Rosh Chodesh Sivan — Reminding us of something we are losing sight of . . .
Lest we forget what has happened in the Torah and on the Calendar — on this day. It is reasonable to assume that the world, as we know it, would prefer for the Jews to forget what once happened during the Exodus, on this day, this first day of Sivan. The world is equally keen on us forgetting what happened 600 days ago as well. It is difficult to separate one of these occurrences from another.
Unity of thought and purpose, which once represented the importance of the Exodus teachings, has now begun to fray and slip away — but the importance is not forgotten.
Time and memory (the ability to recall and to learn from the past) will tell.
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Let’s take a closer look . . . at a day like “today” — in our history: (Exodus 19:1)
Here, this verse refers us to today, in history: “In the third month after the Exodus, the People of Israel came out from Egypt, on that very day, they came to the Desert of Sinai”
The first day of the Month of Sivan (which is today), as it was in the time of the Exodus … “on that very day”… i.e., Rosh Chodesh Sivan
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First, the context, i.e., the meaning within the Torah and the Writings.
Here is the context of this expression, which appears in English: “And the People of Israel encamped there, opposite the Mountain.” The verb written in Hebrew for “encamped” is “vayichan,” in a singular, rather than plural form, it is, as if to say, the Jewish People acted (as a whole), as one, as a unity. This is unusual wording, and remains. significant.
Let’s look further: Turning to the Book of Chronicles II, (Chapter 15: verses 9 through 12), we find a small but provocative piece regarding King Asa of Judah (the Southern (Jewish) Kingdom):
“And he gathered all of Judah and Benjamin, and from those who lived with them, from Ephrayim and Menasheh and from Simon, for they gathered unto him in multitudes, because they saw that Gd was with him. And they were gathered to Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of King Asa. And they sacrificed (a Biblical sign of a Covenant, i.e., of ‘binding agreement’) to the Lord on that day, bringing seven hundred cattle and seven thousand sheep. And they entered into the Covenant to seek the Lord, the Gd of their ancestors, with all their heart and all their soul.”
Is this Unity recalled — or is this Disarray Lamented . . .
Approximately six hundred years after the Covenant at Sinai, this would be an example of a renewed Covenant between the Jewish people and Gd, all of which originally occurred on the first of Sivan, and now recalled every Rosh Chodesh Sivan, to remind us of the only way forward, is together.
It is a time to remember this — at a time in which the world would prefer that we forget — and that we would be cast into the winds of disarray.
Please click in this evening at 7:00 PM — No one chooses to remember what has just happened in a very short period of time. Which, of course, makes this session *that important*.
Am Yisrael Chai,
Rabbi Seth Frisch
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Rabbi Seth Frisch / מהרש״ף
Lerhaus Bet Midrash: A New School of Jewish Thought and Learning
www.lerhausinstitute.org
(215) 385-0778
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Rabbi Seth Frisch / מהרש״ף
TBI: The Jewish Center of Bucks County
www.tbiwarrington.org
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On a day like today, a 600th day… anniversary
The newest Pogrom against the Jews – along with all those who were kidnapped, we remember the Jews who continue to be beaten, starved, and tortured . . .
Lest we forget, these captives are us.
