View source for Cheshvan

{{Short description|8th month of the Hebrew calendar}}
{{Infobox month
| image       = Französischer Meister um 1675 001.jpg
| alt         = 
| caption     = The [[Genesis flood narrative|Great Flood]], which according to the [[Bible]] wiped out the world, started in Marcheshvan.
| native_name = {{Native name|he| {{Script/Hebrew|מַרְחֶשְׁוָן}}}}
| calendar    = [[Hebrew calendar]]
| num         = 8
| days        = 29 or 30
| season      = Autumn (Northern Hemisphere)
| gregorian   = October–November
| holidays    = 
| prev_month  = [[Tishrei]]
| next_month  = [[Kislev]]
}}

'''Marcheshvan''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Script/Hebrew|מַרְחֶשְׁוָן}}, <small>[[Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew|Standard]]</small> {{Transliteration|he|Marḥešvan}}, <small>[[Tiberian vocalization|Tiberian]]</small> {{Transliteration|he|Marḥešwān}}; from [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] {{Transliteration|akk|waraḫsamnu}}, literally, 'eighth month'), generally shortened to '''Cheshvan''' ({{Script/Hebrew|חֶשְׁוָן}}, <small>[[Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew|Standard]]</small> {{Transliteration|he|Ḥešvan}} <small>[[Tiberian vocalization|Tiberian]]</small> {{Transliteration|he|Ḥešwān}}), is the second month of the civil year (which starts on 1 [[Tishrei]]), and the eighth month of the ecclesiastical year (which starts on 1 [[Nisan]]) on the [[Hebrew calendar]].

In a regular ({{Transliteration|he|kesidran}}) year, Marcheshvan has 29 days, but because of the [[Hebrew calendar#Rosh Hashanah postponement rules|Rosh Hashanah postponement rules]], in some years, an additional day is added to Marcheshvan to make the year a "full" ({{Transliteration|he|maleh}}) year. Marcheshvan occurs in October–November in the [[Gregorian calendar]].

The [[Hebrew Bible]], before the [[Babylonian Exile]], refers to the month as '''Bul''' ({{bibleverse|1|Kings|6:38|HE}}). In Sidon, the reference to {{Transliteration|he|Bul}} is also made on the [[Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II]] dated to the early 5th century BC.

==Etymology==
Compared to its Akkadian [[etymon]] {{Transliteration|akk|waraḫsamnu}}, the name {{Transliteration|he|Marḥešvan}} displays the same [[lenition]] of ungeminated {{Script/Hebrew|מ}} {{IPA|/m/}} to {{Script/Hebrew|ו}} {{IPA|/v/}} found in other month names ([[Tammuz (Hebrew month)|Tammuz]] traditionally contains mem with [[dagesh]]). Uniquely to this name the initial {{Script/Hebrew|ו}} has also changed to {{Script/Hebrew|מ}}, giving the overall effect of a [[metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]].
In the modern form, with the connection to the [[Semitic root|roots]] ''w-r-ḥ'' ('moon', 'month') and ''š-m-n'' ('eight') no longer apparent, the first two letters {{lang|he|מַר}} (''mar'') have been re-interpreted as the Hebrew word for 'bitter', alluding to the fact that the month has no holidays or fasts.<ref name=ou>{{cite web |url=https://www.ou.org/holidays/months/cheshvan/ |title=Cheshvan |publisher=Orthodox Union |date=2014-02-13 |access-date=2019-05-12 }}</ref> In other contexts, the word {{Script/Hebrew|מַר}} is attributed to mean ''droplet'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://leshoniada.co.il/2019/02/04/%D7%9E%D7%A8-%D7%A8%D7%91%D7%99%D7%91-%D7%90%D7%92%D7%9C/ |script-title=he:יש הבדל בין גשם למטר?  |publisher=Leshoniada.co.il |date=2022-10-30}}</ref> associating this month with the [[rain]]y season.

==Events ==
* 7 Marcheshvan: The prayer {{Transliteration|he|V'tein tal u-matar}} ('deliver dew and rain') is added to the [[Amidah|Shemoneh Esrei]] prayers in [[Israel]]. If no rain has fallen by the 17th of the month, special prayers are added for rain.<ref name=ou/>
* [[Fast of Behav]]: According to the custom of most Eastern Ashkenazic communities, on the first [[Sabbath]] after Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, a prayer is recited on behalf of all those who are going to fast on Bahab. Bahab, or in Hebrew {{Script/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 [[Selichot]]. 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 [[Rosh Chodesh]] [[Kislev]], 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 [[Iyar]]; in Iyar it is observed at the beginning of the month in both Eastern and Western Ashkenazic rites.
* Sigd: The [[Beta Israel|Ethiopian Jewish]] community celebrates [[Sigd]] on the 29th day of Marcheshvan, 50 days from [[Yom Kippur]], analogous to counting 50 days from [[Passover|Pesach]] to [[Shavuot]]. Israel officially recognized Sigd as a national holiday in 2008, and it is observed annually on 29 Cheshvan.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Viner |first1=Erin |title=Beta Israel celebrate Sigd holiday |url=https://www.tv7israelnews.com/beta-israel-celebrate-sigd-holiday/ |access-date=9 December 2021 |work=TV7 Israel News |date=5 November 2021}}</ref>

==In Jewish history and tradition==
* '''8 Marcheshvan''' (A.D.66) – Jewish nationalists defeat the Romans at the famous Beth Horon Pass, killing 5,300 footmen and 380 horsemen <ref>[[Josephus]], Wars 2.19.9:551-555</ref>
* '''11 Marcheshvan''' ([[Wiktionary:circa|circa]] 2105 BCE) – Methuselah dies at age 969
* '''11 Marcheshvan''' ([[Wiktionary:circa|circa]] 1553 BCE) – Death of [[Rachel]] while giving birth to [[Benjamin]]
* '''12 Marcheshvan''' (1995) – [[Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin]]; now a national memorial day
* '''15 Marcheshvan''' – King [[Jeroboam]]'s alternative feast of [[Sukkot]] for the people of the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|northern Kingdom]] ({{bibleverse|1|Kings|12:32-33|NKJV}})
* '''15 Marcheshvan''' (165 BCE) – Death of [[Matityahu]] (Mattathias), who began the [[Maccabees|Maccabean]] revolt in the city of [[Modiin]]
* '''16 Marcheshvan''' (1938) – [[Kristallnacht]]/Pogromnacht: 1,400 synagogues and numerous copies of the Tanakh are purposefully and systematically set on fire and allowed to burn in Nazi Germany<ref>Confino, Alon. "Why the Nazis Burned the Hebrew Bible", ''Commentary'', vol. 137, no. 6, June 2014, pp. 30–34. EBSCOhost.</ref>
* '''16 Marcheshvan''' (1994) – Death of [[Shlomo Carlebach (musician)|Reb Shlomo Carlebach]]
* '''17 Marcheshvan''' ([[Wiktionary:circa|circa]] 960 BCE) – First [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]] completed by King [[Solomon]]<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Kings|6:38|NKJV}}</ref> (it was not inaugurated until the following [[Tishrei]] however)
* '''20 Marcheshvan''' (1860) - Birth of Rabbi [[Sholom Dovber Schneersohn]], the 5th [[Chabad]] Rebbe.
* '''23 Marcheshvan''' (164 BCE) – Hasmonean holiday commemorating the removal from the [[Holy Temple]] of altar stones which were defiled by the [[Hellenistic Greece|Greeks]]

== See also ==
* [[Jewish astrology]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.inner.org/times/cheshvan/index.php Resources on the Month of Cheshvan]
* [http://www.chabad.org/calendar/ Chabad: This Month in Jewish History]
* [https://thinktorah.org/cheshvan-and-its-message/ Cheshvan and Its Message]

{{Jewish and Israeli holidays}}

[[Category:Cheshvan| ]]
[[Category:Months of the Hebrew calendar]]