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The Month of Nissan
You might have thought that Rosh Hashana, the first of Tishrei, is the beginning of the Jewish Year, however the Torah calls Nissan the first of the months, "This month shall be for you the beginning of the months..." (Shemot 12:1)
So when does the Jewish Year begin, in Tishrei or in Nissan? Really there are two beginnings to the year, one physical and one spiritual, one a thought and one a concrete reality. Rosh Hashana is the beginning of the year spiritually. This was the day when God thought to create existence. This is why we refer to Rosh Hashana as harat olam, the day of the world's conception. God "conceived" the world on Rosh Hashana, however the first of Nissan is the day that the world became a physical existence. Thus Nissan is related to the word nitzan, which means 'first bloom'. Just as the first bloom is the beginning of the completed state of the flower, so Nissan marks the first bloom of existence. And Nissan is always in the Spring when new life 'springs' forth, blooming from the earth. More articles available at Ohr Somayach's website. |