Heshvan

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The Great Flood, which wiped out the world, started in Cheshvan.
Month Number:	2
Number of Days:	29 (sometimes 30)
Season:	autumn
Gregorian Equivalent:	October-November

Cheshvan (Hebrew: חֶשְׁוָן, Standard Ḥešvan Tiberian Ḥešwān), sometimes called Marcheshvan (Hebrew: מַרְחֶשְׁוָן, Standard Marḥešvan Tiberian Marḥešwān; from Akkadian waraḫsamnu, literally "eighth month") is the second month of the civil year and the eighth month of the ecclesiastical on the Hebrew calendar. In the Bible it is called Bul (I Kings 6:38). It is an autumn month of 29 days, except in "complete" years, in which it has 30 days (see Hebrew calendar: Modern calendar). Cheshvan usually occurs in October–November on the Gregorian calendar.

Given the Akkadian etymology, it seems likely the מ and the ו were switched at some point in time, since y-r-ḥ is the Semitic root for "moon" (and thus also "month"), and s-m-n is the Semitic root for "eight". Since then, the first two letters מַר (mar) have been reinterpreted as the Hebrew word for bitter, alluding to the fact that the month has no holidays or fasts.

Interestingly, the Ethiopian Jewish community celebrates Sigd on the 29th day of Cheshvan (50 days from Yom Kippur, analogous to counting 50 days from Pesach to Shavuos), as recognized by the Israeli Knesset July 2008.

Events in Cheshvan

7 Cheshvan - V'tein Tal u-Matar ("Deliver Dew and Rain"), a prayer, is added to the Shemoneh Esrei prayers in Israel. If no rain has fallen by the 17th of the month, special prayers are added for rain ^[1]

Cheshvan in Jewish history

3 Cheshvan - (1850) - Death of Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin

• The 3rd of Cheshvan is the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the death of Chassidic Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin (Israel Friedman) (1797-1850), known as "The Holy Ruzhiner"

7 Cheshvan - (1933) - Death of Rabbi Meir Shapiro

• The death of Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin, who founded the daily "page a day" regimen of Talmudic study which is known as Daf Yomi.

7 Cheshvan - Death of Joseph Rosenberger

• Mr. Rosenberger founded the first Shatnes laboratory in America

9 Cheshvan - (1327) - Death of the Rosh, Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel

• Rabbi Asher died in Toledo on Cheshvan 9 on the Hebrew year, 5088 (1327 BCE).

11 Cheshvan - (1797) - Death of Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl

• Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl was a disciple of the second leader of the Chassidic movement, Rabbi DovBer of Mezeritch, and the founder of the Chernobyl dynasty of Chassidic Rebbes.

12 Cheshvan - (1995) - Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin

• Yitzhak Rabin is the only Prime Minister of Israel to date to have been assassinated. The 12th of Cheshvan is now marked annually in Israel as a national memorial day.

17 Cheshvan - (2105 BCE) - Great Flood began

• The rain started on the 17th of Cheshvan of the Hebrew year, 1656 (2105 BCE), flooding the entire earth. Only Noah and his family is said to have survived, in the ark (Noah's Ark) he built (by Divine command), and a pair of each animal species.

17 Cheshvan - (960 BCE) - First Temple completed

• King Solomon completed the building of the First Temple (it was not inaugurated until the following Tishrei however)

18 Cheshvan - (1990) - Assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane

• Rabbi Meir Kahane, American-Israeli rabbi, Jewish leader and former Knesset member, was assassinated in New York by Egyptian terrorist El Sayyid Nosair. Founder of the American Jewish Defense League and the Israeli Kach party.

20 Cheshvan Birthday of 5th Chabad Rebbe The fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneerson (known by the acronym "Rashab"), was born on the 20th of Cheshvan of the year 5621 from creation (1860).

After the passing of his father, Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, in 1882, Rabbi Sholom DovBer assumed the leadership of the movement. Over the next 38 years, he wrote and delivered some 2,000 maamarim (discourses of Chassidic teaching) including the famed hemshechim (serialized discourses) which contain his profound analytical treatment of Chabad Chassidism. In 1897, he established the Tomchei Temimim yeshivah in Lubavitch, the first institution of Jewish learning to integrate the "body" (Talmudic and legal studies) and "soul" (philosophic and mystical) of Torah into a cohesive, living whole; it was this unique form of education and Torah study that produced the "Temimim" -- the army of learned, inspired and devoted torchbearers who, in the decades to come, would literally give their lives to keep Judaism alive under Soviet rule.

In 1915 Rabbi Sholom DovBer was forced to flee Lubavitch from the advancing WWI front and settled in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia. In his final years, he began the heroic battle—carried on under the leadership of his son and successor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson—against the new Communist regime's efforts to destroy the Jewish faith. Rabbi Sholom DovBer died in Rostov in 1920.

23 Cheshvan - (137 BCE) - Hasmonean holiday

• In Talmudic times, Cheshvan 23 was commemorated as the day on which the stones of the altar which were defiled by the Greeks were removed from the Holy Temple.

27 Cheshvan - (2104 BCE) - Flood ends

• On the 27th of Cheshvan of the Hebrew year 1657 (2104 BCE) "the earth dried" (Genesis 8:14), which finished the 365-day duration of the great flood which is said to have wiped out all life on earth except for the eight human beings and the animals (two of each species) that were on Noah's ark. On this day, God is said to have commanded Noah to "Come out of the ark" and repopulate, settle and civilize the earth.

References

• Resources on the Month of Cheshvan
• Chabad: This Month in Jewish History