KAVANNAH (Intention): Heshvan

Several years ago, I studied astronomy at an observatory in the Chilean Andes. My time there was a beautiful experience with Parshat Bereshit. I would like to share an excerpt from the journal I kept while I was in Chile: It was 3 a.m. I was lying in the dirt watching part of the Milky Way galaxy rise above the dome of my telescope. The moon and Venus had just set and the black sky, which arched from horizon to horizon, served as an awesome backdrop to the stars, nebulae, meteors and planets which illuminated the mountaintop. Overhead, in the constellation Leo, Mars was bright and red. I easily recognized Leo's question mark shape and I traced it in the air, down to Mars - perfectly situated as the point.

I was working at an astronomical observatory, collecting scientific data in an attempt to help explain the universe. As the computer behind me recorded calculations every few seconds, I came to a very unscientific realization and I scribbled it on the edge of my notebook: "God is everywhere here."

In the second paragraph of the Shema, called the Veahavta, each of us is commanded:

"You will love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might."

Part of the complexity of translating the Torah's words from Hebrew to English is that nuances of language can be changed. The word veahavta begins with the letter vav. In Biblical Hebrew grammar, a vav can mean either and or else it can function to change the meaning of the verb from past to future tense or future to past tense. In the case of veahavta since the verb is in the past tense, the vav makes the meaning future: "You will love!" Perhaps it is a command. Or perhaps it is a foretelling: IF you live with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might, THEN you will live with integrity, with honesty and with passion. And then you will, indeed, love Adonai Your God because each day will be an exploration of miracles.

In this month of Heshvan, try to find a dark place to gaze at the stars. Look up at the night sky, and allow yourself to witness God's Creation. If you engage with God's universe, not just with your heart, your soul, and your might, but rather, with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, and with ALL your might, these words we read in Bereshit will be the telling of God's gift to you. And then, the words:

Veahavta et adonai elohecha b'chol levavcha u'vchol nafshecha u'vchol meodecha

You will love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might

will be both a commandment and a gift of Heshvan.

– Rabbi Jessica Zimmerman

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