Mevarchim Hachodesh - Blessing the New Month (Part 6)
“The greatest darkness comes just before dawn –
but most people give up one minute before the light.”
Ba’al Shem Tov
Mevarchim HaChodesh continues: He who performed miracles for our forefathers and redeemed them from slavery to freedom, may He redeem us soon and gather in the dispersed from the four corners of the earth; all [the People of] Israel becoming friends. And let us say, Amen.
Whilst this tefillah of ours refers to all the miracles we have experienced throughout history, yet there is a particular emphasis on the miracles that took place when we left Egypt. As mentioned previously, Kiddush HaChodesh (sanctifying the new month) was the very first mitzvah given to us as a Nation, just prior to our leaving Egypt. In effect, one of the central symbolisms of Mevarchim HaChodesh is that Hashem chose us to be His nation, and it represents the profundity and the intensity of our relationship with Hashem.
And, it is at this providential moment that we beseech Hashem to redeem us one more time. We ask that the approaching new month herald the Final Redemption with the ingathering of the Jewish People, from all over the world, to be greeted by the mashiach in Yerushalayim.
Our tefillah draws to an end with the seemingly incongruous phrase “Chaverim kol Yisrael – All the People of Israel becoming friends.” The word used for friends here is “chaverim.” Lashon HaKodesh has several words denoting friendship, but as there are no true synonyms in Lashon HaKodesh, each word thus carries its own distinct nuance. The word “chaver”, singular of “chaverim”, comes from the word “chiboor”, a connection that bonds two entities together in a strong and durable way. The word “chaver” thus denotes a friendship that is deep and consequential.
As the French writer Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) wrote, “One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, and compassion.”
Friendship between Jews from all different backgrounds and cultures is what will finally dismantle the barriers that now prevent mashiach’s arrival. As Shlomo HaMelech writes in Kohelet (14:9-10): “Two are better than one…for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falls, because there is no one to help him up.”
Friendship, Shlomo HaMelech teaches us, is significantly more than just companionship. Friendship creates partnership, where each person’s strength complements the other’s, and compensates for their weaknesses. Chaverim, together, have the potential to create a formidable team and change the fabric of our world. Unity can overcome everything.
Our Sages (Talmud Yerushalmi, Peah 1:1) describe the frequent victories that the wicked, heretical King Achav had in battle, his remarkably surprising successes considering just how immersed he and his generation were in idol worship and how focused they were on provoking Hashem. The Rabbis ascribe Achav’s triumphs to the fact that the people of Achav’s generation were united in their concern for each other; they did not speak lashon harah about each other, nor did they inform against one another. Therefore, despite their rejection of Hashem, they defeated their enemies time and time again by virtue of the spiritual merits they earned through their unity!
Rabbi Meir Simcha haKohen of Dvinsk (1843-1926), one of the most brilliant and prominent leaders of Ashkenazic Jewry between the two World Wars, points out in his timeless commentary Meshech Chochmah, that being victorious over our enemies depends on how close the Shechinah is to us. Cites a verse from Vayikra (16:16) that Hashem “Dwells among them in the midst of their impurities,” he explains that, notwithstanding their sacrilegious lifestyle, the unity that bound the generation of Achav together protected them, kept the Shechina close to them, and kept them safe and victorious on the battlefield.
That is the power of “Chaverim kol Yisrael.”
The words of our tefillah convey to us a powerful, albeit subliminal, lesson: Until that thrilling, long-anticipated moment when mashiach reveals his identity, it is up to each and every one of us to do our best to expose as many Jews as possible to the unparalleled beauty and majesty of authentic Judaism; that the more Jews we connect to – the more chaverim that we establish – the faster will come the Final Redemption.
To be continued…
