Following the month of Tishrei (Libra) with all its holidays and cosmic openings, Cheshvan, or Scorpio, can seem like a relatively dark time, a letdown from the previous month. It is often viewed as a difficult, negative period. But we know that sometimes the greatest potential exists when things appear darkest, and that’s certainly true in this month.
Kabbalists refer to the month of Scorpio as Mar Cheshvan. The word mar means “bitter,” and many commentaries explain that Cheshvan is called bitter because the Great Flood discussed in the book of Genesis occurred during this month. However, in this month, we have the ability to transform our consciousness from mar, bitter, into its reverse – ram, which means “exalted” and “powerful.”
When many of us read the story of the Flood in the Bible, we imagine a horrible disaster with water flooding everything, eliminating all life. But the kabbalists never accept the literal explanation of biblical teachings. The Rav says that the story about the Flood is not about a terrible watery darkness that comes down to our world, but rather, that it’s quite the opposite. Through the channel of Chesed, mercy, our world drew a flood that was necessary for that time – and is still very necessary. It drew a flood of kindness, a flood of mercy. That was the true essence of the energy revealed during the Flood, and that is the energy that is revealed in Cheshvan every year.
To remove the permanent chaos from our lives, the Creator called upon the cleansing power of water. Water was chosen to heal the world, not destroy it. The Flood came about to rid the world of all the chaos that existed at that time. There was no other choice then, just as there is no other choice today; we must be cleansed if we hope to bring fulfillment into our lives.
This is an amazing and beautiful understanding. The month of Cheshvan is not a time when water was used to destroy. It is a time when a flood of mercy came down to our world, and that is a tremendous opportunity that we can take advantage of in this month.
There are several secrets around the month of Cheshvan, but if we can remember this one understanding - that we have no other choice but to show mercy and kindness this month - there is true potential for us to transform a bitter Mar Cheshvan into a great, powerful Ram Cheshvan.
