Heshvan is the only Hebrew month containing no holiday, commemorative event, or fast day. Following the month of Tishrei, which has the major holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret, this lack is particularly noticeable. For this reason some call it ‘Mar Heshvan’ (Bitter Heshvan). Yet, tradition teaches that in Messianic times, Heshvan will be “rewarded,” for the Third Temple will be inaugurated during it. For this reason some people already refer to this month as ‘Ram Heshvan’ (Exalted Heshvan). Alluding to this, the word ‘ram’ is actually the inverted form of the word ‘mar.’
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach teaches that this month’s enormous spiritual potential is created by the nature of our Heshvan prayers: prayers that reflect how we pray when it seems as if our task has been completed, the verdict for the year finalized. During Tishrei, when we are surrounded by the holiness of all the holidays, it is easy to find the incentive and inspiration to pray. But what happens when the holidays are over and we return to our ordinary routines? If we fall back into our old ways as well, then the prayers and spiritual service of Tishrei failed to touch us deeply enough. If we can actually bring to fruition those changes we strived for and keep praying with the same commitment and intensity, then we have the ability to transform a potentially bitter month into an exalted one.
The importance of not letting go of the achievements we have attained in Tishrei is also reflected in the portion of Va’eira, which always occurs in the middle of Heshvan. In this portion, the first recorded prayer in the Torah takes place as Abraham prays to save the wicked people of Sodom. His prayer seems to go virtually unanswered – God will save the city if there are ten righteous men, which there are not – and the verse states that Abraham “returned to his place” (Genesis 18:33). But what should interest us is the following: what does Abraham do after he has reached the heights of prayer and seen his prayers essentially rejected? A literal or peshat reading of the verse would teach us that Abraham gave up, leaving the place where he had been talking to God, but a deeper reading taught by Rabbi Carlebach sheds further light on the matter: Abraham, despite his seeming failure, returned to his original stance, “his place,” and continued to pray. Though the text seems to indicate that Abraham’s prayers go unanswered, Abraham’s prayers not only helped save his nephew Lot, but even the eventual spark of the Mashiach, who is descended from Lot through Ruth. Furthermore, in this first recorded prayer, Abraham modeled for all time what prayer means to us as individuals and Jews: Abraham implanted in the Jewish people the importance of praying for the rectification of the world, even when it appears to be so far away.
Indeed, even though God sent angels to save Lot before Abraham prayed, it was Abraham’s prayers that saved the spark of Mashiach within Lot. For Abraham wanted to believe that nothing was beyond redemption, nothing was so broken that it could not be repaired, even the evil Sodom. This core optimism and faith that good will ultimately triumph is the very energy of Mashiach.
But how did Abraham know this great secret – that he should constantly pray for others? The Torah itself answers this question in a remarkable series of verses that reveal God’s actual thoughts: And God said: “Shall I conceal from Abraham what I intend to do. And Abraham surely will become a great nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him and they will keep the way of God to do justice and judgment, that God may bring upon Abraham that which He has spoken of him.” (Genesis 18:17-19)
God reveals to Abraham what he intends to do because he knows that Abraham will feel responsible for the entire world and be driven to pursue justice even if it means confronting God in prayer. Abraham does not disappoint: “Abraham drew near and said: Will You also destroy the righteous with the wicked … far be it from you to do after this manner to destroy the righteous with the wicked … will not the Judge of all the earth do justice?” (Genesis 18:23-25)
Abraham continues modeling the importance of praying for others when later in the portion he prays that God heal Abimelech and his people. Even though the horrible illness, which swept the nation and prevented them from having children, seems to have been a punishment for Abimelech taking Sarah (Genesis 20:17-18), Abraham’s prayer is answered and the people are healed. Parenthetically, the very next verse states that God remembered Sarah and she conceived and gave birth. The juxtaposition of these two verses teaches the Sages that if you pray for others, especially if they have a similar ailment, God will answer your own prayers first.
The intimate connection between Abraham’s prayers and the Mashiach is hinted to by a beautiful remez (allusion). The same Hebrew word for “drew near” is used to describe both Abraham’s approaching God to plead for Sodom and Judah’s approaching the Egyptian ruler (Joseph) to plead for his brother Benjamin (Genesis 44:18). As mentioned above, “the actions of the fathers are a sign to the children” (Sotah 34a; “The Trials of Abraham”), thus on a spiritual level Abraham’s drawing near to God and pleading for Sodom paved the way for Judah’s ability to draw near and plead for his brother. Since Judah is the progenitor of the Mashiach, via King David, perhaps it was this very act of courageous pleading with Joseph that activated the spark of Mashiach in Judah’s soul. Indeed, Kabbalah and Chassidut teach that this very meeting between Joseph and Judah was the archetypal meeting of the two Messianic figures mentioned in the Talmud (Sukkah 52a) and other sources: the Mashiach from the house of Joseph, who will precede the individual we commonly refer to as the Mashiach, a descendant of the house of David.
The Midrash commenting on the verse, “I [God] have found David my servant [an allusion to the Mashiach]” asks the question: “Where did He find him?” The startling answer in the Midrash is: “I found him in Sodom” (Bereishit Rabbah 41:5, commenting on Psalms 89:21). Abraham’s prayers and the courage he possessed to confront God and seek justice were the spark of Mashiach that God found in Sodom. The same spark was aroused in Judah when he not only pleaded for his brother but offered to take his place (as will be explained more fully in the portion of Vayigash). That offer is what moves Joseph to finally reveal himself to his brothers. The willingness to give one’s all for others, as exemplified by Abraham and Judah, will finally cause the Mashiach to come.
