Besiyata Dishmaya, I would now like to present a few ideas that are somewhat complex and difficult to grasp, but I will do my best to relay them and adapt them accordingly. It will require a bit of deeper concentration on our part but will then lead to a wonderful explanation as to why Rashi chose his exact words: יָפֶה נִדְרֶשֶׁת.
First off, there is a topic some Ashkenazim say as well as some Bnei Sepharade, but not Bnei Teiman. The Arizal, in Pri Eitz Chaim, says that when we recite the Mussaf Rosh Chodesh bracha of בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' מְקַדֵּשׁ יִשרָאֵל וְרָאשֵׁי חֳדָשִׁים, we need to focus on a different aspect for each month of the year. This appears in many siddurim, where each month has a different kavana (intention) in the form of a Pasuk. The Bnei Yissaschar explains each of these kavanot. There are twelve months in a year, and twelve permutations of Hashem’s name – the Shem Havay-a. Adding up the gematria of all permutations results in a sum of 312 (שי"ב), the same value as חֹדֶשׁ (month). The only month of the year where the permutation is the actual name we know, spelled straight forward in the right form (Yud-Heh-Vav--Heh) is the month of Nisan.
יִשְׂמְחוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְתָגֵל הָאָרֶץ is the Pasuk which serves as the kavana for the month of Nisan (spelling out the Shem Havay-a through its roshei teivot – first letters). The Bnei Yissaschar says this helps us understand an idea found in Tehilim (91:14-15): אֲשַׂגְּבֵהוּ כִּי־יָדַע שְׁמִי ... יִקְרָאֵנִי וְאֶעֱנֵהוּ – I will set him on high, because he has known my name... He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. The Midrash (Shochar Tov 91:6) comments on the state of our Tefillah:
מִפְּנֵי מָה מִתְפַּלְּלִין יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה וְאֵינָן נֶעֶנִין. עַל יְדֵי שֶׁאֵינָן יוֹדְעִין בְּשֵׁם הַמְּפֹרָשׁ. אֲבָל לֶעָתִיד לָבוֹא הקב"ה מוֹדִיעָן כְּמוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה נב ו) לָכֵן יֵדַע עַמִּי שְׁמִי. בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה הֵם מִתְפַּלְּלִין וְנֶעֱנִין שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר יִקְרָאֵנִי וְאֶעֱנֵהוּ.
Why do the people of Israel pray in this world and not receive an answer? Because they do not know the explicit Name. But in the future, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will inform them, as it is said, 'Therefore, My people shall know My Name.' At that hour they will pray and be answered, as it is said, 'He will call upon Me and I will answer him.'"
The Bnei Yissaschar says, our prayers may not be answered because we don’t know how to daven properly. We don’t know how to call out the name of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and only when we know His name will all our tefillot be answered. If we don’t know how to focus (kavanot) on the name of Hashem each Rosh Chodesh, we won’t be answered, he says. We see an example of this with Moshe Rabbeinu in Parshat Va’etchanan: וָאֶתְחַנַּן אֶל־ה' בָּעֵת הַהִוא לֵאמֹר – Moshe pleaded with Hakadosh Baruch Hu based on the permutation and kavanot of that specific time (month). Have a look in your siddurim for the list of these twelve permutations and Pesukim, as explained by the Bnei Yissaschar.
One example that I would like to expand on is that of Nisan and יִשְׂמְחוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְתָגֵל הָאָרֶץ. When the name of Hashem is found in a Pasuk in its straight order – i.e., it correctly spells out the name of Hashem in its entirety – the month is one of Rachamim (mercy). Nisan is named for the continuous nisim (miracles) that are plentiful in that month of Rachamim and Geula. The opposite is true as well. When the Pasuk contains a permutation of Hashem’s name but in reverse order, the month is one of Dinim (judgement). And when the name is partially in order and partially out of order – such as two letters being in order but two others out of order – the month is split between Dinim and Rachamim. An example of the latter case is the month of Av. Until Tu B’Av (the 15th of Av), it is a month of Dinim, and from that date forward it is a month of Rachamim. And what Pasuk is designated as the kavana for the month of Av? הַסְכֵּת וּשְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל הַיּוֹם – Take heed and accept today, Israel. The permutation of Hashem’s name in this Pasuk is: Heh-Vav-Yud-Heh, and therefore, the month begins with Dinim since Heh-Vav are out of order, and concludes with Rachamim as Yud-Heh are in order. Another example can be found in the month of Iyar, whose kavana is: יִתְהַלֵּל הַמִּתְהַלֵּל הַשְׂכֵּל וְיָדֹעַ – where the first two letters (Yud-Heh) are in order but the final two (Heh-Vav) are not.
As we mark Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, I’d like to focus on the Pasuk designated as the kavana for this month, a pivotal Pasuk spoken by Haman. In this Pasuk, the name of Hashem is found in the sofei teivot – the final letters of each word: וְכָל־זֶה אֵינֶנִּי שׁוֶֹה לִי בְּכָל־עֵת אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי רֹאֶה אֶת־מָרְדֳּכַי הַיּוּדִי יוֹשֵׁב בְּשַׁעַר הַמֶּלֶךְ (Esther 5:13). Yet all this means nothing to me every time I see that Jew Mordecai sitting in the palace gate.
The name of Hashem appears in reverse within this Pasuk: Heh-Vav-Heh-Yud, and the mekubalim (mystics) say Tammuz is the most difficult month of the year as a result of Hashem’s name appearing backwards. The entire month is under the control of the Samech Mem A, from start to finish. Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropola says regarding the pasuk וְהַיָּמִים יְמֵי בִּכּוּרֵי עֲנָבִים in last week’s Parsha, that if we take the letters appearing before the letters ם-י-ב-נ-ע (representing בִּכּוּרֵי, or the firsts), we find the word: ל-א-מ-ס. These days that the spies journeyed were under the control of the Samech Mem. This is why they fell terribly in their mission, because they departed on the 29th of Sivan and spent the entire month controlled by Samech Mem in Eretz Yisrael. They even carried over into the beginning of Av, which we said earlier was a period of Din. This was the worst possible time for their mission, and the results reflected that.
Our month – Tammuz – is the only one named after Avodah Zara, because it was the month in which Cheit Ha’Eigel took place (on the 17th of Tammuz). This name is referenced in Sefer Yechezkel (8:14): הַנָּשִׁים יֹשְׁבוֹת מְבַכּוֹת אֶת־הַתַּמּוּז – And behold, there sat women weeping for [the deity] Tammuz.
