Essence of the Month - 001 Nissan | Speech and Prayer

Nissan – ‘Head of The Months’

Of the month of Nissan, the Torah writes, “This month is to you, as the head of the months, the first of the months of the year.” The month of Nissan is called ‘head of the months’; it is the time of the year when the Jewish people left Egypt. This has ramifications both in time as well as in our own personal soul.

We will try to explain the roots of this matter: what exactly the “head” of the months is that Nissan personifies.

The Twelve Months of the Year: The Roots Of Our Soul

In our soul, there are three [active] elements – wind, fire, and water. (Earth is the element which holds them together, but it is not active). There are also seven powers which branch out from the soul. The Vilna Gaon says that these seven powers are not intrinsic of the soul, and therefore it is possible for a person to part from them at times; whereas there are ‘intrinsic’ abilities of the soul that a person cannot part from [which includes 12 roots].

The seven [branching] abilities of the soul are: 1) chochmah (wisdom), 2) oisher (wealth), 3) zera (offspring), 4) chaim (life), 5) memshalah (dominion), 6) shalom (peace), and 7) chein (grace).[1]

Here we will not discuss these seven abilities; instead we will focus on the twelve essential roots of the soul, which are represented by each of the twelve months that span Nissan through Adar.

Furthermore, the Vilna Gaon lists a unique attribute to each month of the year: (1) Nissan is the month of sichah (speech). (2) Iyar is the month of hirhur (thinking). (3) Sivan is the month of halichah (walking). (4)Tamuz is the month of re’iyah (seeing). (5) Av is the month of shemiah (hearing). (6)Elul is the month of maaseh (action). (7) Tishrei is the month of mishush (touch). (8) Cheshvan is the month of re’iach (smell). (9) Tevesis the month of rogez (anger). (10) Kislev is the month of sheinah (sleep). (11)Shevat is the month of l’eitah (chewing\eating). (12) Adar is the month of sechok (laughter).

These are the words of our holy Sages, and it gives us the general picture of the 12 months of the year.

Nissan: The Month of Speech

Nissan, the first month, is the month of sichah, speech. The month of Nissan is called “first”, which implies that it is the root of all the other months; if so, speech is the root of all the other abilities contained in the rest of the year.

We can see how speech is a common theme that runs throughout Pesach. On Pesach, we went free from Pharoah. The word Pharoah is from the words “peh ra”, “evil mouth”, implying that we were redeemed from evil speech [and gained the holy kind of speech]. Pesach is from the words peh sach, “a mouth that speaks.” There is also a mitzvah on Pesach to tell over the story of the exodus, which uses our power of speech.

This is a month all about using the power of speech - and it is not a coincidence that it is like this.

Man is called “medaber”, a social creature, and this is what sets him apart from other creations. The Jewish people in particular are called “medaber”, for the Sages state that the Jewish people are called “adam” (man), whereas the other nations of the world are not called “adam”; and “adam” is synonymous with the term “medaber”, being that “adam” is called “medaber”. The month of Nissan, which contains the festival of Pesach, builds the particular aspect of the Jewish people that is “medaber”: the power to speak.

It is written, “And man became a living spirit”, and Targum translates this to mean that he became a ruach memalelah, a “talking spirit.” This is referring in particular to the soul of a Jew, whom the power of speech is mainly manifest with, in contrast to the other nations of the world.

“Yisrael v’oiraisa” – the Jewish people are interconnected with the Torah; the two of these uphold the world’s existence. The connection between the Jewish people and the Torah is through the power of speech. The mitzvah to learn Torah is specifically “And you shall speak in it”.[2] It is a verbal kind of mitzvah, unlike all of the mitzvos which are fulfilled through an action.

The Jewish people personify the aspect of man that is medaber: the power to speak. There were Ten Commandments said by Har Sinai, where the Torah was given, parallel to the Ten Utterances of Creation.

Thus, the root of the entire year for the Jewish people begins with the month of Nissan. Nissan is the month of the conception of the Jewish people. Although the month of Elul is also considered the beginning of the year, that is true with regards to our actions; with regards to our speech, it is Nissan which is the root of the year, for the Jewish people.

Within the month Nissan, there is the festival of Pesach, which contains the words “peh sach”, “a mouth that talks”. It is the time of the year which builds each of the souls of the Jewish people, each of us on a personal level, with specific regards to our power of medaber\speech.

Three Kinds of Speech: ‘Amirah’, ‘Dibbur’, and ‘Sichah’

We find several terms for speech in the Torah. There is amirah (to speak softly), dibbur (to speak harshly), and sichah (conversation).

It is written, “So shall you say to the house of Jacob [the women] and so shall you speak to the children of Israel [the men].” Rashi explains that the women needed to be addressed in a softer manner, amirah, whereas men need to be addressed in a harsher manner, dibbur.

We find the difference between amirah and dibbur with regards to the difference between Creation and the Torah. The world was created through Ten Utterances, “maamaros”, which is from the word amirah, whereas the Torah was given through Ten Commandments, “dibros.”

A third form of speech is called sichah (conversation). The word sichah is contained in the word Pesach, which is from the word “peh sach” (a mouth that talks). The Gemara says that “There is no sichah except in prayer[3], for it is written, “Tefillah l’oni, ki yaatof, v’lifnei Hashem yishpoch sicho” - “A prayer for the afflicted man when he swoons, and pours forth his supplications before Hashem.”[4]

Thus, different kinds of speech are used, depending on the situation. The term “dibbur” is used in reference to Torah, whereas the term “sichah” is used in reference to tefillah, prayer.

Being that Nissan is called the month of sichah, it follows that it is a month of sichah\tefillah – times of speaking with Hashem, in prayer, in conversation.

What is the depth that lies behind this?

‘Sichah’: When There Is No ‘Daas’

In the Gemara, there is a halachah of ‘masiach l’fi tumo’, “conversing casually”: if two people are overheard talking with each other, and in midst of their casual conversation they mention certain facts about someone, we can rely on what has been overheard during this conversation and accept it as testimony in Beis Din, because there is no reason to assume that they are lying. The concept of masiach l’fi tumo is rooted in the term sichah.

Elsewhere, the Gemara says that ten measurements of sichah (talking) descended onto the world; nine of these measurements were taken by women.” Here we also see a usage of sichah.

What is the depth behind this matter? It is because there are two kinds of speech [as we are about to explain].

The Gemara says that an impoverished person is one who lacks daas (knowledge of Torah).[5] There, the Gemara days, “Dida bei, kula bei, u’do lo da bei, ma bei?” - If one knows the Torah, he has everything, through it; and if he lacks Torah, what does he have?” The Gemara brings proof to this from the possuk we quoted before: “A prayer for the afflicted man, when he swoons, and pours forth his supplications before Hashem.”

So it is a lack of daas that epitomizes oni\poverty; and that being the case, the impoverished man, the oni, pours forth his sichah (supplications) in front of Hashem. Thus, we learn from this that ‘daas’ is the opposite of ‘sichah’ [so when there is no daas (knowledge),a person is left with nothing but sichah (conversation].

We have learned thus far that daas is used in reference to knowledge of the Torah, whereas sichah does not flow from one’s daas.

In learning Torah, the mitzvah to speak of Torah is dibbur (“And you shall speak in it”) which comes from one’s ‘daas’; as it is written, “For the lips of the Kohen, guard daas”. This is referring to the Torah learning, which stems from his ‘daas’. The term ‘daas’ is also associated with the concept of hanhagah, to lead [for Moshe Rabbeinu it is the epitome of daas, and he was granted the power of hanhagah over the Jewish people].

Thus, daas is the power of Torah, and it is the power which “leads”; and from daas, comes our dibbur, an orderly kind of speech which is fused by holy intellect of the Torah.

Sichah, however, is the lack of daas; as we brought before from the Gemara, an impoverished person is defined as someone has a poor amount of daas.

Sichah: Speaking From The Heart, To Hashem

If sichah doesn’t stem from one’s daas, where does it come from? The answer lies in the term, “masiach l’fi tumo” – “casual conversation” – it stems from ‘tumo’[6]. This does not stem from one’s daas.

Sichah does not come from daas; it comes from the lev, the heart. The Sages said that “Words that come from the heart, enter the heart.” This is the essence behind the power of tefillah\prayer. In contrast, learning the Torah uses a completely different ability: the ability of daas (knowledge). Torah is all about daas, whereas tefillah\prayer is all about an absence of daas.

Sichah, the power of the month of Nissan, is the concept behind its festival, Pesach. Leaving Egypt (Pesach) was the beginning of our path, and we ended it when stood at Har Sinai to receive the Torah (Shavuos). So our path began with sichah, with Nissan\Pesach – a month in which our power of tefillah was revealed – and it ends with daas, with the giving of the Torah\the festival of Shavuos, in which we received the Ten Commandments, the dibbur\speech that stems from daas.

The exodus from Egypt did not take place due to the merit of the Torah, for the Torah was not given yet. It was entirely achieved through prayer! Of course, they had Torah learning as well, for the Sages state there was a yeshivah in Goshen. But there was no giving of the Torah yet, so there wasn’t enough of a level of Torah for them to be redeemed. It was prayer which redeemed us from Egypt: “And their supplications arose.”

When Moshe told the people that they would be redeemed soon, they did not listen, from their “koitzer ruach” – they were “short of breath.” In other words, they were not yet connected to daas; they could not yet connect to the words of Moshe, who is daas, for they had not reached daas yet.[7] They were at the level of tefillah l’oni, “A prayer for the afflicted man.” Although they certainly possessed dibbur\speech, it wasn’t a dibbur of the giving of the Torah yet, and instead all they had in them was their ability to cry out to Hashem in prayer: “And their supplications arose.”

Every year, when the month of Nissan returns, this power of sichah\tefillah (earnest prayer and conversation with Hashem) comes back with it. It is the power which brings us redemption; it returns to us every year, enabling us a new chance each year to merit redemption.

Telling Over The Story of the Exodus: The Power of ‘Sichah’

In the Hagaddah, we say, “Even if we were all wise sages, even if we were all understanding, it is an obligation to tell over the story of the exodus from Egypt.” There are many explanations of this matter, but we will present an explanation of this according to the lines of our discussion.

Telling over the story of the exodus – sippur yetzias mitzraim – is not a mitzvah accomplished through the powers of our intellect. It is very unlike the mitzvah of learning Torah, in which we use our powers of the intellect, chochmah and daas. The mitzvah of sippur yetzias mitzraim it is reminiscent of the concept we brought earlier from the Gemara: the idea of “masiach l’fi tumo” – “casual conversation”. It is a kind of simple speech, which flows from pure earnestness in ourselves, and not from the area of the rational intellect.

“Even if we were all wise sages, even if we all understand, it is an obligation to tell over the story of the exodus.” This mitzvah is not dependent on being a Torah scholar or not! It is not about wisdom. It is about being able to tell over the story just as when you are having a casual conversation, simply, earnestly – ‘masiach l’fi tumo’.

Nissan, The Tribe of Yehudah, and Temimus\Earnestness

The month of Nissan is explained in our sefarim hakedoshim as being represented by the tribe of Yehudah[8]. Upon the birth of Yehudah, our matriarch Leah expressed her gratitude to Hashem, “This time I thank Hashem.”  [We will explain the depth behind this matter].

There are two roots of the twelve tribes: Rachel and Leah. Yaakov Avinu possessed two uniquely different qualities: he is called the ‘ish tam’, (wholesome man), which refers to his power of temimus\earnestness, and he is the one whose “hand grips onto the heel of Esav”, which refers to his power of destroying Esav in the future. The two main wives of Yaakov Avinu, Rachel and Leah, received one of these two powers.

Yosef, the son of Rachel, received Yaakov’s power to destroy Esav in the future. In one of the prophecies about the future, Yosef is compared to a fire that will destroy the “straw” that is Esav. This is not the temimus of Yaakov Avinu; it is Yaakov’s other power, his power to destroy Esav, and it is essentially this power which Yosef received from the Torah that he learned from his father Yaakov. It was Yehudah who received the temimus from Yaakov Avinu. His mother Leah thanked Hashem upon his birth, which hints to the sichah\temimus which she connected to in Yaakov and received from him.

So Yosef received the chochmah (wisdom) from Yaakov Avinu, while it is Yehudah who received the temimus (earnestness) from Yaakov Avinu. Yosef received the Torah from his father Yaakov Avinu, through daas. This enabled him to receive the chochmah of Yaakov Avinu. But Yehudah received from Yaakov Avinu the power of temimus.

The power of temimus is a whole different kind of understanding. It is written, “Toras Hashem Temimah, meshivas nafesh” – “the Torah of Hashem is complete, it settles the soul.”

This concept does not mean to imply that Torah\daas and prayer\temimus are separate from each other, chas v’shalom. Rather, it means that there is a part of Torah which is attained through daas, and there is a part of Torah which is attained through temimus.

The power of the month of Nissan, which is sichah, is essentially the power that is identified with “temimus” (earnestness). [Thus, sichah flows from our temimus.]

The Holy and Evil Uses of ‘Temimus’

The power of temimus exists both in the side of holiness as well as in the side of evil. So there is a good and holy way to use temimus, and there is also a negative connotation of temimus.

The negative implication of temimus implies a lack of daas when it is detrimental to the person. Chazal say, “Women have light daas”, therefore, women naturally have more temimus, because they are less inclined towards daas. But when there is a lack of daas, a person will develop an uneducated and foolish kind of earnestness, [“pseudo-temimus”], such as becoming naïve and other negative attributes. This is an evil [and undeveloped] kind of temimus.

In contrast, the holy kind of temimus is to be an “ish tam”, as it was said of Yaakov Avinu - which implies shleimus, wholesomeness and completion. A tam is an unblemished animal, whereas a baal mum is a blemished animal; thus the term “tam” implies being whole and perfect.

Many people think that temimus is a negative term, something that implies foolish naiveté. But temimus is an entirely different idea than how most people think of it. Temimus is indeed superficial when it stems from a simple lack of daas. Such temimus flows from incompletion. It is holy when it stems from the power to be wholesome and perfect, and to be earnest from that place in oneself; such temimus is stemming from completion.

It is brought in the words of the Sages that Yaakov Avinu’s ‘wholesome image’ is carved into the Throne of Glory. Elsewhere, the Gemara says that the beauty of Yaakov Avinu was reminiscent of the body of Adam HaRishon. The meaning of this is that Yaakov had reached shleimus, completion, which was symbolized through his trait of being an ish tam; in that way, he resembled Adam HaRishon, the epitome of perfection [before the sin].

Prayer - Standing Before The King: A Glimpse At Shleimus\Completion

The Sages said that “There is no sichah (conversation) except prayer.”[9] Prayer is to “stand before the King”. All creations are lacking; no one is complete. There is only One who is complete: HaKadosh Baruch Hu. When one truly stands before Hashem in prayer, he is coming into contact with a hakarah (recognition) of what it means to view shleimus (completion). In contrast, one who does not “stand in front of the King” is one who does not have any recognition of shleimus.

When one truly senses that he is before Hashem as he prays, he recognizes the reality of Hashem’s existence. His heart is alive and awake to the fact that Hashem resides in his heart. That is the true, inner definition of “standing in front of the King”. He can then feel what shleimus is.

Of course, even with this perception, that doesn’t mean that the person has reached shleimus. There is no such thing as a perfect person, so it is impossible to actually reach shleimus. But at least one can have a recognition of what it is.

When one is engaged in prayer, he is aware that he is lacking, and that the Creator is the complete One who can fill whatever he lacks. In Shulchan Aruch, it is brought that one should reflect upon the greatness of the Creator and on the lowliness of man, as a prerequisite to prayer. However, this does not mean for a person to simply compare his lowliness to that of the greatness of the Creator (which is also true, on the simple level). It is deeper than that: it is for one to realize that Hashem is perfect and complete, while I am lacking and incomplete. That is the perception which must accompany one’s feelings as he prays.

This is the true depth of “standing in front of the King”: to recognize that I am lacking, while Hashem is complete. This is the depth behind all of prayer.

When a person is praying with this perspective, his prayers to Hashem are not stemming from a mere will to complete what he lacks, for that would not be ‘sichah.’ Rather, ‘sichah’ is to be like “the afflicted man when he swoons, and pours forth his supplications in front of Hashem.” It is to recognize that “I am lacking, for I recognize that I am in front of Hashem – Who is perfect”, because that allows me to recognize what shleimus is.

Sichah is to be ‘masiach l’fi tumo’. The more a person is lacking, the more he will pray to Hashem, and that is true; but this is not yet the depth of prayer. The depth of prayer is for one to recognize that he stands before Hashem, and from that perception, one prays. This is the sichah that is tefillah: “masiach l’fi tumo”, to be able to let the words flow casually and freely, in recognition of the perfect temimus of Hashem.

‘Temimus’ Stems From ‘Shleimus’

So we must not have the mistaken notion that temimus is to simply lack daas. It is rather to recognize what shleimus is; out of a recognition that I stand before Hashem, aware that He is complete and perfect, which means that I am not complete.

When temimus does not come from this perspective, such temimus is the kind of temimus that came about after the sin of Adam, a temimus which connotes deficiency, and such temimus is not holy. Only the temimus that stems from “In front of Hashem, he pours out his supplications”, is the temimus which comes from the depths of [recognizing] shleimus.

The Incomplete, Facing The Complete

When we were enslaved in Egypt and we cried out to Hashem to be saved, such prayer stemmed from how we felt lacking in our situation. Therefore, it did not represent the depth of our salvation from Egypt. The redemption from Egypt is rather epitomized by the possuk, “I, Hashem, am going out, amidst Egypt.” When Hashem revealed Himself at the end of the plagues, this was the apex of the exodus; it was what made that night into Pesach. From this episode came our redemption.

Egypt is Mitzraim, from the word meitzar, “confinement”, which implies a situation in which we are missing and lacking. When Hashem revealed Himself in Egypt at the end of the plagues, this was the revelation of perfection amidst all that was lacking. It was the revelation of the Endless amidst the limited and confined. It was the stark contrast of the absolutely complete against the backdrop of the utterly incomplete.

It is not by coincidence that Hashem chose to reveal Himself in that manner. It was to show us that as we are aware of our own incompletion, we need to view what Completion is. On one side of the coin, we must be aware of our deficiencies, and on the other side of the coin, we must be aware of the great Perfection that exists: the perfection of the Creator. This is the depth behind prayer.

It is not Torah which reveals this perspective; it is only prayer where this concept is revealed. Torah is all about perfection, for it is perfect and complete, whereas prayer is all about the incompletion of man. In the exodus of Egypt, we were utterly incomplete and lacking, and we came into contact with perfection: the revelation of Hashem, amidst all the incompletion we were in. It was not about just revealing the state of perfection or about showing us how incomplete we are. None of these alone is the lesson. Rather, the purpose of it was to show us how the incomplete must recognize that which is Complete.

In the laws of telling over the story of the exodus, the Rambam writes that we must “begin with disparage, and end with praise.” [We begin the Hagaddah by saying how dismal the Jewish people had become, and we end with praise, describing the greatness which we became.] This is the idea of the concept we are describing, in which perfection is revealed amidst incompletion.

This idea is what lies behind prayer: for one to recognize that because Hashem is perfect, I am lacking, as I stand before Him. It is that perception which truly enables one to pray and pour out his heart to Hashem. It is not simply for one to feel that he is lacking; although it is certainly true when one prays, he needs to feel that he is lacking. It is to recognize that because Hashem is perfect, I am not, therefore, I pray. [Thus, the main emphasis of a person during prayer should therefore be, on the fact that “Hashem is perfect”, as opposed to dwelling on one’s own imperfections].

For this reason, the entire Shemoneh Esrei is composed as a public prayer, and not in the private and individual language. It is because prayer is not about turning to Hashem from my own personal imperfections; rather, it is that because we turn to Hashem, from there, we recognize how lacking we are.

The Difference Between “Daas” and “Temimus”

During this time of the year – the month of Nissan, and on Pesach specifically, we can reach the depth of the power of sichah.

Sichah is also from the word ‘shach’, to bend, to be lowered. The Gemara learns out that shechitah (ritual slaughter) on animals is the place of the body which is “shach”, a part of the body which bends over, which is the neck[10]. We also find this term with the word ‘shiach’, a burrow in the ground, which is a low place. Sichah is thus about lowering oneself and being subservient.

The Sages praise one who lowers himself “like an animal” and is able to engender high qualities of character because of this. This is referring to the trait of temimus. It does not come from a lack of daas; to the contrary, it comes from shleimus, from perfected character.

Shleimus – self-perfection – is not able to be achieved through daas. Our daas is limited. Even Moshe Rabbeinu, who achieved the highest level of daas possible, was only able to comprehend as far as his daas could understand. It was his daas; it was not the daas of the Creator. Daas can understand only so much, but it cannot grasp the plane of shleimus. Only though tefillah\prayer, which stems from temimus, can a person reach shleimus.

This is because temimus is above daas. It can be said that at the point where daas ends, that is where temimus begins.[11] Therefore, one’s temimus can grasp perceptions that his daas cannot grasp.

The Egyptian exile is called the “exile to our daas.”[12] It follows, then, that the redemption from Egypt meant that our daas had been redeemed. Yet, besides for this aspect, there was even deeper revelation: the revelation of our power of sichah\temimus - which is higher than daas.

Telling Over The Story Of The Exodus, All Night Long: The Power of “Sichah\Temimus”

The mitzvah to tell over the story of the exodus, ideally, is meant to span the entire night of the seder, for as long as one is capable of doing so. This is the spiritual light that is temimus: the state of perfection that was revealed from Hashem’s Presence appearing in Egypt, the peak of our exodus. The mitzvah to tell over the story of the exodus is not something you read, hear, or merely “learn”. It comes from a deep recognition in our souls of “I, Hashem, will go out, in the midst of Egypt.”

The deeper the recognition of this, the deeper the mitzvah of telling over the story of the exodus will become.

From Pesach To Shavuos: From “Temimus” To “Daas”

These days of the month of Nissan are days in which we have the special opportunity to acquire the power of sichah. Through our power of daas, we cannot reach anything perfectly, because daas cannot reach shleimus, as we explained. Shleimus can only be reached when a person has a recognition of it, which comes from his temimus.

When Shavuos comes, it is the time to accept the Torah, and the Torah is a “Toras Hashem Temimah”, a Torah that requires temimus. It is written, “Wisdom, from where is it found?” The possuk is saying that the source of all chochmah\wisdom is ayin, “nothingness”, which is really referring to the temimus that must precede all of the chochmah of the Torah.It is temimus which is the deep source of all chochmah. If one has reached temimus on Pesach, he has the prerequisite to be able to receive the Torah on Shavuos.

The next month, Iyar, contains the power called ‘hirhur’, deep and reflective thought. If hirhur is not preceded with this sichah, though, then hirhur becomes superficial: one will only be thinking about various personal issues that are not of real importance.

The true way to prepare to receive the Torah is only through temimus: to recognize the shleimus of Hashem. “Remember the day in which you stood before the mount of Sinai” – the deeper meaning of this is that Torah must first be nursed from an inner source: from “standing at Har Sinai.” In other words, in order to accept the Torah and learn its wisdom, one must first have some recognition of perfection: to view the perfection of the Creator.

“Follow after Me, into the desert.” This is referring to the temimus which a Jew must have towards Hashem: to realize that Hashem is perfect and complete, so I will follow Him, wherever He takes me and wherever I must go.

The essence of Pesach, besides for its many other aspects and halachos which are also important, is this concept: to be ‘masiach l’fi tumo’, to let our conversations with Hashem flow, freely and naturally, from our point of temimus.