Seasons of the Moon - Sivan 5758

The Month of Sivan 5758
May 26 - June 24, 1998

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Te'omim / Twins | Giving Yourself | If Cars

THIS MONTH'S SIGN

Te'omim / Twins

The first two months of the year are symbolized by animals: Taleh (Aries) the lamb, and Shor (Taurus) the bull. It is only with the sign of Te'omim (Gemini), the Twins, that we find a sign which is symbolized by Man.

The Torah was given under the sign of the Twins to indicate that only through the Torah does man fulfill his potential to rise above the level of an animal. On Saturday night, May 30 this year we will celebrate Shavuot - the festival of the giving of the Torah.

When the Jewish People camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai in preparation to receive the Torah, they achieved a harmony and unity unparalleled before or since. Israel was united in heart and mind like a single person.

It was only in this state of unity, of being one, that they could receive the Torah which is one. For the Torah is the 'mind' of the Creator, who is One.

The sign of Te'omim - identical twins - symbolizes different people, physically separate, joined in a spiritual kinship in which they resemble each other to the point that they are identical.

Giving Yourself

When you love someone like yourself, the thought of parting is unbearable. It's as if the two of you are the same person. But what happens when you have to part? How can you remain together even though separated by time and space?

When you give something of yourself to that person -something that is not peripheral to you but which represents your very core, your very essence - you are never separate from that person. You travel together no matter how far apart you go.

When people wish to be joined, they create an expression of that desire. In Hebrew - a bris (covenant).

When the Torah speaks about a bris, it uses the expression to "cut" (likros).

Ostensibly, "cutting a bris" is a contradiction in terms. A bris is a symbol of unity, a pact, a covenant, an expression of wanting to be joined together. Cutting is just the opposite. Why should cutting be an appropriate term for the embodiment of the desire to be one?

When two people want to be joined together they give each other something of their essence. They 'cut' from their very selves that part and they give it to the other. That's why establishing a bris - the ultimate expression of the desire to be joined together - is called 'cutting' a bris.

When Hashem 'cut' a pact with Avraham, He made that bris on the part of the body which expresses the essence of a person; the place from which flows the life-force and progeny. Avraham took that essential part of himself which expressed his very continuation - the symbol of everything he would ever be through his children's children - and he gave it to Hashem.

A bris needs two sides. What, then, did Hashem give to Avraham? What was the gift of His essence which was to bind the Jewish People to Hashem in an everlasting pact? Hashem gave Avraham His Will, His desire that it would be only Avraham's offspring who would be the agency through which He would direct the events of the world. The entire future of the world would be orchestrated through the progeny of Avraham.

The Torah is called a bris. That was the pact cut at Sinai.

Hashem, the Torah and the Jewish People are one. The Torah is the Will of Hashem. The will is the expression of the self. When Hashem gave the Torah to the Jewish People at Sinai, He 'cut' from Himself His essence and gave it to the Jewish People. And what did the Jewish People give? They gave themselves. They said "We will do it and we will hear it." We will give ourselves exclusively to Hashem, to be His people.

If Cars

If cars could scream,
They would cry out in voices
That no man has heard -
"Shabbos!"
They would shout to the world.
Their engines would tear their hair
Muscle-bound mighty valves shrieking,
Banshee wailing
Shabbos Kodesh
In fluent Honda.

If cars could cry,
Their production lines would be a cortege
Far into Friday night.
With robots weeping on their metal arms,
Desolate.
No one to comfort them,
Despairing of the light.
One day soon,
Our ears will be all opened
To hear the screaming cars,
The weeping robots.
The crying tearswill dry their eyes,
And all the world will hear
The final broadcast.
"Today is Shabbos."
"Today is Shabbos."

SOURCES:

This Month's Sign - Rabbi M. Glazerson;
Giving Yourself - The Vilna Gaon, Perush L'Sefer HaYetzirah;
If Cars - Yalkut Shimoni

SEASONS OF THE MOON is written by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair and edited by Rabbi Moshe Newman.
Designed and Produced by the Office of Communications - Rabbi Eliezer Shapiro, Director
Production Design: Eli Ballon

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