and to omit Tachanun from prayers only through Isru Chag (up to and including the 8th of Sivan, as the 6th and 7th are festival days in the Diaspora).
The Jewish community of Dnipro invites everyone to join in prayer on this day and to attend the Torah reading in honor of Rosh Chodesh Sivan. Synagogue address: 4 Sholom Aleichem Street.
