SEASONS of the MOON
The Jewish Year seen through its months
===========================================================================
Issue #9 Vol #2 Sivan 5757 / 6 June 1997 - 5 July 1997
===========================================================================
This publication is available in Adobe Acrobat format
from The Ohr Somayach Home Page: http://www.ohr.org.il
===========================================================================
THIS MONTH'S SIGN: Te'omim / Twins
The first two months of the year are both symbolized by animals: Taleh
(Aries) the lamb, and Shor (Taurus) the bull. It is only with the sign of
Te'omim (Gemini) the Twins, that we find a sign which is symbolized by Man.
The Torah was given under the sign of the Twins to indicate that only
with the giving of the Torah does man fulfill his potential, being raised
above the level of an animal. On Wednesday, June 11th this year, we will
celebrate Shavuot -- the festival of the giving of the Torah.
When the Jewish People camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai in preparation to
receive the Torah, they achieved a harmony and unity which was unparalleled
before or since. Israel was united in heart and mind like a single person.
It was only in this state of unity, of being one, that they could receive
the Torah which is one. For the Torah is the `mind' of the Creator, who is
One.
The sign of Te'omim (Gemini) -- identical twins -- symbolizes different
people, physically separate, joined in a spiritual kinship in which they
resemble each other to the point that they are identical.
===========================================================================
All-Nighter
When you say you're going to stay up all night, people might think you're
doing the disco round, and partying the night away.
Staying up all night doesn't sound very religious. But there are
several times during the Jewish Year that there is a custom to burn the
midnight oil until the sun peeps through the blinds.
Many people stay up after the Seder on Pesach until the time of the
morning prayer to recount and analyze the great miracles of the Exodus. As
the Haggada itself says: Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben
Azariah and Rabbi Akiva stayed up all night talking about the Exodus until
their talmidim (students) came to tell them that it was time to recite the
morning Shema Yisrael.
On Yom Kippur, those with sufficient strength stay up all night in
prayer and supplication atoning for their sins. On Hoshana Rabba, the time
when the decrees of Yom Kippur are given over to those Heavenly agents who
will carry them out, there is a tradition to learn all night.
On the night of Shavuot too, there is a widely observed custom to stay
up all night. The sages of the Kabbala formulated an order of study call a
tikun (lit. `fixing') for the night of Shavuot. This includes passages
from the written Torah, the oral Torah, the mystical Zohar, as well as a
list of all 613 mitzvos.
The Zohar commends those who stay awake in anticipation of receiving
the Torah. The giving of the Torah was, as it were, the wedding of the
Jewish People and the Torah, and so it is fitting that we should be engaged
in preparing the ornaments of the bride the previous night.
Another reason: On that first Shavuot morning, there were some who
overslept and had to be awakened to receive the Torah. In order to rectify
this, we stay up.
===========================================================================
The Doors Of Perception
But there is a deeper reason that we don't sleep on the night of Shavuot.
Sleep is the taste of death.
If fact, the Talmud tells us that sleep is 1/60th part of death. One
part in 60 is the threshold of perception. Similarly, Shabbat is a `taste'
of the World-to-Come. It's precisely 1/60th of the World-to-Come.
Sleep is the taste of death in this world. King David died on
Shavuot. But before he died, he never even tasted the taste of death,
because he never fell into a deep sleep. Thus on the occasion of his
yahrtzeit (the anniversary of his death) we avoid the `taste of death' by
staying up all night.
The angel of death came to King David to try and take his life. But
it had no power over him for he was immersed in learning Torah and Torah is
the essence of the life-force in this world. The only way that the angel
of death could take King David's life from him was through cunning: He
managed to distract King David from his learning, and in that split second,
he was able to take his life from him. So on this night of Shavuot, which
is both the anniversary of the giving of the Torah and the end of King
David's life, we stay awake all night and immerse ourselves in Torah study.
Torah breathes life into Man. But it was not always this way. When
Hashem first created Man, he was animated by God's utterance: `Let Us make
Man.' The power of these words, spoken by the Creator, gave Man the
ability to live, breath, think and act.
However, this was only until the Jewish People stood at the foot of
Sinai. When Hashem said "I am Hashem, your God...." -- the first
commandment -- the life-force that animated Man parted from the body and
the entire Jewish People died. Miraculously, their souls were put back
into their bodies; but what animated them now was a different utterance.
No longer did their life-force derive from "Let Us make Man." Now they
were like new creations. Their inner essence was powered by "I am Hashem,
your God...." From this moment, the Torah became the animating dynamic of
the Jewish Soul.
And when the Mashiach, the scion of King David, arrives to herald the
era of the resurrection of the dead, it will be the Torah, the dew of life,
which will be the mechanism to awaken the body from its long sleep.
Then we will finally understand the words we have sung for so long:
"David, Melech Yisrael, chai v'kayam!"
"David, king of Israel, lives and exists!"
===========================================================================
SLUMBERLAND
This is a world of slumber.
Some sleep the sleep of centuries,
Some sleep their lives awake,
Some sleep with hollow
frightened eyes
that see no Reason,
no Hand, no Fate.
But one man never slumbers --
The Sweet `n' Singing King.
When the midnight Northern Winds caress the harp-strings,
He will rouse his tired limbs,
and coax the song
that will awaken Eternity.
===========================================================================
Sources:
o This Month's Sign - Rabbi M. Glazerson; All-Nighter - Tehillim 73:5,
Yalkut Shimoni; Talmud Berachot 3b; Tehillim 19:9;
o Book of Our Heritage, Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov, translated by Rabbi Nachman
Bulman; Time Pieces, Rabbi Aaron Lopianski
o Slumberland - Time Pieces, Rabbi Aaron Lopianski
===========================================================================
"I'm looking for the E-Mail address of a student at Ohr Somayach..."
Look no further than http://www.ohr.org.il/web/alumni/email.htm
===========================================================================
Do you have a question about Judaism,
and don't know where to find the answer?
Just "Ask The Rabbi" and you'll get an answer.
Ohr Somayach has a staff of Rabbis
dedicated to answering YOUR questions.
Our Rabbis have researched questions on what Judaism says about Magic,
Virtual Reality Minyan, Why Honey and Locusts are Kosher, and Why People
Point Pinkies at the Torah. For each question that we answer in the weekly
column, DOZENS of answers are sent to individuals around the world who also
asked questions during that time.
Please feel free to avail yourself of this service. Just submit your
question to "Ask The Rabbi" and we'll begin researching your answer. If
you feel your question is personal, just tell us, and we'll be certain to
send the answer only to YOU!
To submit a question via the internet, go to the address:
http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/page/ask.htm
or send E-mail to: ohr@virtual.co.il with the subject "ASK THE RABBI"
See below for instructions on how to subscribe to ASK THE RABBI
===========================================================================
Do you link to us? Let everyone know about the Ohr Somayach Home Page by
dropping the following text into the HTML document of YOUR home page:
<A HREF="http://www.ohr.org.il" TARGET="_top">The Ohr Somayach
International Home Page</A>
===========================================================================
SUBSCRIBE!
to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions:
ohrnews - Keep up-to-date with the Ohr Somayach Web Site
weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion
dafyomi - Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into the Daf Yomi
ask - The Rabbi answers YOUR questions on Judaism
parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion
os-special - All the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr Somayach
os-alum - "B'Yachad" - the Ohr Somayach Electronic Alumni Newsletter
judaismo - Spanish-Language newsletter on the Parsha & Judaism
month - Seasons of the Moon - The Jewish Year through its months
Ohr Somayach NEVER charges for any of the above lists.
To subscribe, send the message: subscribe {listname} {your full name}
mailto:listproc@virtual.co.il
===========================================================================
"Seasons Of The Moon" is written by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman.
Designed and Produced by the Office of Communications-
Rabbi Eliezer Shapiro, Director
===========================================================================
Jewish L EEEEEEEE Prepared by the Jewish Learning Exchange of
J L E Ohr Somayach International
J L E 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103
J L Exchange Jerusalem 91180, Israel
J L E Tel: 972-2-581-0315 Fax: 972-2-581-2890
J J L E mailto:ohr@virtual.co.il
JJJJ Learning EEEEEEEE http://www.ohr.org.il
===========================================================================
(C) 1997 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.
This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior
permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other
publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you
contact us beforehand for permission, and then send us a sample issue.