Thursday, March 19, 2026. We had snow on the ground this morning, after a cold/wintery couple of days – but it warmed into the 30’s as we walked, and the birds singing in cacophony reminded us that spring is coming – the long winter is just about past. In the middle east, spring is already underway, with soil warming, almond trees blooming, barley ripening, and vegetables being planted.
Sometimes in Adar (the month just past) we talk about the Jewish calendar’s “reset”, adding an extra month of Adar about every 3 years to keep the lunar months and holidays aligned with the solar year and seasons. I had always thought that this was done to ensure that the holidays in general, or especially the High Holy Days and Hanukah, fell in their proper time of year. But I learned recently that it is actually Passover that drives the adjustment. The Rabbis interpreted the Torah as commanding that Passover happen in the spring – and established that the holiday therefore should come after the spring equinox[1]. Hence the addition of the month of Adar, just before Nissan, to ensure that Nissan began just at the right time.
So the month of Nissan, one of our four “New Years” during the Jewish year, is our New Year for the seasons. As we look toward the Passover holiday and the opportunity for newness and coming out of places of narrowness and constriction in our lives, we can rest on the reset of nature and the seasons. Spring is coming, new life is being birthed in the natural world of animals and plants – and so too we can birth new life in our own souls and hearts. May this month, and the coming holiday, bring us a chance, and hope, for reset and rejuvenation, after a long winter. Chodesh tov! —K. Miriam
Our next Rosh Chodesh walking meditation will honor the month of Iyyar, Saturday, April 18, 8:30 am . Rain or snow or shine! – contact us for location.
[1] See the Chabad web page, How does the spring equinox relate to the timing of Passover?
Rosh Chodesh Cleveland 