Tap into the power of the month of Nissan by renewing our reality that today is a new beginning.
Month: Nissan
Mazel: T’leh (lamb/sheep)
Rosh Chodesh Nissan is one of the most significant days in our calendar. Besides for the many occurrences that took place on this day, such as the inauguration of the Mishkan and Miriam Haneviah’s passing, it is also the day on which Klal Yisrael received their very first mitzvah: Rosh Chodesh. On this day our connection to the lunar calendar was first forged, from which we began keeping track of all other months and Yamim Tovim. Thus, this is the day that heralds a truly new start.
How appropriate it is that the month that ushers in the season of aviv, spring, is called Nissan. Since the letter samech is interchangeable with the letter tzaddik in lashon hakodesh, Nissan can also be read as nitzan, which means a bud. Welcome to a month of change, renewal, and new beginnings! Ahh!
Of course, Nissan is the month when we celebrate Klal Yisrael’s redemption from the first exile, Mitzrayim. The koach of geulah is especially potent these days, and it’s a koach we really want to tap into in our own lives. Chazal explain that while we constantly daven for and await the Geulah Sheleimah (Geulah Klalis), there is another kind of geulah that is accessible to us even while we’re still in galus, and that’s the geulah we want to work toward this month: our personal redemption (geulah pratis).
What does living in geulah mode even while we’re still in galus look like?
It’s about an internal transformation. It’s about living with a sense of spring inside our mind and heart even while external circumstances beyond our control are not necessarily all rosy and pleasant. It’s about liberating ourselves from the shackles that leave us feeling enslaved to our environment. It’s about moving away from the constricted zone of “As long as this circumstance doesn’t change, I’ll be feeling upset/resentful/in despair/numb,” into an expansive perspective of “Even if everything in my life stays the same, I want to focus on what makes me feel happy/alive/hopeful/grateful.” The potential to make that happen is never as potent as right now, during the month when we celebrate Zeman Cheruseinu.
Alluded to in the mazel of this month, the lamb (a nursing/baby sheep), Nissan was the time when we recognize that as alone and abandoned as we might be feeling, we are actually like sheep being cared for by a doting, loving Shepherd who is guiding our every step from Above. Just the thought of it gives way to a sense of calm and joy. Hashem ro’i lo echsar, with Hashem as our Shepherd, we lack nothing! Even if absolutely nothing changes from the outside, when I live with this awareness in my heart and mind, I’m living in a completely different reality.
Centuries ago, our ancestors left Mitzrayim, which alludes to a constricted place (from the root meitzar), and they entered a state of expansiveness. This is the time when we want to shed those “Mitzrayim mindsets” that leave us feeling constrained and enslaved and move toward a state of liberation and positivity. This, dear sisters, is the koach of Nissan—initiating a geulah-centered transformation from within.
Where do we start? The very first constricting mindset we want to leave behind is “I am alone in this/If I don’t come up with a solution/exhaust every option/work myself to the bone, I’m doomed…” Instead, we want to take on the more liberating approach of, “I am a sheep and my loving Shepherd is guiding my every step. I’ll do my hishtadlus and trust that the outcome that is best for me is in His hands.”
By shifting our perspective from the galus approach of aloneness and abandonment to feeling cared for and guided, we enter a state of internal geulah.
Here’s how to maximize the potential of this month:
Every morning this month, think of one circumstance that brings up stress.
This could be a general life circumstance such as a particular relationship or dynamic you’re dealing with, or a more temporary situation like an endless to-do list or the cleaning help’s last-minute cancellation when you were planning to get so much done with her today. As of now, you’re under the impression that there is no way that you can breathe easily until this circumstance gets resolved to your liking or disappears. And so, you are very much a slave to it, feeling tightness and tension every time you even think of it.
Ask yourself: What are my thoughts around this circumstance?
Are they characterized by constriction and tightness, aka galus thoughts? Do they bring up panic, stress, overwhelm, etc.?
Like the birth process that Miriam and Yocheved courageously coached the women through, moving from tightness to expansion requires gentle coaxing. Serve as your very own midwife, gently reminding yourself that in order to experience renewal, leaving behind a constrictive mindset—as comfortable as we may have made ourselves there—is crucial.
Every time you catch yourself thinking, “What a misery/What a difficult circumstance/How stressful!!/This is not okay/How will I ever get through this??” Don’t argue with the thought. Rather, introduce a more geulah’dig voice of “As challenging as this moment feels, Hashem is at my side. He has a perfect plan for me. Everything is under control because He (NOT me!) is in control. I’m not in control and that’s perfectly okay—I am a sheep being guided by a most loving, caring Shepherd.” Notice the internal shift that happens as you move from being enslaved to the circumstance toward a more redemptive perspective.
In the Bitachon classes that I teach to women and seminary girls, we often start our class with singing what I call the “Serenity Tefillah,” which is perek chaf gimmel in Tehillim. (I highly encourage saying/singing this perek every day.) In Mizmor LeDovid, Dovid Hamelech refers to Hakadosh Baruch Hu as his Shepherd, and he describes the untold tranquillity that he experiences despite his trying external circumstances thanks to living with this liberating perspective.
Here are some English lyrics that I added to the song to deepen the serenity-inducing message (in the tune of the classic Mizmor LeDovid chorus):
With my Shepherd as my guide,
I feel calm inside,
Carried and cared for,
All worries cast aside.
Even the blows,
Stem from His love I know,
When with His plan I flow
I live על מי מנוחות…
Enjoy this beautiful spring season along with the liberating experience of leaving behind the “Mitzrayim mindset” and moving into the expansive state that comes along with knowing and feeling that you are a lamb in the hands of a loving, caring Shepherd. This Nissan, in the zechus of doing your part in ushering in your personal redemption, may you be zocheh to witness the blossoming buds of the Geulah Sheleimah.
Wow! This is beautifully written and truly inspiring! Thank you!!