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The Jewish Month of Nissan

Nissan, the first month of the Jewish calendar, is the month of love. The Biblical name for the month, Aviv, is phonetically related to the Hebrew word for "love," ahavah.

In Nissan, nature reawakens and expresses anew its love for its Creator. Similarly, in this month the Jewish soul renews its love for its Redeemer, who delivers it from Egypt, i.e., the restrictions and limitations of nature. The Hebrew name for Egypt, Mitzraim, is phonetically related to the word for "restriction," meitzar.

Recalling the exodus from Egypt, G-d tells His people: "I remember the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals, when you went after Me in the desert, in land not sown." On the central holiday of this month, Pesach (Passover), we read the Song of Songs, the love song between the Divine groom, G-d, and His beloved bride, the Jewish People. "How beautiful and how pleasant you are, O love of delights!"

The three pilgrim festivals--Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot--correspond to our three forefathers--Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. G-d calls Abraham "My beloved one." Abraham was the first to lovingly spread Divine consciousness in the world.

The first day of creation was Sunday. On the Sunday of every week, the creation of the world is renewed, and all creation receives a new, higher life-force than it had ever before possessed.

The spiritual essence of the month begins to shine on its first day, called in Hebrew Rosh Chodesh. The most important Rosh Chodesh Nissan was that of the second year after the exodus, when the Tabernacle (Mishkan)--the complex which housed the revelation of G-d on earth--was erected and began to function. This Rosh Chodesh occurred on a Sunday.

We are taught in the ancient Kabbalistic text Sefer Yetzirah that every season, month, and day of the week was created with a specific letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Spring was created with the letter alef (א ) the month of Nissan was created with the letter hei (ה ) and Sunday was created with the letter beit (ב ) Thus, in the month of Nissan, the predominant letters are those which spell "love" (אהבה).

The experience of love is one of light shining to one from another; love is a two-way relationship. "As the reflection of one's face in water, so is the reflection of one's heart in another's." When G-d redeemed us from Egypt, He "exposed" Himself to us by revealing Himself, and we "exposed" ourselves to Him by following Him blindly into the desert. This is the meaning of the verse from the Song of Songs: "I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine."

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The Month of Redemption

Our sages say: "In Nissan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt, and in Nissan we will be redeemed." The name of the month, Nissan, is cognate to the word, Nissim, "miracles." The two letters, nun, at the beginning and end of Nissan, allude, according to our sages, to "miracles of miracles" (nisai nissim).

In the Torah, the month of Nissan is referred to as "the month of spring." From the verse, "Guard the month of spring and make Pesach for G-d your G-d," our sages learn of the mitzvah to make a leap year when necessary, to ensure that the holiday of Pesach will always fall in the season of spring. The word for "leap year," ibur, also means "pregnancy"--a state of being from which a new reality is born.

Spring is the time of the rebirth of nature, of renewed growth and actualization of latent potential. This is intimated in the very first mitzvah that the Children of Israel were commanded, before leaving Egypt: "This month is for you the head of months; it is for you the first of the months of the year." The root of the word for "month," chodesh, is identical to the root of the word "new," chadash. Thus, "this month," the month of Nissan, is the source of all "renewal" that will appear throughout the year. In the above cited verse the root "new" appears three times--a triple renewal ("A triply winded thread is not easily severed").

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The greatest miracle of the month of Nissan--the month of redemption--is that in Nissan nature itself experiences true renewal. The prophet says: "Just as in the days of your going out of Egypt, I will show you wonders." From this we learn that the miracles of the future redemption will be "wonders" as compared to the miracles of the exodus from Egypt. Chassidut explains that the miracles of the exodus from Egypt were so powerfully "supernatural" that they "broke" the natural order of the world. In the future redemption, however, the miracles will unite with nature and will illuminate the world through nature. Now, the myriad of miracles "enclothed" in nature are concealed by the cloak of nature. In the future, nature will become a transparent pane through which the brilliant, Divine light of the miracle of true renewal of all reality will shine. Of the future it is said: "Night (nature) as day (miracles) will shine."

©Rav Ginsburgh at inner.org