Why Is This New Year Different From All Other New Years? - Tuesday Kavvanah, 3/27/2012

On Shabbat afternoon at minhah / the afternoon service, I had just concluded my private recitation of the Amidah when I looked over my shoulder and noticed the tree outside the chapel in full spring bloom.  Having just passed one of the four New Years of the Jewish year — the Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 1:1) calls the first day of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish calendar, "Rosh Hashanah limlakhim velirgalim," the New Year for kings and festivals* — I am reminded that this is the more sensible choice for the beginning of the year.  Spring is the time of renewal: cleansing rain, cheery flowers, the scents of wet sod and decaying leaves.

There is a berakhah / blessing to be recited upon seeing trees in bloom for the first time in the spring:

ברוך אתה יי אלהינו מלך העולם, שלא חסר בעולמו דבר, וברא בו בריות טובות ואילנות טובים להנות בהם בני אדם

Barukh attah Adonai, Eloheinu melekh ha'olam, shelo hissar be'olamo davar, uvara vo beriyot tovot ve'ilanot tovim lehanot bahem benei adam.
Praised are You, Adonai, our God, who rules the universe, which lacks nothing; for God created fine creatures and pleasant trees in order that humans might enjoy them.

As we recited this berakhah together, my thoughts returned to the coming festival.  Pesah is heralded by the Earth's return to life, like the royal trumpets that would have been sounded long ago at this time.  The trees explode in colorful harmony, and a new year has begun.  Happy spring!


~
Rabbi Seth Adelson



* So called because for Jewish kings, the next year of their reign always begins on Nisan 1, even if they ascended to the throne a day earlier, and it is also the deadline for fulfilling a vow to bring a dedicated item to the Temple in Jerusalem.  Neither reason is applicable today, of course; there has been no functioning Temple since 70 CE, when the second one was destroyed by the Romans, and there has not been an Israelite king for nearly 2600 years.

The Not-Exclusively-Spiritual Cleanse - Tuesday Kavvanah, 3/13/2012

I do not wish to alarm you, but I began shopping for Pesah yesterday, purchasing some basic items that I'm pretty sure I'll need in a month.  No matter that my house is still infested with hametz - we'll be taking care of that in short order.

Situated directly across the Jewish year from Yom Kippur, Pesah is something like a second shower on a humid summer day.  While the former holiday focuses entirely on cleansing the spirit, Pesah is as much about physical purification.  This is a time to eliminate the veteran products moldering in the back of the fridge, the sticky substances hanging out in the microwave and corrupting the shelves, and the crumbs that have multiplied under seat cushions and taken up residence in corners.

But the deeper item here is that, just as many other Jewish rituals require some sort of re-enactment of an ancient event, this cleaning is representative of something else.  Just as we clean our homes, so too do we purify our spirits.  With the renewal of spring comes the renewal of our souls.

There are only 24 more cleaning days until Pesah.  Get a move on!

Tuesday Kavvanah, 4/12/2011 - The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring

A week away from Pesah, the temperature is climbing gradually. Pesah is as much about spring renewal as it is about freedom; at least two of the symbols on the seder plate are there to remind us of spring, but the earth is dropping natural hints all over the place.

This morning when I arrived at Temple Israel for our morning minyan, I was greeted by a floral explosion right outside the chapel windows - the tree that sits just outside has blossomed. At the end of Shaharit, as we were wrapping up our tefillin, we recited the following berakhah, which is customarily recited when one sees trees in bloom for the first time each year:

ברוך אתה ה' אלקינו מלך העולם
שלא חיסר בעולמו דבר
וברא בו בריות טובות ואילנות טובים
להנות בהם בני אדם

Barukh atah Adonai, eloheinu melekh ha-olam
shelo hiser be-olamo davar
uvara vo beriyot tovot ve-ilanot tovim
lehanot bahem benei adam.

Praised are You Adonai our God, who rules the universe,
which lacks nothing;
for God created fine creatures and pleasant trees
in order that humans might enjoy them.

The berakhah says nothing about flowers. Rather, this is a larger opportunity to appreciate the trees and the other features of the environment and our enjoyment of them, which returns every spring.

Pesah is in bloom! Happy cleaning.