JUDAH AND THE MONTH OF NISSAN
Judah is the king among the Tribes. Of the king, the sages say, “When the king speaks, he can uproot a mountain” (רַמַא אָרּר טוַקֲא, עָכְּלַמ). A leader in the language of the sages is called a רַּבַד, a speaker. Nissan is about the celebration of the Exodus from Egypt. It is the first month of the year: “This month shall be for you the first of the months.” The reason that the leader has so much power in his words is because of his faith, the inner experience associated with the highest head in the crown—the power of the soul of Nissan and Judah—the Radla, meaning “the unknowable head.” The letter associated with Judah and the month of Nissan is hei (ה), the phonetic source for all 22 letters of the alef-beit.
The sages teach us that "with the letter hei God created this world." As it says in the beginning of the second account of Creation, “When they were created” (םָאְרָּבִהְּב) and this word is written in a manner that it means “with [the letter] hei, they were created.” Just as a human king speaks and leads, God spoke and created. It is not surprising therefore that the sense of the soul of Judah and Nissan is speech.
It is explained that the worst kind of incarceration is one that takes away a person’s freedom of speech. With the Exodus from Egypt, we were free to express ourselves. In fact, it is a commandment to speak and retell the story of the Exodus on the eve of the 14th of Nissan. The text of the Haggadah begins with the letter hei, “This [hei] is the bread of poverty” (אָיְנָא עָמְחַא לֵה). On the 14th of Nissan, we are commanded to sacrifice the Paschal lamb, the Zodiac sign of the month of Nissan. The redemption from Egypt (the existential state of "confinement," the inability to truly express oneself–"all exiles are referred to as Egypt") symbolizes freedom of speech.
Sefer Yetzirah states that the organ controlling all of this is the right foot. Just as leadership depends on speech, it depends on one’s gait, particularly on the right foot, which represents active confidence in God (and hence, in oneself). Speaking words of Torah while walking inspires new insights into the secrets of the Torah. For this reason, we find that many of the secrets of the holy Zohar were revealed in the context of "walking on the way."
