Today we welcome the new month of Kislev. It is well-known that the months of the Hebrew year parallel the Tribes of Israel and the zodiacal constellations. According to Sefer Yetzirah, each month also embodies one of twelve fundamental aspects of humanity and life: sight, sound, smell, speech, taste, touch, action, motion, temper, joy, thought, and sleep (ראיה, שמיעה, ריחה, שיחה, לעיטה, תשמיש, מעשה, הלוך, רוגז, שחוק, הרהור, שינה). Each of these further corresponds to twelve main parts and organs of the human body, and actually emerges at their core from the twelve “elemental” letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as well as the twelve permutations of God’s Ineffable Name. Recall that Sefer Yetzirah divides up the alphabet into three categories: “mother” letters, “doubled” letters, and “elemental” or “simple” letters (for more on these, see here).

Before we dive in, it should be noted that there are two main ancient manuscripts of Sefer Yetzirah, the “short version” and the “long version”. The short version lists the twelve qualities but does not explicitly say how they correspond to the twelve months. The long version does say how they relate, and this is the version I am using. There are also a variety of ways to link the body parts to the months and qualities. Below I am fusing the short and long versions, together with later commentaries. In his monumental translation and commentary of Sefer Yetzirah, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan includes both short and long versions, and presents a chart of all the possibilities (pg. 219):

The standard short version of Sefer Yetzirah (5:2) tells us:

המליך אות ה’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו טלה בעולם וניסן בשנה ויד ימין בנפש זכר ונקבה. המליך אות ו’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו שור בעולם ואייר בשנה ויד שמאל בנפש. המליך אות ז’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו תאומים בעולם וסיון בשנה ורגל ימין בנפש. המליך אות ח’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו סרטן בעולם ותמוז בשנה ורגל שמאל בנפש. המליך אות ט’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו אריה בעולם ואב בשנה וכוליא ימין בנפש. המליך אות י’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו בתולה בעולם ואלול בשנה וכוליא שמאל בנפש. המליך אות ל’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו מאזנים בעולם ותשרי בשנה וכבד בנפש. המליך אות נ’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו עקרב בעולם ומרחשוון בשנה וטחול בנפש. המליך אות ס’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו קשת בעולם וכסלו בשנה ומרה בנפש. המליך אות ע’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו גדי בעולם וטבת בשנה והמסס בנפש. המליך אות צ’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו דלי בעולם ושבט בשנה וקיבה בנפש. המליך אות ק’ וקשר לו כתר וצר בו דגים בעולם ואדר בשנה וקרקבן בנפש:

God produced the letter ה and tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Aries in the cosmos, Nisan in the year, and the right hand of man and woman [corresponding to speech]. God produced ו and tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Taurus in the cosmos, Iyar in the year, and the left hand of the human body [corresponding to thought]. God produced ז, and tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Gemini in the cosmos, Sivan in the year, and the right leg of the human body [corresponding to motion].

He produced ח, and tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Cancer in the cosmos, Tamuz in the year, and the left leg of the human body [corresponding to sight]. He produced ט, tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Leo in the cosmos, Av in the year, and the right kidney in the human body [corresponding to hearing]. He produced י, and tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Virgo in the cosmos, Elul in the year, and the left kidney of the human body [corresponding to action].

He produced ל, and tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Libra in the cosmos, Tishrei in the year, and the liver in the human body [corresponding to touch]. He produced נ, and tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Scorpio in the cosmos, Marcheshvan in the year, and the spleen in the human body [corresponding to smell]. He produced ס, and tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Sagittarius in the cosmos, Kislev in the year, and the gallbladder of the human body [corresponding to sleep].

He produced ע, and tied it to, crowned it with, and formed it with Capricorn in the cosmos, Tevet in the year, and the intestines in the human body [corresponding to temper]. He produced צ, and tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Aquarius in the world, Shevat in the cosmos, and the stomach in the human body [corresponding to taste]. He produced ק, and tied it to, crowned it, and formed it with Pisces in the cosmos, Adar in the year, and the pancreas in the human body [corresponding to joy].

Nisan is the first month of the Hebrew calendar and corresponds to the first property of Creation, speech (as we read in the first pages of the Torah, God created the cosmos by speaking it into existence). Speech is connected to the letter Hei, which is literally “breath” and the sound of air going past the vocal cords to produce speech. (Appropriately, the way we begin many conversations, or call someone to attention, is by saying “Hey!”) The main mitzvah of the month of Nisan is recounting the Exodus at Pesach, itself splitting into pe-sach, literally “mouth speaks”. Nisan also corresponds to the right hand or right arm because this is the month when God took us out of Egypt with His strong right arm, as the Torah says multiple times. The constellation is the sheep-ram Aries, highlighting the other main mitzvah of the month—the Paschal lamb offering.

Iyar corresponds to thought and emanates from the letter Vav. Vav literally means “hook” and represents connection. The thought process is entirely based on making connections between things in one’s mind and synthesizing information. In fact, on a biological level, learning and thinking takes place through the interconnections of neurons in the brain. The long and thin shape of the Vav is almost reminiscent of the long and thin axons that connect neurons. The constellation is Taurus, the most salient feature of which is the large, horned head.

In Jewish literature, “thought” is connected not only to the brain, but also to the heart. In fact, scientists in recent decades have discovered a great deal of neuronal activity in the heart, and have called the heart the “second brain” of the body. The body part of Iyar is the left arm, near the heart. There are intertwined neurons here, too, which is why a warning sign of a heart attack is pain in the arm. We bind tefillin on the left arm for the same reason, corresponding to the “thoughts” of the heart.

Sivan stems from the letter Zayin and corresponds to motion and movement, and fittingly the right leg. The exact word used by Sefer Yetzirah is halokh (הלוך) which can mean “walking” or “progress”. The theme is growth and development, moving along the journey of life. This is the month that God gave us the Torah on Mt. Sinai, the purpose of which is to drive the development and growth of man, both on an individual level and for humanity as a whole. We are meant to “battle” through life’s challenges and overcome darkness and evil, ultimately to perfect the world and restore it to a pristine state. Zayin literally means “weapon”, and our “weapon” is the Torah, which God gave us in order to destroy the yetzer hara and overcome evil (Kiddushin 30b). That the value of Zayin is seven further reinforces the notion that this is a spiritual battle first and foremost. The constellation is the dualistic Gemini, representing the two conflicting halves of man, and the two conflicting forces of the yetzer hatov and yetzer hara.

In the same way that the Tribes of Israel were grouped into threes in their camps in the Wilderness (and the Zodiac constellations are grouped into threes corresponding to the cardinal directions), the twelve qualities also come in groups of three. The first three of speech, thought, and motion go together because these are the key ways in which we interact with the world and come to understand the cosmos—and ourselves in it.

The next three are Tamuz (sight), Av (hearing), and Elul (action, or labour). Tamuz is the height of summer, the time of maximal sunshine and most light (hence the connection to sight). Tamuz is when people are most active, most outdoors, most energetic, most likely to be scantily dressed—resulting in great temptations and passions. This is why the focus is on sight, for sin begins with vision, as we recite in the Shema daily “do not follow after your hearts [which] follow after your eyes”. The eyes see and the heart desires, and there is a lure to sin—the trapping pinch of the Cancer crab.

Interestingly, the medical term “cancer” comes from the ancient Greeks who described “crab-like” cancerous skin growths. In hot Tamuz the skin is most exposed and skin cancer risk is at its highest. The letter of the month is Chet, representing a chuppah and a hut, sheltering from the sun. According to the Arizal (Rabbi Itzhak Luria, 1534-1572), the Chet is made up of a Vav and Zayin standing under the chuppah, representing the male and female, respectively. The message is to remember the kosher context in which our passions should be expressed, within a monogamous holy marriage.

In Av, we commemorate the destruction of the Holy Temples (called “Ariel” in Tanakh, hence the connection to Leo!) but also the holiday of love, Tu b’Av. The Temple was destroyed due to baseless hatred, so the antidote is baseless love, which is why Tu b’Av immediately follows Tisha b’Av (lots more on that in this class). Altogether, the Temples were destroyed because of a failure to heed God’s Word. The Israelites proclaimed loudly at Sinai that “we would do and we would listen” (na’aseh v’nishmah) faithfully to God’s commands. It makes sense therefore that the quality of Av is “listening” (shmiyah). This ties directly to the next month, Elul, the time of repentance and preparation for Judgement Day in Tishrei:

In Elul, we focus on teshuvah and aim to return to a pure virginal state, the constellation Virgo. This is not a time to be passive, but a time for action and hard work, which is the quality of the month. The letter is the little Yud, said to represent the baby that emerges from the previous letter Tet (corresponding to Av, literally a “parent” of “father”), where the Tet is in the shape of a womb and has a numerical value of nine for the nine months of pregnancy. We can see how the grouping of Tamuz, Av, Elul are all part of one theme: resisting temptations, avoiding sins, heeding God’s Word, and stimulating love, unity, and repentance.

The Serpent and the Fruits of Eden

That Tishrei is Libra (the scales of judgement) needs no explanation. This is the weightiest and most significant time of the year, and corresponds to the biggest internal organ of the body, the liver. The liver has over 300 functions and is instrumental in keeping us alive—it’s literally a liver! Tishrei is the month of being inscribed in the Books of Life and Death. Our souls are judged in the upper worlds, and the letter of the month is the Lamed, the sole letter in the alphabet that goes “above the line” and stretches up to Heaven. The quality of the month is tashmish, which can mean “touch” but is used in rabbinic literature as a euphemism for sexual intimacy. At the climax of the High Holidays, the afternoon Yom Kippur service, we specifically read from the Torah the passage about forbidden sexual relationships. And right after Yom Kippur, when we are back to a pristine state and in God’s good graces (hopefully), we spend a week in His embrace in the sukkah, surrounded by His “Clouds of Glory”. (Not to mention the symbolic connection of lulav and etrog to tashmish.)

Cheshvan has no holidays and is alternatively called the “bitter” Marcheshvan. This is the month of tragedies like the Flood and the death of Rachel. According to some sources (like the Book of Jubilees), Adam and Eve were approached by the Serpent in the “second month”—which could mean either Iyar or Cheshvan (depending on which “New Year” one counts from). It would be most fitting if it happened in bitter Cheshvan: the letters of Nachash (נחש) are actually all found within Cheshvan (חשון). Man was expelled from Eden in Cheshvan, and there is a tradition that Mashiach might first appear in Cheshvan to return the world to a state of Eden, or that the Third Temple will be inaugurated in Cheshvan, which will then give this month its own holiday (see Yalkut Shimoni II, 184). Recall that the values of “Nachash” and “Mashiach” (משיח) are the same, 358, for the latter rectifies the former.

In fact, there is a hidden, thirteenth, constellation wedged in the Zodiac here, called Ophiuchus, the “serpent-bearer”, depicted by a man subduing a serpent (more on that here.) The letter of Cheshvan is a Nun, its serpentine shape representing both the Nachash, and also Mashiach who wields the serpentine staff and is sometimes called Nafle (as in Sanhedrin 96b). When he finally comes, that verse corresponding to Nun that is currently missing from Ashrei (Psalm 145), will be restored.

The main constellation of Cheshvan is Scorpio, and the Sages compare the sudden arrival of Mashiach to the sudden bite of a scorpion (Sanhedrin 97a). The sense of the month is smell, and it is well-known that smell is the “superpower” of Mashiach (Sanhedrin 93b, based on Isaiah 11:3). This ties right back to the Nachash in Eden who tempted Adam and Eve through sight, touch, taste, and hearing—but not smell! The Tree was “nice to look at”, and the Fruit was of pleasant taste and texture, and Adam and Eve heard the bad advice of the Nachash, but at no point did they use their sense of smell to transgress. The sense of smell remains the purest and holiest, hence its frequent mention throughout the Torah, including the highest Yom Kippur service, the ketoret incense in the Holy of Holies. (More on the power of smell in this class.)

Next comes Kislev, the month with the shortest days and the most darkness (at least, in Israel and the Northern Hemisphere). This is the month of sleep and hibernation. We celebrate Chanukah in Kislev because it is precisely in the darkest time of year when we need to kindle more light. In Kislev we commemorate the great wars of the Maccabees, and the astrological sign is the warrior Sagittarius. The letter of the month is the circular Samekh, reminding us of the cyclical nature of the cosmos, the seasonal cycles, circadian rhythms, and so on. There is a further connection in that the Maccabees were Kohanim and during the priestly blessing, the Kohanim put their hands together to form a Samekh, a conduit for the revelation of an intense spiritual light that the congregants look away from.

The three of Tishrei, Cheshvan, and Kislev—and their qualities of intimacy, smell, and sleep—are deeply intertwined as well. Intimacy is tied directly to “sleeping”, of course, and the sense of smell plays a prominent role in the act, too. In fact, in all animals and humans, mating begins with smelling pheromones that subconsciously attract two partners. What follows is an exchange of bodily fluids which were deliberately made putrid by God, and it isn’t difficult to understand why. In plants, the reproductive parts are sweet and aromatic to attract more bugs and animals to consume them and spread the seeds as much as possible. This is not the case for humans, to lessen abuse and overuse of the sexual organs. God made the human reproductive fluids repulsive so that only two people who genuinely love each other could overcome it and transform something putrid into something arousing. Amazingly, this is mentioned in multiple places by King Solomon in the very sensual Shir haShirim: “Like an apple tree among trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the youths. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my mouth.” (Song of Songs 2:3) Or, “Arouse from the north and come south, blow upon my garden so that its perfume may spread. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its luscious fruits.” (4:16)

Dinner Parties & Tribes of Israel

The next set starts with Tevet, corresponding to anger and temperament. Channeled in a positive way, this means righteous indignation. A person sees something wrong with the world and the resulting indignation motivates them to want to fix the problem and do more mitzvot, chessed, and tikkun. The main event on the Jewish calendar in Tevet is the fast of the Tenth of Tevet. This commemorates a number of tragedies, including the start of the Babylonian siege on Jerusalem. God’s wrath was expressed, and the result was a 70-year exile (the letter of the month is Ayin, with a value of 70).

Shevat is when the new farming season begins and the fields start to get irrigated. Fittingly, the constellation is Aquarius, the one that bring water and irrigation. The holiday of the month is Tu b’Shevat, “new year for trees”. It is customary on Tu b’Shevat to hold a seder and taste and consume a large variety of fruits. Naturally, the sense of the month is taste, and the organ is the stomach. The letter is Tzadi, and there is a deep reason for this. Rabbi Elimelekh of Lizhensk (1717-1787) explains in his Noam Elimelekh (on parashat Korach) that the true mark of a tzadik is not that he prays in deep concentration or does mitzvot with kavanah, or appears holy in the synagogue or beit midrash—everyone can do that! The real mark of a tzadik is how they act at the dinner table. You can tell a lot more about a tzadik by the way they eat and drink then by how they pray or learn.

Furthermore, a tzadik is compared to a fruitful tree, and a genuine tzadik is one who can balance the spiritual and the physical; putting in labour and working the fields while also learning Torah and doing mitzvot. As explained at length by the Rambam (and the Mishnah in Avot 2:2 before him, and many other sources), a person who lives off the fruit of others is not a tzadik at all, no matter how holy they appear. A tzadik produces his own fruit, as King David said (Psalms 128:2) that one should eat the fruit of their own labour, and only then will they merit ashrekhah v’tov lakh, “fortune and goodness”. The Sages take it one step further and say “ashrekhah in this world, v’tov lakh in the World to Come!” (See Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Talmud Torah 3:11).

Finally, we conclude the calendar with Adar, when winter comes to an end and we mark the Spring Equinox to transition into days longer than nights. It is a time of joy, and the most joyful holiday of Purim. The letter is a Kuf which has a dual nature. On the one hand, it literally means “monkey” and implies a carefree life with a lot of joy and frolicking as monkeys are thought to do. However, there is a great risk here of debauchery and descending into kelipah (קליפה), the impure “husks” that cover up spirituality and Godliness. Our task is to do the opposite, and extract kedushah (קדושה), sparks of holiness, from all that we do, even mundane and physical things. Through this, we can rectify all 100 kelim, “vessels”, referring to the Ten Sefirot, each of which is made up of the same ten, resulting in 100 spiritual vessels that contain the cosmos. The value of the letter Kuf is fittingly 100, like the value of “kelim” (כלים). It is this process of rectification that ultimately brings about the greatest joy.

The organ of Adar is the pancreas, which has many functions, most notably regulating our blood sugar (through the hormones insulin and glucagon) but also secreting a neurotransmitter called somatostatin which regulates brain activity and even helps to reduce stress. The constellation of the month is the lucky fish of Pisces, submerged in purifying waters and unaffected by the evil eye (Bava Metzia 84a). The fish is never stationary, and is always swimming forward, sometimes even against the current. This is the work of every Jew as we move throughout the course of the year, unfazed by all the evil around us, and swimming ever-forward towards rectification and redemption, even if it means going against the current.

The final three group nicely together as well, and remind us of the dictum of the Sages that you can tell all about a person by their koso kiso v’ka’aso, “cup, pocket, and temper”: one’s behaviour at a dinner party, their largesse (or lack of it), and their anger and temperament (Eruvin 65a). Again, one’s true self is a lot more likely to emerge at a joyous party or celebration than at a sombre event or a serious setting.

Finally, the relationship between the months and the Tribes of Israel is a little more complicated, and there are actually two such arrays: one generally following the simple order given in the Book of Exodus, and one following the arrangement of tribal camps in the Book of Numbers. The latter is more common, and is mentioned in multiple Midrashim, including Yalkut Shimoni I, 418:

שבט יהודה במזרח יששכר וזבולון עמו כנגדן במרום טלה שור תאומים עם החמה במזרח משמשים חמש חלקים מתוך שמונה במזרח. דגל ראובן בדרום ושמעון וגד עמו כנגדן במרום סרטן אריה בתולה משמשין עם החמה בדרום חמש חלקים מתוך שמונה ומחניהם חלק אחד במזרח ושנים במערב, נמצא רוב תשמישן בדרום, דגל אפרים במערב מנשה ובנימין עמו כנגדן החמה במערב מאזנים עקרב וקשת. דגל דן בצפון אשר ונפתלי עמו כנגדן משמשין עם החמה בצפון גדי דלי דגים מן העגלה ולדרום

The Tribe of Judah was in the East, together with Issachar and Zevulun, corresponding to Aries, Taurus, and Gemini in the solar precession… The flag of Reuben was in the South, together with Shimon and Gad, corresponding to Cancer, Leo, and Virgo… The flag of Ephraim was in the West, together with Menashe and Binyamin, corresponding to Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. The flag of Dan was in the North, together with Asher and Naftali… corresponding to Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.

This array does not include Levi, which was in the centre of the camps, and would correspond to the Second Adar in a leap year. The Exodus array generally goes in order of the birth of the Tribes, putting Levi together with Sivan. The exception is that Binyamin is paired with Tishrei, and Yosef is left for Adar—which makes sense because Yosef splits into Ephraim and Menashe, corresponding to the two fish of Pisces, and the two Adars.

To summarize all of the above:

Shavua tov v’Chodesh tov!