OPINION: Pick your opportunity during the quiet month
By rabbi Paul Freedman 
Is there a difference between ‘being Jewish’ and ‘doing Jewish’? It’s a question the ‘Certificate of Religious Practice’ for Jewish school admissions (rather unsuccessfully) tries to address. Clearly, doing Jewish requires some activity and can take many forms. Perhaps if you feel Jewish values and attitudes influence the kind of person you are, you could even say you are always doing Jewish.
Our religious ‘busy season’, the Hebrew month of Tishri, is just behind us. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succot and Simchat Torah follow one after the other, with Shabbat still making its weekly appearance. We may feel we have just put in a lot of ‘Jewish time’. The Jewish year is filled with all sorts of major and minor festivals. Every Hebrew month has something – perhaps a minor fast day at the very least – except, that is, for the present month – Cheshvan. Something of a relief after the intensity of Tishri, Cheshvan is a blank page in the Jewish calendar.
In Cheshvan our lives can return to normal – whatever we decide normal is going to be. The month is also known as Marcheshvan, and this may be its original name, with Cheshvan a shortened form. We often (incorrectly) do the derivation the other way round, explaining Mar-cheshvan as an extended form of Cheshvan that would therefore mean ‘bitter Cheshvan’ (Mar means bitter – like maror, the bitter herb we eat at Pesach).
Even if it’s not where the name Marcheshvan comes from, it shows that Cheshvan is traditionally viewed as a bitter month. Its bitterness is ascribed to the absence of any festivals; perhaps ‘boring Cheshvan’ is what they really mean. I wonder if that is really fair on the poor old month of (Mar)cheshvan though. Surely Jewish festivals are not the only opportunity for Judaism to influence our lives, for us to ‘do Jewish’? Cheshvan needn’t be bitter; indeed it can be very exciting. Mitzvah Day? Jewish Film Festival? Just pick your Jewish opportunity.
Kislev, the month of Chanukah is just round the corner, but in the meantime, Cheshvan sameach – happy Cheshvan!
• Rabbi Paul Freedman is Senior Rabbi at Radlett Reform Synagogue and Vice Chairman of the Assembly of Reform Rabbis UK
Read more Progressive Judaism
TWO VOICES: After Brittany Maynard’s death should we revise laws on assisted dying?
Desert Island Text: The Book of Joel
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
