Chodesh tov and welcome to a new month friends – the month of Sivan and of Shavuot!
We’ve been counting each day of the Omer all through Iyar, the month of healing, and now the big reveal is near. We’re camped together with one heart at the base of this massive mountain, waiting for revelation, wondering what this holiday brings beyond coffee, lactaid, and poor sleep health.
So, how are Hanukkah and Shavuot related? I’ve been thinking about the Jewish calendar lately, about how after centuries of building the patterns run so deep. Here’s a little visual aid.
The circle represents the Jewish year. The cross beams are the quarterly marks – the marks of seasonal shift. The smaller marks along the circle’s rim are for each month. The month of Nissan – the “first” Jewish spiritual month – sits at the top and Tishrei – its six month shadow and another “first” month – is at the bottom.
So lets look at the pattern. Kislev, the month Hanukah begins [highlighted yellow] and Sivan, this current new month when Shavuot happens [highlighted pink], are six months apart – stationed directly opposite in the circle calendar! This connects them just by the magic of radial symmetry. They are also both rare joyful holidays that don’t fall on a full or new moon! Shavuot starts on the 6th of Sivan, 5 days into its month, and Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Kislev, 5 days before the end of its month.
Thematically this also holds. Shavuot’s emphasis on revelation and its haftarah of Ezekiel’s vision beautifully fits into Kislev’s dream theme. Kislev is also one of our darker months and Hanukkah is understandably about illumination; while on Shavuot we stay up all night and revel in inner illumination from haShem and study.
- What is Shavuot’s hidden Hanukkah side – its mirror and shadow? What are you lighting up and revealing in Shavuot’s long night? What are you dedicated to; is it lifting you to revelation or hanging like a mountain over your head?
- Kislev is a time of personal dreaming – in the waning autumn we read Torah of Yoseph’s visions. But now we’re camped together under the mountain as the spring slows into summer; now is the time for communal dreaming! What visions do you hold for your Jewish community and even our greater communities? What would you accomplish if there was a single night we were of one heart?
- Our rabbis say the Torah was given in the wilderness so Jews couldn’t insist it was just for us. How accessible are these beautiful lights and dedications, these visions we’re dreaming? How can we ensure our concrete actions – the words and events we place into the world – are available for all who long for our Torah?
Chag (nearly) samech friends. May you and your communities find revelation , illumination, and the dedication of those whose Torah is as open as the wilderness.
eish zarah 