Mem Moment | Cheshvan of Many Names
Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan
Today is Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan – when we begin the Hebrew month of Cheshvan—or so it came to be known in the Middle Ages. “Cheshvan” is short for the month’s full name, Marcheshvan, which probably comes from its name in either Babylonian (Varchu-shamnu) or ancient Persian (Markashan). Since the word mar in Hebrew means “bitter,” Jews across the centuries have thought of this month as “bitter Cheshvan”—bitter because for most Jewish communities (but not Ethiopian Jews), Marcheshvan is a month without holidays.
Cheshvan is the “eighth month” on the Hebrew calendar, and that’s what it’s usually called in the Tanakh, or Jewish Bible. But it has one other name in the Tanakh: “the month of Bul”(I Kings 6:38). Scholars understand “Bul” as a short form of either y’vul, meaning “produce of soil”—referencing the plentiful food of the season following the harvest—or mabul, meaning “flood”—recalling that Cheshvan/Bul is the beginning of the rainy season. Either way, the month of Bul is a month of plenty – plentiful food and/or plentiful water.
Which is perfect, because we are embarking on a month of plenty here at Mem Global, as we begin our 20th Anniversary Global Shabbat celebrations. Just this weekend, we’ve celebrated Global Shabbat at Natty Con (our North American Resident convention) and Retreats in Melbourne and Rio de Janeiro—with plentiful more to come.
May your month of Bul be full of as much plenty as ours!
