In order to understand our present month of Cheshvan it is important to view it in relation to the three months that precede it—Av, Elul, and Tishrei—as these months lay the foundation for understanding its energy and possibilities for spiritual advancement. A deep connection between the months of Av, Elul, and Tishrei is found in a cardinal teaching of the Ba’al Shem Tov, who taught that every process, whether material or spiritual, progresses through three stages: submission (hachna’ah), separation (havdalah), and sweetening (hamtakah).
The first stage, submission, entails diminishing one’s ego in order to obtain a more balanced view of reality. In this initial stage one submits their will, energy and time to achieving a specific goal or purpose. Often, we are inspired to make a commitment but lack the ability to submit to a detailed plan of action, especially when the goal demands a considerable amount of dedication or time.
When relating this idea to Av whose ninth day, Tisha B’Av, the day on which we fast and mourn for the destruction of the Temple and many other tragedies throughout the millennium, it is clear that the energy of Av calls for a great deal of emotional submission in light of Jewish history and the existential reality of an unrectified world. However, submission does not mean depression, but it does require a great deal of humility to assume the burden of the collective history of the Jewish people.
The second stage, separation, involves separating the essential from the extraneous and truth from falsehood, while at the same time defining an orderly path towards the fulfillment of our goals. We must “separate” or distinguish between those activities, situations and attitudes that will further the attainment of the goal from those that will distract us from achieving it. This stage is an accurate description of the spiritual, emotional, and psychological work of the month of Elul when we prepare for a New Year and the holidays of the month of Tishrei through deep introspection.
The last stage in the Ba’al Shem Tov’s three-stage process is called sweetening. In this stage, we reach our goals and realize that it was all worth the time and effort. So often we dedicate substantial effort to reaching a goal that turns out not to be exactly what we had hoped and longed for. The stage of sweetening offers us the sweet reward for a job well done and enables us to express our feelings of gratitude for God’s constant assistance and guiding hand. The month of Tishrei, with all of its holidays, represents this last stage of sweetening when the spiritual work of the months of Av and Elul and the preceding stages of submission and separation are fully integrated in the proper manner. The awe and joy of the prayers that elicit repentance, forgiveness, and atonement are truly a sweetening for the soul.
The Ba’al Shem Tov also taught a similar three-stage process based on the mysterious word, chashmal, that appears in the vision of Ezekiel, referred to as Ma’aseh Merkavah, the Workings of the Chariot. The first syllable of this word—chash—literally means silence, while the second syllable—mal—means speaking. Thus, the paradox of the “sounds of silence.” The Ba’al Shem Tov taught that any pair of opposites will always have an intermediary stage that unites them. Thus, he reads the word as chash-mal-mal, as the word mal actually has two meanings: circumcision and speaking. These three stages correspond perfectly with submission, separation, and sweetening.
Submission entails an inner silence born of true humility and existential lowliness. Separation mirrors circumcision as that act involves separating the foreskin from the male organ. Sweetening is expressed through speech, especially thanking God for whatever success we achieve. In this paradigm the submission of Av is expressed in silence, the process of separation in Elul entails circumcising the heart, while the sweetening of Tishrei is articulated in the exalted prayers of the holidays of Tishrei.
Hachna’ah
Submission
הכנעה
Silence
Chash
חש
Av
Havdalah
Separation
הבדלה
Circumcision
Mal
מל
Elul
Hamtakah
Sweetening
המתקה
Speaking
Mal
מל
Tishrei
Chasidut explains that the type of sweetening referred to in the month of Tishrei is that of turning darkness into light. The month of Tishrei begins with Rosh HaShanah and recalls the Creation of the world. Although the first explicit creation through God's speech on the first day is that of light, described in the third verse of the Torah, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light,” in the second verse, we already learn that there is darkness as well. Light and darkness were initially mixed, until God separated them and gave each its own domain—day for light and night for darkness. The paradigm of darkness preceding light is archetypal, setting the stage for the spiritual need to “turn darkness into light” or as stated by King Solomon “superior is the light that comes from darkness.” The month of Tishrei with all its holidays invites us to turn personal, national, and universal “darkness into light.”
A support for the idea of turning darkness into light in Tishrei is found in the verse: “Blow the shofar on the New Moon, when it is concealed, for the day of our festival.” Rosh HaShanah in the Torah is called, Yom Teru’ah, a Day of [shofar] Blasts. It is the only holiday that begins on a New Moon when the moon is hidden and darkness reigns at night. The holidays of Tishrei that follow are thus a time of spiritually turning darkness into light.
With this introduction we can now try to understand the special service of the month of Cheshvan. According to tradition the only month of the year that has no holiday, commemorative event, or fast day is the month of Cheshvan. For this reason, some call it Mar (“bitter”) Cheshvan. Another important reason for identifying this month with bitterness is that it was on the 17th day of Cheshvan that Noach’s Flood began.
