While Nisan is the beginning of the Jewish people, Tishei reminds us that we are responsible for our actions as a free people.
Good morning. Now for a quick Devar Torah.
As we know, Rosh Hashanah is approaching. But there is something very interesting about the way the Torah describes the Jewish calendar.
The Torah refers to Nisan as the first month, while Tishrei—the month in which we celebrate Rosh Hashanah—is actually the seventh month.
So how can the Jewish New Year begin in the seventh month?
It sounds like a contradiction, but in actuality it teaches us something very important.
The Mishnah tells us that there are four Jewish New Years. I want to concentrate on two of them: Nisan and Tishrei.
Nisan represents the birth of the Jewish people as a free nation. It is the month in which God took us out of Egypt. And significantly, one of the first commandments given to the Jewish people as a nation was the commandment to establish our own calendar.
Why is that so important?
Because one of the hallmarks of freedom is control over your own time.
A slave does not control his time. His master tells him when to work, when to rest, where to go, and what to do. His time belongs to somebody else.
A free person controls his own time.
So in Nisan, God tells the Jewish people, in effect: You are free. Your time now belongs to you.
But that raises another question: Freedom to do what?
Freedom does not mean that we can simply do whatever we want. Freedom without responsibility can quickly become chaos.
Fifty days after leaving Egypt comes Shavuot, when we receive the Torah at Mount Sinai. We have been given freedom, but now we are given law. We are taught how free people are supposed to live together and how to build a moral and ethical society.
And eventually we arrive at Tishrei and Rosh Hashanah.
If Nisan represents freedom, Tishrei represents responsibility.
Rosh Hashanah reminds us that because we are free human beings, we are responsible for the choices we make.
That is why Rosh Hashanah begins a period of judgment, reflection, and ultimately Yom Kippur. We look back over the past year and ask ourselves: What did I do with the freedom God gave me? What choices did I make? Whom did I help? Whom did I hurt? Where did I succeed, and where must I do better?
There is a progression here:
Nisan says: You are free.
Shavuot says: Here is the law that teaches you how to use that freedom.
Tishrei says: Now you are responsible for what you have done with it.
Perhaps that is why there is no contradiction between Nisan being the first month and Rosh Hashanah occurring in the seventh.
Nisan marks the beginning of our national freedom.
Tishrei marks the renewal of our personal responsibility.
Freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin. We cannot truly have one without the other.
Something to think about as we approach Rosh Hashanah.
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