Iyar - Made in Heaven

Psalms 30:12 (12) You transformed my lament into dancing, you undid my sackcloth and girded me with gladness

תהילים ל׳:י״ב (יב) הָפַ֣כְתָּ מִסְפְּדִי֮ לְמָח֪וֹל לִ֥י פִּתַּ֥חְתָּ שַׂקִּ֑י וַֽתְּאַזְּרֵ֥נִי שִׂמְחָֽה׃

It is awfully confusing being Jewish!

One minute we're spending our time in fasting remembering the impending fate of the Jews in Shushan over the Fast of Esther and the next, we are trying to inebriate ourselves to the extent that we can't tell the difference between Haman and Mordechai!

Another case in point:

 We are currently marking the deaths of 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva's students during the Omer, yet, in less than three weeks, we will be (in non-lock-down years) dancing around bonfires marking Lag Ba'omer.

And even after the sombre period of the Three Weeks which culminates in the saddest day of our calendar - Tisha B'Av, we recover enough gusto and spirit to mark the wonderous mini-festival of Tu B'Av less than a week later.

It appears that the marriage of sadness and joy is built in the Jewish DNA. 

The logical route to take would surely mean that there are times when we are sad and others that bring us joy. Why does it seem as though the two are inexorably linked?

Why can't I be joyful without needing to experience grief first?

I ask this question, as Shabbat is the second day Rosh Chodesh Iyar, otherwise known as the first day of the new month - A month that seems to be replete with some unique historical events, many of which have occurred within living memory.

In short, a month where sadness and joy are inexorably linked but why is Iyar different?

At this juncture, let's look at some key dates in the month and try to tease out why I believe these are no coincidental.

The notable dates are:

○     4th - Yom Hazikaron - the Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism

○     5th - Yom Ha'atzmaut - Israel Independence Day (since 1948)

○     18th - Lag Ba'Omer 

○     28th - Yom Yerushalayim - Jerusalem Day when our holy city was recaptured in 1967.

Rebbetzin Tzipporah Heller at aish.com (https://www.aish.com/jl/hol/hm/48971256.html) points out some remarkable facts about the month, one of which is the fact that the month is referred to in the Bible as 'Ziv', an auspicious time in our history, as noted in the first book of Kings.

I Kings 6:1

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left the land of Egypt, in the month of Ziv—that is, the second month—in the fourth year of his reign over Israel, Solomon began to build the House of the LORD.

The etymology of the word 'Ziv' means "the blossoming of flowers, or the 'readiness to reproduce', which, granted the previous passage, seems to be very appropriate.

So, we might deduce that this month has a special status in our history.

One that seems to imply simcha, but, at the same time, there is a troubling undercurrent lying just beneath the surface. A bitterness that has the capacity to dilute our joy.

The Torah tells us the following:

Exodus 15:22-23 (22) Then Moses caused Israel to set out from the Sea of Reeds. They went on into the wilderness of Shur; they travelled three days in the wilderness and found no water. (23) They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; that is why it was named Marah.

שמות ט״ו:כ״ב-כ״ג (כב) וַיַּסַּ֨ע מֹשֶׁ֤ה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מִיַּם־ס֔וּף וַיֵּצְא֖וּ אֶל־מִדְבַּר־שׁ֑וּר וַיֵּלְכ֧וּ שְׁלֹֽשֶׁת־יָמִ֛ים בַּמִּדְבָּ֖ר וְלֹא־מָ֥צְאוּ מָֽיִם׃ (כג) וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ מָרָ֔תָה וְלֹ֣א יָֽכְל֗וּ לִשְׁתֹּ֥ת מַ֙יִם֙ מִמָּרָ֔ה כִּ֥י מָרִ֖ים הֵ֑ם עַל־כֵּ֥ן קָרָֽא־שְׁמָ֖הּ מָרָֽה׃

In what would become a well-rehearsed fashion, the nation complained to Moses. Gd shows him a tree which he casts into the waters and which turns the waters sweet. Moses tells the people that if they listen to Gd's commandments and keep his statutes and ordinances, Gd will protect them because:

Exodus 15:26 (26)....for I the LORD am your healer.”

שמות ט״ו:כ״ו (כ כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יי רֹפְאֶֽךָ׃ (ס)

The Rabbis noted that there a hint in the Torah as to the date when the miracle took place, by looking at the words אֲנִ֥י יי רֹפְאֶֽךָ (Ani Hashem Refa'echa) 

If you take the letters of the three words  אני יי רפאך  , you see that they spell out  אייר (Iyar) , a hint that the miracle where Gd the healer changed the waters from being bitter to sweet, took place on Rosh Chodesh Iyar. The first occasion when the two opposing states found themselves side-by-side.

In a similar vein, the bitterness of the month of Iyar, which saw the deaths of Rabbi Akiva's students was interrupted with the miracle that occurred just after the middle of the month. The deaths ceased and mourning was turned to joy.

If we consider that the two greatest events (and myself, along with many others consider these to be miraculous), namely, the creation of our incredible state of Israel and the recapture of Jerusalem took place within Iyar - it seems that this seemingly bitter month is anything but. 

For total joy to exist, we need to experience the bitterness that comes before. It was only through the sweetening of the bitter waters that the Israelites could really appreciate how they had been transformed.

It therefore makes sense that Israel to have set aside the day before Yom Ha'atzmaut to remember those who lost their lives in the fight to make the day possible.

You need Yom Hazikaron to make you really understand how special Yom Ha'atzmaut is. Otherwise, one might fall into the trap of taking the day for granted.

This being in keeping with our ancient custom, bringing us full circle to King David's words.

Psalms 30:12 (12) You turned my lament into dancing, you undid my sackcloth and girded me with joy,

תהילים ל׳:י״ב (יב) הָפַ֣כְתָּ מִסְפְּדִי֮ לְמָח֪וֹל לִ֥י פִּתַּ֥חְתָּ שַׂקִּ֑י וַֽתְּאַזְּרֵ֥נִי שִׂמְחָֽה׃

The month of Iyar is the supreme example of how we Jews can bring light from the darkness and sweetness from the waters of bitterness. A mere three years after the decimation of one third of our nation, our people proudly proclaimed our return to Zion.

From the ashes of Auschwitz Birkenau to the Declaration of Independence. The end of the war came on 8th May. Israel came into being on the 14th.

Iyar is the month that was made in heaven.

The month that gives us hope.

Hope that, even if our lives may seem bitter and challenging as they do now, they will not always remain so, because, behind every cloud, the sun will eventually shine through. 

May this new month of Iyar/Ziv bring us healing and light and may our bitterness be wiped out in the simcha that is ready to bloom and burst forth into our lives.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov.