Friday, January 15, 2010

Rosh Chodesh Shevat

Tomorrow is Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Shevat - the first day of the month of Shevat. It is a chance to start anew, make changes in your life and become a better person.

Shevat is the fifth month (from Tishrei) - which means that 4 months of the year have passed and we are 1/3rd into the calendar year. There are still 2/3rds of the year left until Rosh Hashana. Think for a moment. Look back at the first 1/3rd of your year. Are you happy with what you see? With the changes you made? I'm sure each of you made some commitment to change over the year - did you keep to your word? It's not too late. You still have another 2/3rds of your year to become who you want to be. I think this is a good point in time to stop and look ahead. Sometimes, by the time elul comes around, it feels like so much of the year has passed. So every month, you a special reminder to stop and take a look at what you did so far and see if you are happy with how you are progressing in your yiddishkeit.

Also, the fact that it is Shabbos Rosh Chodesh is a very special thing. The Sefer Panim Yafos writes that each Rosh Chodesh is Mashpiah - influences - the whole month, and each Shabbos is Mashpiah over the whole week. This Shabbos, then, will be a very influential Shabbos, and we should strive to maintain its high level of kedusha. Let us try to a few minutes of Shabbos day to learn something special that will help us improve in our avodas Hashem.

There are many books that start a new learning cycle on Rosh Chodesh Shevat - you have a great opportunity to utilize the time you have on Shabbos and the fact that it is the beginning of a new month to become closer to Hashem and improve yourself!
Here are some suggestions: (You can click on the links.)


Positive Word Power - Building a better world with the words you speak.

Praying With Fire - Igniting the Power of Your Tefillah - A 5-Minute Lesson-A-Day
Praying With Fire 2 - More insights as to how to Ignite the Power of Your Tefillah - A 5-Minute Lesson-A-Day
A Daily Companion
- The concepts and laws of proper speech as formulated by Sefer Chofetz Chaim.

May this month be filled with many happy things, many good changes and may you feel Hashem in your life more and more - as you keep changing and becoming a better person!

2 comments:

  1. Thanx a ton for this blog and constantly updating it,its inspirationin the warmth of my own home what more can we ask for??? Ur really awesome! By rosh hashana I had thought of mashal that u jst reminded me of - its like going to the dentist we go to the dentist and he says make sure to brush really well daily and for the first week were pretty good about it and than slowly but surely we start to slack off and the night before we go to the dentist again we sit there brushing so hard but imagine ur father was te dentist there'd be no getting away with it every night he'd knw if those teeth were brushed so its a. Similar Idea on rosh hashana we take upon these kabalos and were pretty strict abt them for the first little while and as time goes on we tend to forget and be a bit too laxed about them until the next rosh hashana wen we wake up and start runnin to get mechila and take upon ourselves kabalos again we sometimes forget that our totty in heaven is always watching our neshama goes up every night to to be with Him and every night its judged shvet is a time for new beginings - maybe its time to "revisit the dentist and try extra hard to keep to brushing our teeth this time"

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  2. Thank you so much for that mashal! It's a great one!

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