Shovavim.

Hey guys.

I'm going out of town tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll have time to post later this week, so I'm posting now.

This past Motzei Shabbos marked the beginning of this years' period of Shovavim. Shovavim is the six weeks or so in which we read the first portions of the second book in the Torah, the book of Exodus ( what we call Shemos ). The word Shovavim is an acronym for the first portions: Shemos, Vaera, Bo, Beshalach, Yisro, and Mishpatim. In Hebrew, the first letters are Shin, Vav, Yud, Beis, Beis, and Mem. On jewish leap years, the next two portions ( Teruma and Tetzaveh ) are added to the period ( making it Shovavim-Tat ).

Shovavim is known as a special time for us, a time when we can really make strides to fix ouseleves and achieve a higher level of tikkun and teshuvah. There are certain specific sins for which this period is an especially potent time for making amends, but I believe that it goes for anythin that you are trying to fix up. There are many different suggestions that are given for this period of time in order to take full advantage of the special segula that these weeks hold for us. Those include fasting and prayer, of course ( note: the sefer Yesod V'Shoresh HaAvoda warns people to use discretion and to keep their individual physiologies in mind in regard to fasting and other aesthetics that affect people's health. Be smart about it, people...). Many say that to take upon yourself a certain goal, one in which you try to correct something in which you may be lacking ( even if it's a small thing ) is a good way to make tikkun.

I'd like to bless everybody that they should utilize this special time to really help fix things, and that their endeavors should bear fruit. With the merit of this time, and, hopefully, the success of our individual tikkunim, may we bring some light to the world and bring Moshiach even closer...

Originally posted Wednesday, 10 January 2007