Rabbi Yossi's Blog

So much has taken place since my last post! It’s been very busy here for over a month with the High Holidays and all that comes with them. But now, were back!

The Jewish month of Tishrei is jam-packed with many central holidays, beginning with Rosh Hashanah and  concluding with Simchat Torah. It is a month that we are constantly involved with one holiday or another. Immediately following Tishrei however, is Chesvan - the only month on the Jewish calendar that has no holidays or special dates. What a stark difference! We go from not going through a week without a holiday to an entire month without anything!

Chassidim would compare the month of Tishrei to the annual “Yarid”, or fair. (I guess comparable with a modern day trade show). Merchants from all over the region would gather in a central location for the “Yarid”. There they would sell their wares and buy whatever goods they needed. But, during the “Yarid” one was too involved in the actual “yarid” to spend time processing the purchases.

Similarly, during Tishrei, we collect all the “merchandise” from all the holidays, and when “we go home” we “unpack” and put into practice all that we have collected.

This explains how the two months are really connected, (even with Tishrei so full and Chesvan so empty): during Chesvan we “unpack” and implement all that we have collected at the “Yarid” (Tishrei).