A BISSEL TORAH: VAERAH: ROSH CHODESH SHVAT
By: Suri Davis
The coordination of Rosh Chodesh Shvat/month of Jewish month of Shvat coming in between the two torah portions which set forth the 10 plagues that Egypt suffered to encourage them to do the right thing and permit the Jews to leave to serve G-d is an interesting juxtaposition, which is summed up beautifully when we say Grace After Meal, the blessing after we eat bread.
We offer thanks to You, L-rd our G‑d, for having given as a heritage to our ancestors a precious, good and spacious land; for having brought us out, L-rd our G‑d, from the land of Egypt, and redeemed us from the house of bondage; for Your covenant which You have sealed in our flesh; for Your Torah which You have taught us; for Your statutes which You have made known to us; for the life, favor, and kindness which You have graciously bestowed upon us; and for the food we eat with which You constantly nourish and sustain us every day, at all times, and at every hour.
The month of Shvat is an interesting one. On Rosh Chodesh, Moses starts his final address to Israel, which lasted 37 days, until zayin adar/the 7th day of the Jewish month of Adar, the day Moses died. He knows with absolute certainty that the Jews will continue to test G-d, and sin, that they will enter the land, but will be driven from their land for their sins. He is a parent to the Jews, is afraid to leave them fearing that without his intervention on their behalf, they are a doomed nation.
It is not coincidence that our Grace After Meals has Jerusalem and our holy land cited throughout almost every passage. It is clear that our sustenance, that the epicenter of our strength, is our Holy Land, where the Rabbis tell us, G-d’s eyes are on the holy land from the beginning of the year until the end of the year, i.e., always. It is His home, the land upon which many of our commandments are centered. The holiness of the land seeps out to reach out to all Jews to give them strength, vitality and hope of redemption. Last month, we added to our prayers a request that G-d give dew and rain for a blessing. Was it because New York needs rain at this time? No, it is because Israel needs rain for its crops, and no matter where Jews have settled, their concern is always with the core of national strength, Israel, and its lands.
The month is most well known for the holiday of Tu Bshvat/the 15th day of Shvat, which is the New Year for trees, the measurement day by which certain fruit are permissible and impermissible. It is a day to celebrate Israel’s bounty, the land of flowing milk and honey, with seven varieties of produce with which it is blessed: wheat, barley, grapes/wine, figs, pomegranate, olives and dates. The means by which we know that we are blessed nation in G-d’s eyes, is when G-d gives us our needed rain in its time, where it is a bountiful rain, but not a destructive rain. In Shvat we take a moment to praise the holy land and thank G-d for His blessings which are attached to the land.
When did we become His nation? It started in Egypt, when G-d had the Jews enslaved in bondage for the purpose of melding them from 12 tribes, to one nation who would understand a king’s sovereignty, and the need to obey. G-d showed the Jews His might with the 10 plagues with which Egypt was struck, and the miracle of their Exodus. And with bestowing on them the laws as set forth in the Torah, which was given to the Jews on the sixth day of the month of Sivan. In fact, Moses’ recounting the story of the bible before his death, on Rosh Chodesh Shvat, is a day as holy to the Jews as the day the torah was given to the Jews in Sivan, and it is a special time for Jews to reinvigorate their torah learning.
Another celebratory occasion in Shvat is a special Shabbos, called Shabbos Shira, the Shabbos of song. It is the Shabbos we read in the torah portion about the Jews singing praise to G-d after crossing the Red Sea safely. G-d fed us with Manna, and we were not supposed to collect it on Shabbos. A few non-believers went out on Shabbos to collect the Manna, but the birds did them a favor by eating it to prevent them from sinning. As a result, it is our custom on the Friday afternoon of Shabbos Shira to feed birds bread to thank them for saving us from sin.
It is a month of praise and thanks to G-d for taking us out of Egypt, demanding that we put the sign of our covenant on our bodies, in the form of circumcision, for giving us the Torah and its laws, for giving us the land that sustains us as we live on the land, and even in the diaspora, and for giving us animals and birds which support us in our dedication to G-d.
Rosh Chodesh Shvat is reminiscent of the Garden of Eden, when all was created for our enjoyment and dominance, where G-d sustained us without our own effort. Gratitude to G-d, vegetation, animals, all in harmony in service of G-d.
Moses last words to the Jewish nation, Deuteronomy 33:29: “Fortunate are you, Israel, who is like unto you, a nation who is saved by G-d, the shield Who assists you, the sword of your pride. Your enemies shall dwindle away before you and you shall tread upon their high places.” May G-d hasten the time in which we see these words come to pass and bring the complete redemption speedily in our time.
Shabbat shalom.
-Suri