As we leave shul on Motzei Simchas Torah we wish each other “a good winter.” With the clocks changing, winter is now upon us. Dovid Ha’Melech writes in Tehilim “Ve’emunascho ba’leilos” when life gets dark, when reality isn’t clear and doubts begin to linger, we need faith and confidence. The clarity we achieved during the three week Yom Tov period has begun to dim. Lamentably, what tends to happen when faith isn’t strong is a growing paranoia and retreat from the world. We look inwards and forget what we know, we act as if we control events, because we forget that Hashem runs things. We forget where we come from and how we got to where we are today.
The zodiac sign for chodesh Kislev is the Keshes, the bow. Ironically, this sign which symbolises Hashem’s control of the world and more significantly Hashem’s middas Ha’rachamim often remains hidden during the cloudy night sky. The shevet associated with this month is Binyomin, about whom Moshe said “Yedid Hashem, the beloved of Hashem, Hashem shall dwell trustfully over him; He hovers over him all the day, and between his shoulders He rests.” We explicitly see that Binyomin symbolises both trust and rest, the sense of the month of Kislev. The letter of the Aleph Beis associated with Kislev is the letter Samech. The name of the letter samech implies “support.” The experience of feeling supported corresponds to the trust and confidence in hashgocho protis associated with Kislev. The letter samech is shaped like a circle. Hashem is everywhere, His love is there if we just open our eyes and see. The darkness that grips us all during these months is more than the absence of light; it is our inability to perceive truth. Perhaps this is why chazal encourage us to dedicate the long winter nights to Torah study. Only by the light of Torah can be navigate these challenging days. The Sefer Yetzirah connects this month to sleep. Many animals hibernate even nature seems to be sleeping . But sleep can also mean inactivity, maintaining a status quo, shutting the doors and being content to be where you are. On the other hand, sleep is related with dreaming. When a person has complete trust in Hashem one dreams of a bright future. The present doesn’t define who you will be, neither does the past dictate who you will become. Good dreams at night reflect good thoughts throughout the day.
Medically some people suffer terribly from the long dark months. Craving sun light and warmth, some people develop depression and retreat from society. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is real. SAD affects up to three in 100 people in the UK at some point in their life. Most people start to get symptoms for the first time in their 20s or 30s, but children can be affected too.
One group of children suffering from SAD are the precious neshomos that through no fault of their own (after all they are under bar/bas mitzva) get rejected from the high school they apply to, often at this time of the year. Gedolie Hador have chastised us saying that in today’s society Avrohom Avinu would not have gotten into a school because his parents wouldn’t have matched up with a list of demands that a school board invented. Recently, a school determined that a set time on Simchas Torah for mothers to attend Shul both in the night and day is now a prerequisite for accepting children into high school. Our children get sacrificed on the altar of imaginary halachik norms or societal one upmanship . There are mosdos that have opened recently in response to a lack of places in established schools, who now have began to reject pupils, just as they were once rejected. As if to say, that a school earns its’ credentials when it becomes so exclusive that Yiddishe neshomos break because of it. This shameful practice, is the kislev sleep problem. It’s so dark we cannot see Hakodosh Boruch Hu, we can’t perceive the Tzelem Elokim in the other, only in our own reflection; only in those who we consider to be identical to us. Chazal praise Yehoshua ben Gamla for setting up a huge networks of schools.
“ Truly, that man is remembered for the good, and his name is Yehoshua ben Gamla. If not for himthe Torah would have been forgotten from the Jewish people. Initially, whoever had a fatherwould have his father teach him Torah and whoever did not have a father would not learn Torah at all. Yehoshua ben Gamla came and institutedthat teachers of children should be established in each and every province and in each and every town, and they would bring the children in to learn at the age of six and at the age of seven.” The focus here was on transmitting Torah to the next generation, children were accepted without prejudice. During the days when it is harder to see each other we would do well to heed the words of Rebbe Nachman in Sichos Ha’Ran perek 39
“A person should feel in their heart the suffering of each individual and certainly the suffering of the masses. Because it's possible to know about the suffering and to clearly understand the pain and suffering, chas veshalom, but not to feel it at all in your heart. At the very least, the suffering of the people as a whole should be felt in the heart. And if a person doesn't feel the pain and suffering of the people then he needs to bang his head against the wall, that is, to bang your head against the walls of your heart.”
Excuses and justifications are easy to make, when we exclude, erect barriers and destroy neshomos. We moan about the long bitter galus, we can point to suffering in every corner of the Jewish world. We launch campaigns and donate millions to tzedakah to alleviate suffering. These responses to suffering are noble and provide a glimmer of light in a dark world. But how about we stop responding and work together on avoiding the next round of chaos {Chas VeSholom}. The time to discover how bright our own light can be is during the darkest time of the year. We must promise not just to be aware of the pain people are in which is easy , in an era of mass communication, but to feel their pain. When we learn to share the vicissitudes of life with others we discover that my light isn’t weakened when I give it to others. It’s time to go home to Yerushalayim, the oro shel olam, the light of the world, to the country where “einei Hashem Elokecha ba”. If this is important to you , then ask am I a Jew that really sees others as equals? Am I a light, brightening the darkness for others? With this shared commitment, we should all be zoche to the “Or chadash al Zion ta’ir.”
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