Dvar Torah for the month of Nisan

Based on Likutey Moharan I, Lesson #49
 

Why should anyone give up? Nissan has returned.

Nissan, the month we left the Egyptian exile, is "the month of spring"
(Exodus 13:4). Nissan is not only a month of a miracles, as its name alludes (similar to the Hebrew word *nisim*), but also a month of creation (Rosh Hashanah 11a).

Creation with a capital "C" is God's domain, but He has given each of us His the raw stuff of Creation within which to create a better, improved world. How does one begin to respond to this challenging invitation?

One begins, not unlike God did, with a kosher thought, with the thought of revealing His kindness. Any thought that reveals God's kindness, His greatness, is a wise thought. Such thoughts begin in the brain, but are born by the heart. Their converse, thoughts that contradict God's kindness and prevent it from coming into being, are not merely wicked. They are stupid also.

This wickedness and stupidity is not beyond hope. One can correct it by understanding that wrong thinking is a product of out of control excitement. By believing that his excitement stems, in fact, for his desire for Divine closeness (yes, it's true), one can recognize what actions or words he needs to change in order to move towards that Divine closeness.
(One needs to devote time, daily, to this process of understanding, recognizing, changing.)

So Nissan, like Tishrei (the month of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur), is a month of repentance, of turning things around. There is no reason to give up. Stop and think how your exile has diminished or subverted your love and excitement for the Divine. Let your heart awake to the creative potential God has given you, and start making the world a better place.


agutn chodesh!
chodesh tov u'mevorakh!
Have a good month!