Mem Moment | Happy New Year!!
Rosh Chodesh Nisan
It’s Rosh Chodesh Nisan, so it’s time to wish your friends and family a happy new year!! Perhaps that might seem odd considering that the Gregorian calendar new year was in January and the Jewish calendar new year was in the fall. However, Judaism, has four heads of the year! As it says in Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1, “The four new years are: On the first of Nisan, the new year for the kings and for the festivals; On the first of Elul, the new year for the tithing of animals…On the first of Tishrei, the new year for years…On the first of Shevat, the new year for the trees…” This might seem novel, but we experience this also in our secular lives: the start of the school year, the start of the fiscal year, the time that elapses from one birthday to another, etc…
This idea of many beginnings of “the year” opens the opportunity for constant renewal and second (third and fourth) chances. Judaism centers the marking of time as a regular practice because our ancestors understood the dynamic nature of living. It’s an experience that is ever evolving and benefits from beginnings. Like a plant that is pruned and propagated, when we allow ourselves the reset and start over, we allow ourselves more room to grow.
This spring, as Rosh Chodesh Nisan blesses us with another new beginning, what are you seeking to cultivate? What are you seeking to grow?