Nissan begins a new way station in the months of the year. The seemingly dormant winter months have come to a close, the earthly stirrings that brought the sap into the trees of Shevat have been completed, and the verdant signs of springtime begin to appear. The month of Nissan is the first month in the Jewish calendar, hachodesh hazeh lachem rosh chadashim. The concept of chodesh is the same as chiddush, a novel approach or idea. The new month must be reflected in reinvigorating ourselves in Hashem’s service and starting each month and the year with a renewed commitment to His mitzvos.

Plant

Each of the Jewish months has various permutations of the Name of Hashem, a deep mystical concept beyond the scope of this article. The four letters of Hashem’s Name are found in pesukim as roshei teivos. The pasuk for Nissan, Yismechu Hashamayim V’sagel Ha’aretz is grouped together in a right-reading sequence, signifying the middah of chessed. This time of year is called chodesh ha’aviv. Beginning with aleph and beis, the month of the springtime represents a forward-thinking and acting approach. The month of Tishrei, by contrast, begins with a reverse sequence of the aleph-beis. It’s spelled tav-shin-reish-yud, representing the characteristic of gevurah, the strict judgment with which the world was created.

Kiddush Hachodesh

The shevet of Nissan

Yehudah

The tribe that represents Nissan is Yehudah. Yehudah is the shevet that conveys malchus—royalty—and this month, in which Pesach falls, is the month that leads all others in the sequence of the Yamim Tovim. In contrast to our lives as slaves while we were in Egypt, we were redeemed as the nation of Hashem, and we sit at the Seder table as bnei melachim, sons of kings. Additionally, in the Hebrew word Yehudah, we find the Name of Hashem as in the pasuk cited earlier, in a right-reading sequence, plus the dalet. We are now guided by the word of Hashem in all that we do, as the monarchy on earth reflects the Divine monarchy that rules the world.

The statement that Leah made when Yehudah was born is “hapa’am odeh es Hashem— this time I will thank Hashem.” Mefarshim question why Leah chose to express her thanks when her fourth child was born rather than her first. The Imahos knew that 12 children were to be born to Yaakov, each wife having three children. When Leah saw that she received more than she expected, she proclaimed, “This time, I will praise Hashem!” True gratitude is realizing that Hashem is always giving us more than we deserve.

The name of the month

Nissan words

Earlier articles mentioned that the names of the months came from Bavel. (In the Torah, Nissan is called the first month, Av is the fifth month, and Tishrei is the seventh month.) The month of Nissan has at its source a Hebraic name most closely associated to the essence of the month, nissim—miracles. The letters of yud and mem found at the end of the word have the same gematria as nun, so the words, in the extended form, with the yud or chirik, are virtually the same! The month of Nissan marked the climax of the ten makkos visited on Mitzrayim and the final stage of the Exodus from the Egyptian oppression with all its miracles.

Pyramid

The shevet of Nissan, and the Yom Tov of Pesach found in this month, point to it as one of hakaras hatov to Hashem for all that He has done for our nation and to each of us as individuals. As the Ramban says at the end of Parshas Bo, from the great, well-known miracles, we will come to appreciate all the day-to-day miracles in our lives and the miracle of life itself.

The mazal of the month—t’leh/sheep

Korban Pesach

The sheep was the deity of Egypt, yet it became a symbol of our eventual freedom when we took it as the korban Pesach and offered it to Hashem. Klal Yisrael is compared to a sheep as well, one who seeks its Master (Makkos 24a). In Klal Yisrael, the 10^th of Nissan, Shabbos Hagadol, was the time that we divested ourselves of avodah zara and became the nation of Hashem.

The letter of the month/the 15th of the month

Letter HAY in calligraphy

According to Sefer Yetzirah, the letter of Nissan is hei. The Gemara (Menachos 29b) states that Hashem is the Rock of the worlds, in the plural. This is a reference to this world, created with the letter hei, and the World to Come, created with the letter yud. The Maharal says that the letter hei is the only letter that’s created purely from breath, as Hashem breathed, as it were, life into man and this world.

When we received the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh, we became a people that counted with the lunar cycle and its significant milestones. In the Jewish calendar, many of the Yamim Tovim fall on the 15^th day of the month. Pesach is the 15^th of Nissan, Sukkos is the 15^th of Tishrei, (Shushan) Purim is the 15^th of Adar, Tu b’Shevat is the 15^th of Shevat, and Tu b’Av is the 15^th of Av. When the Jewish month begins, the moon is relatively small, yet it becomes full on the 15^th of the month. The Jewish people, who are compared to the moon, are reflected by these festivals. On the 15^th of the month, when the moon is full, our joy on the Yom Tov is equally at its peak. The connection to Hashem is at its zenith and our fulfillment of the experience of the Yom Tov has been more profoundly achieved (Maharal, Ohr Chodosh).

Nissan Moon

Rabbeinu Bacheye (Parshas Vayeishev) cites an amazing historical phenomenon. The 14^th generation from Avraham Avinu was David Hamelech, and the gematria of David is 14. The Beis Hamikdash was completed by his son, Shlomo Hamelech. This represented the peak of Israel’s sovereignty in the world. We were a nation at peace and had the admiration of the nations of the world. The decline started with the division into Malchus Yehudah and Yisrael. At the end of the month, the moon is almost not seen. The last generation in the 29 since Avraham was Tzidkiyahu Hamelech, before the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdash. Tzidkiyahu, like the moon, was blinded by his captors, the Babylonians.

Nissan Months

B’Nissan nigalu—Portents of redemption

LISHANA HABAH B’YERUSHALAYIM

Nissan was the month of geulah in Mitzrayim, and the experience of Yidden throughout the galus on Pesach night re-enacts the past and is a harbinger of our future Geulah. We begin the Seder with the mention of Eretz Yisrael, and the Seder comes to a close with l’shanah haba’ah b’Yerushalayim. The footsteps of Mashiach are almost audible, and the period of ikvisa d’Meshicha has lasted for far too long. Like the second half of Hallel sung at the Pesach Seder, we sing about the future Geulah, when we will sing the shir chadash of l’asid lavo…V’af al pi sheyismah’mayah, im kol zeh achakeh lo b’chol yom sheyavo. B’mheirah, b’yameinu. Amen.