Cheshvan

<h2 id="etymology">Etymology</h2>
<p>Compared to its Akkadian <a href="/facts/Etymon/18QG6y67">etymon</a> <i>waraḫsamnu</i>, the name <i>Marḥešvan</i> displays the same <a href="/facts/Lenition/htEV4TwT">lenition</a> of ungeminated מ‎ /m/ to ו‎ /v/ found in other month names (<a href="/facts/Tammuz_(Hebrew_month)/JvGsMU9U">Tammuz</a> traditionally contains mem with <a href="/facts/Dagesh/pWDjK9M0">dagesh</a>). Uniquely to this name the initial ו‎ has also changed to מ‎, giving the overall effect of a <a href="/facts/Metathesis_(linguistics)/qPNPuQW1">metathesis</a>.
In the modern form, with the connection to the <a href="/facts/Semitic_root/S73FvfPz">roots</a> <i>w-r-ḥ</i> ('moon', 'month') and <i>š-m-n</i> ('eight') no longer apparent, the first two letters מַר (<i>mar</i>) have been re-interpreted as the Hebrew word for 'bitter', alluding to the fact that the month has no holidays or fasts.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> In other contexts, the word מַר‎ is attributed to mean <i>droplet</i>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> associating this month with the <a href="/facts/Rain/MLqcQEyx">rainy</a> season.
</p>
<h2 id="events">Events</h2>
<ul><li>7 Marcheshvan: The prayer <i>V'tein tal u-matar</i> ('deliver dew and rain') is added to the <a href="/facts/Amidah/3wGNzRKt">Shemoneh Esrei</a> prayers in <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a>. If no rain has fallen by the 17th of the month, special prayers are added for rain.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Fast_of_Behav/MqSLm80f">Fast of Behav</a>: According to the custom of most Eastern Ashkenazic communities, on the first <a href="/facts/Sabbath/bdPkL8Dw">Sabbath</a> after Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, a prayer is recited on behalf of all those who are going to fast on Bahab. Bahab, or in Hebrew בה"ב‎, stands for 2, 5, 2, i.e., Monday (2nd day of the week), Thursday (5th day), and another Monday. On the Monday, Thursday, and second Monday after the Sabbath, it is customary in many communities (mostly Ashkenazic, although there were some Sephardic communities who adopted this custom as well) to fast and/or to recite penitential prayers called <a href="/facts/Selichot/s3dYhKEk">Selichot</a>. According to the Western Ashkenazic rite, as well as some Eastern Ashkenazic communities (especially Hungarian communities), the second Monday of Bahab is the Monday before <a href="/facts/Rosh_Chodesh/XcPHfTY1">Rosh Chodesh</a> <a href="/facts/Kislev/WSo4WDdo">Kislev</a>, the Thursday is the Thursday preceding that, the first Monday is the Monday preceding that, and the Sabbath in which the prayer is recited is the Sabbath preceding that. Bahab is also observed at the beginning of <a href="/facts/Iyar/m0cwKPj2">Iyar</a>; in Iyar it is observed at the beginning of the month in both Eastern and Western Ashkenazic rites.</li>
<li>Sigd: The <a href="/facts/Beta_Israel/KINATX1J">Ethiopian Jewish</a> community celebrates <a href="/facts/Sigd/s3amK7ln">Sigd</a> on the 29th day of Marcheshvan, 50 days from <a href="/facts/Yom_Kippur/2STbQGjN">Yom Kippur</a>, analogous to counting 50 days from <a href="/facts/Passover/klu4sC0g">Pesach</a> to <a href="/facts/Shavuot/cbVCBNWU">Shavuot</a>. Israel officially recognized Sigd as a national holiday in 2008, and it is observed annually on 29 Cheshvan.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li></ul>
<h2 id="in-jewish-history-and-tradition">In Jewish history and tradition</h2>
<ul><li>8 Marcheshvan (A.D.66) – Jewish nationalists defeat the Romans at the famous Beth Horon Pass, killing 5,300 footmen and 380 horsemen <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li>
<li>11 Marcheshvan (circa 2105 BCE) – Methuselah dies at age 969</li>
<li>11 Marcheshvan (circa 1553 BCE) – Death of <a href="/facts/Rachel/4vx7hKAU">Rachel</a> while giving birth to <a href="/facts/Benjamin/q8XEf4nN">Benjamin</a></li>
<li>12 Marcheshvan (1995) – <a href="/facts/Assassination_of_Yitzhak_Rabin/rd5XbqNK">Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin</a>; now a national memorial day</li>
<li>15 Marcheshvan – King <a href="/facts/Jeroboam/kmCHYUqm">Jeroboam</a>'s alternative feast of <a href="/facts/Sukkot/6Ip6o5qe">Sukkot</a> for the people of the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria)/KJv662gU">northern Kingdom</a> (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+12:32–33&version=nkjv">1 Kings 12:32–33</a>)</li>
<li>15 Marcheshvan (165 BCE) – Death of <a href="/facts/Matityahu/9gz9fIG6">Matityahu</a> (Mattathias), who began the <a href="/facts/Maccabees/nD1Ipatw">Maccabean</a> revolt in the city of <a href="/facts/Modiin/61U92Nsr">Modiin</a></li>
<li>16 Marcheshvan (1938) – <a href="/facts/Kristallnacht/U9ovTHbK">Kristallnacht</a>/Pogromnacht: 1,400 synagogues and numerous copies of the Tanakh are purposefully and systematically set on fire and allowed to burn in Nazi Germany<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li>
<li>16 Marcheshvan (1994) – Death of <a href="/facts/Shlomo_Carlebach_(musician)/WMgX5TbW">Reb Shlomo Carlebach</a></li>
<li>17 Marcheshvan (circa 960 BCE) – First <a href="/facts/Temple_in_Jerusalem/WHsJ2e2Y">Temple</a> completed by King <a href="/facts/Solomon/UEW5JoNU">Solomon</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> (it was not inaugurated until the following <a href="/facts/Tishrei/1nRy5R03">Tishrei</a> however)</li>
<li>20 Marcheshvan (1860) - Birth of Rabbi <a href="/facts/Sholom_Dovber_Schneersohn/3Tg6bfEz">Sholom Dovber Schneersohn</a>, the 5th <a href="/facts/Chabad/gK9obwFs">Chabad</a> Rebbe.</li>
<li>23 Marcheshvan (164 BCE) – Hasmonean holiday commemorating the removal from the <a href="/facts/Holy_Temple/WHsJ2e2Y">Holy Temple</a> of altar stones which were defiled by the <a href="/facts/Hellenistic_Greece/45ye3dGC">Greeks</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Jewish_astrology/aNG03pIT">Jewish astrology</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.inner.org/times/cheshvan/index.php">Resources on the Month of Cheshvan</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.chabad.org/calendar/">Chabad: This Month in Jewish History</a></li>
<li><a href="https://thinktorah.org/cheshvan-and-its-message/">Cheshvan and Its Message</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"Cheshvan". Orthodox Union. 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2019-05-12. <a href="https://www.ou.org/holidays/months/cheshvan/" target="_blank">https://www.ou.org/holidays/months/cheshvan/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>יש הבדל בין גשם למטר?. Leshoniada.co.il. 2022-10-30. <a href="יש הבדל בין גשם למטר?" target="_blank">יש הבדל בין גשם למטר?</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Cheshvan". Orthodox Union. 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2019-05-12. <a href="https://www.ou.org/holidays/months/cheshvan/" target="_blank">https://www.ou.org/holidays/months/cheshvan/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Viner, Erin (5 November 2021). "Beta Israel celebrate Sigd holiday". TV7 Israel News. Retrieved 9 December 2021. <a href="https://www.tv7israelnews.com/beta-israel-celebrate-sigd-holiday/" target="_blank">https://www.tv7israelnews.com/beta-israel-celebrate-sigd-holiday/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Josephus, Wars 2.19.9:551-555 <a href="/wiki/Josephus" target="_blank">/wiki/Josephus</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Confino, Alon. "Why the Nazis Burned the Hebrew Bible", Commentary, vol. 137, no. 6, June 2014, pp. 30–34. EBSCOhost. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>1 Kings 6:38 <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+6:38&version=nkjv" target="_blank">https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+6:38&version=nkjv</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Cheshvan open-in-new

Cheshvan