by Rabbi Sari Laufer
If you had attended a Catholic Church this very weekend prior to 1959, you would have found yourself praying Liturgy for An Ordinary Time. Marking the months between Pentecost in the spring and Advent in the winter, and then again from Christmas to Lent, the Church designated these non-festival seasons as “ordinary time.” They did, that is, until they realized that people were beginning to ignore these weeks; there was a misconception that these times lack focus and content, and that they are simply a long stretch of weeks between important feasts and seasons.
And in reality, we do not have to go back 50+ years, nor turn to the Church, to find these tensions between the sacred and the ordinary. Each week, as Shabbat comes to an end, we offer a blessing to God, who separates bein kodesh l’chol—usually translated as between sacred and the profane. But we are really thanking God for helping us distinguish between the sacred and the everyday, the quotidian, the ordinary.
As Shabbat came to a close last week, we made this distinction once again—with a twist. Last week, we ushered in the month of Cheshvan, known traditionally as MarCheshvan—or “bitter Cheshvan.” Regardless of the fact that the name actually comes from the Akkadian, and means 8th month (it’s the 8th month after the month of Nissan, in the spring), the rabbis seized on the fact that Cheshvan is the only month on the Jewish calendar devoid of any holidays or commemorations beyond Shabbat. Following the frenetic pace and the spiritual elevation of the High Holy Days, Cheshvan is the definition of ordinary. For the rabbis, it was “bitter,” a sad and lonely month. But what if it offered us something different?
Cheshvan is a blank slate, a respite after the chaos of Tishrei. For the past several years, my teacher, Rabba Yaffa Epstein, has offered a #nomarinthischeshvan challenge. She writes:
This month is so special, as it affords us to get back to routine, to find the power, and the beauty in our every day lives. It is the ultimate challenge — to find the Kodesh (holiness) in the mundane.
So — if you feel like it — please join me in this #nomarinthischeshvan daily gratitude challenge. As we attempt to bring more positivity, light, love, and beauty into our lives just by being aware of the many blessings that surround us every day.
Most of our life happens in ordinary time. It is up to us to make the most of it, find the blessing within it, and perhaps even make it holy. Chodesh tov—a good month!