We have just gone through the month of Tishrei, filled with Yomim Tovim, and are about to begin the month of Cheshvan, which has none. Why doesn’t Cheshvan have any Yom Tov? Isn’t this a sort of let-down after such a full month of Yom Tov?
Some explain that this is why we call the month Mar Cheshvan. Mar, in Aramaic, means mister or master, and we are trying to pump-up Cheshvan, which is lacking any Yomim Tovim. Another explanation is that mar means bitter, which would be befitting the month of the mabul (the great flood), which destroyed the world. King Yeravam, the first king of the ten-tribes, created a new holiday in this month as part of his ploy to separate the ten-tribes from the Kings of Yehudah. Basically, an avoda zarah festival which eventually destroyed the ten-tribes. These, along with other tragedies that happened during Cheshvan, gives a bitter taste. It is also beginning the winter, when the dark nights get longer and the cold is setting in. Not such a comforting time. Is there anything to look forward to in this month?
Yes there is!
The Navi uses a different name for the month of Cheshvan. It was originally called Bul (Cheshvan was used after returning from galus Bavel). What’s Bul? One explanation is that the ground becomes imprinted (bul) from the rains pounding on it during this month. (Bul is Hebrew for a stamp. The ancient stamps were called bullah, as they were imprinted into either clay or wax.)
Another explanation is brought in Medrash Tanchuma (Noach 11), which says, that until Shlomo Hamelech built the Beis Hamikdash, it would rain for 40 days every year, beginning in Bul/Cheshvan. This was a remembrance for the mabul, when it rained for 40 days. When Shlomo built the Beis Hamikdash, it was completed in Bul/Cheshvan, and he prayed that the 40 days of rain stop.
Another explanation is that the month was chosen for these 40 days. The Yalkut Shimoni (Malachim 184) explains that mabul is ma-bul, the month of Bul minus mem, which is 40 (the numerical value of the letter mem). The 40 was the remnants of the mabul, which would continue to fall every year for 40 days. These were the rains that Shlomo prayed should be stopped.
When Shlomo completed the Beis Hamikdash in the month of Bul/Cheshvan, he decided to delay the inauguration until the following Tishrei. Klal Yisrael couldn’t understand why the king was waiting. Maybe there was something wrong with the king himself that he wasn’t worthy to build Hashem’s house, they wondered? They couldn’t understand his deep reasons for waiting, and they didn’t realize that Hashem had told him to wait for Tishrei, the month in which Avraham Avinu was born. Only when they had the chanukas habayis in Tishrei, and they saw a fire descend from heaven to the mizbe’ach and consume their korbanos, did they understand Shlomo’s decision.
Something similar had happened earlier (and later), from which Shlomo had already seen this. The Mishkan had been completed in the month of Kislev, and it sat there all packed up because Moshe Rabbeinu waited until the month of Nisan for the inauguration. Nisan is the month in which Yitzchak Avinu was born. (The significance of the Beis Hamikdash with Avraham Avinu and the Mishkan with Yitzchak Avinu are currently beyond the scope of this article. Perhaps for another time.) The month of Kislev complained to Hashem: It’s not fair! I lost a big Yom Tov, the inauguration of the Mishkan! Hashem responded, I’ll repay you. And He did later on, with Chanukah, which was like an inauguration of the Beis Hamikdash.
Shlomo knew all of that, both the past and the future, and he knew that when he delayed the inauguration of the Beis Hamikdash, Cheshvan would also be repaid. Indeed, the month of Cheshvan complained, I lost a major Yom Yov, the inauguration of the Beis Hamikdash! Hashem promised Cheshvan that it would also be repaid in the future.
We see from this Medrash that there is a debt due to Cheshvan.
Has Cheshvan been repaid yet? We don’t have anything remotely like Chanukah in Cheshvan. What will be the payment? There was more than a 1000-year-gap between the Mishkan and Chanukah, and there’s been more than 2800-plus years from the first Beis Hamikdash until today. We’re still waiting.
Now, why did Shlomo pray for the 40 day rains to stop? Were they bothersome or damaging?
Perhaps we can explain as follows. Really, we don’t want any remembrance of the mabul. Mabul is a word that means to mix-up and uproot everything, which is exactly what happened. At the same time, as destructive as the mabul was, it showed Hashem’s power and Oneness, as He destroyed the entire world and saved Noach.
In Tehillim 29, Dovid Hamelech said (we say this in Kabolas Shabbos), Hashem lamabul yashav... Rashi explains that when Hashem brought the mabul, it was clear that He was the only power in the world. Rashi brings a second explanation. When Hashem gave the Torah to Klal Yisrael, the entire world was shaking. The nations ran to the prophet Bilam and asked, “what’s happening? Is Hashem bringing another mabul? He promised not to bring a mabul of water, but maybe a mabul of fire He will bring?” Bilam answered, “no, Hashem is giving the Torah to Klal Yisrael.” And the nations responded, “Hashem yevarech es amo bashalom - Hashem should bless His nation with shalom.”
The world is shaking, so the options are either a mabul or the giving of the Torah? Rather it means, that everyone strongly sensed Hashem’s complete power and control in the world. The mabul is a revelation of Hashem’s complete power, where He chooses those He wishes to destroy and those He wishes to save. When mankind becomes so perverted that minimal theft becomes permitted, as it was in the time before the mabul (does this sound like current liberal policy?), then Hashem needs to show His power through a mabul. However, when we are deserving to have the Beis Hamikdash, which means that Hashem’s Glory is resting down here upon us, and His Holiness is so tangible to us, then we don’t need any remembrance of the mabul at all! Anyone who wanted to see Hashem’s Divine Presence only needed to be near the Beis Hamikdash, as their senses became overwhelmed from the holiness that filled Yerushalayim. And the closer they came, the more they saw. Having the Beis Hamikdash made recognition of Hashem tangible.
In summary, perhaps we can say that when we merited to have the Beis Hamikdash, we no longer needed the reminder of the mabul to “behave.” We had Hashem’s presence among us, a presence of holiness that would be a constant reminder. And even though we no longer have the Beis Hamikdash, we hope that we as Klal Yisrael are able to make a kiddush Hashem through our daily lives and spread Hashem’s kedushah everywhere through our daily behaviour, as we fill them with Torah and chesed.
May we merit this Cheshvan to see the debt repaid with a greater miracle and salvation than there was by Chanukah. And may we merit to have Hashem’s Divine Presence back among us with the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash speedily in our days.
By R’ Dovi Chaitovsky
