English translation — אייר

Iyar <pg>72</pg>

A.

It is stated in the books<sup>1</sup>

that "Iyar" is an acronym — "Ani<sup>2</sup>

Hashem your healer",

that is, that this month is conducive to the matter of healing<sup>3</sup>.

And behold, in the matter of healing itself, there are several manners,

And here it is emphasized that the healing of "Iyar" is related to "I am the Lord your Healer",

the healing of the Holy One, blessed be He, specifically,

that the innovation in this healing is explained in the verse²

— "all the disease ... I will not put upon you, for I am the Lord your Healer",

meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, prevents the illness from coming upon the man from the outset⁴

[in the manner of the words of the Rambam⁵

that if a man is properly careful in his eating, etc., according to the guidelines explained in his Laws of Character Traits, "I guarantee him that he will not come to illness all his days"].

And one may add,

that the innovation in the healing of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not only in that it prevents the coming of the illness,

but also when the conduct of the man caused illness to come upon him,

behold, when his healing comes from "I am the Lord your Healer",

it is in a manner entirely different from the healing of a physician of flesh and blood

(even though also the healing of a physician of flesh and blood comes from the Holy One, blessed be He,

who gave "permission

(and power)

to the physician to heal"⁶)

:

Healing of flesh and blood is effective

(usually⁷)

only "from now onward"

[as explained in the Gemara⁸

the distinction between annulment of vows by a sage who "uproots the vow from its root",

and healing of a blemish by a doctor who "does not heal except from now onward"],

but not so the healing of the Holy One, blessed be He

(since His manner is "I will not place upon you

(from the outset)

")

uproots the illness as if it never existed⁹.

Moreover: in Sefer HaChinukh¹⁰

it is explained that even in healing of flesh and blood "there are two types of healing: one from now onward..

and one retroactively".

But nevertheless there is a novelty in the healing of the Holy One, blessed be He, also regarding the healing that is "retroactively" — because that healing can be

(by a human)

in a manner that it works "retroactively" is only because "the healing is only to clarify"¹¹,

that is,

that through the healing it becomes clarified that there was no blemish from the outset,

but if<pg>73</pg>

He had a blemish,

then it is impossible for flesh and blood to uproot the blemish "retroactively"¹²

; but not so the healing of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the manner of "I am the Lord your healer" — since its nature is "I will not place upon you",

so even when illness has already come upon a person,

the healing uproots it as if it had never been placed upon the person from the outset¹³.

And since "Iyar" is an acronym for "I am the Lord your healer",

so it is understood,

that the segulah of this month regarding the matter of healing is in the manner of "I am the Lord your healer",

which uproots every matter of illness from its root.

B.

And this will be understood with a preface of the reason that in the Five Books of Moses the months are called by their ordinal number

(Month Nissan — the first month,

Month Iyar — the second month, etc.)

— and the Torah did not establish a name for each and every month¹⁴.

And one can say one of the reasons,

for in this is hinted,

that besides the unique content that each and every month has in itself

(as explained in several books¹⁵)

— behold, the twelve months of the year are

(also)

one reality and continuum.

And therefore the months are called by the ordinal number,

which emphasizes that all the months constitute one continuum

(And simply — when one says "second" this emphasizes that it comes in continuation of the first,

etc.).

And from this it is understood,

that the essence of each and every month is

(also)

a preparation and introduction to the essence of the month that follows it

(and in continuation to it).

[And it can be said,

that this is the reason

(the inner reason)

that the Shabbat of blessing the month is always — even when Rosh Chodesh falls on Shabbat —

(the last Shabbat)

in the month preceding it — to indicate,

that the "blessing" and giving of power for the service of the coming month,

comes from the month that preceded it].

And based on this we can say regarding our matter — the month of Iyar,

which is the second month that comes in sequence after the first month, the month of Nissan

(and is blessed from it)

— that this that the healing of the month of Iyar is in the manner of "I am the Lord your healer",

the healing of<pg>74</pg>

the Holy One, blessed be He, specifically,

it is because it comes after and in sequence to the month of Nissan:

The essence of the month of Nissan is — the month of redemption¹⁶,

and the intention in this — a miraculous redemption,

above nature.

And like the redemption from Egypt simply,

which came through miracles and wonders completely above nature

(not like the redemption of Purim which is in the month of Adar,

which was through a miracle clothed in nature).

And as hinted also in the name "Nissan" — from the term "nes" (miracle)¹⁷,

and in this itself — two nuns,

which indicates "nesi nissim" (miracle of miracles)¹⁸.

That is, because the redemption from Egypt came through that "revealed¹⁹

upon them the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He,

(in His honor and His essence²⁰)

and redeemed them",

and therefore the redemption came without any clothing at all in the ways of nature.

And this is the connection between the two months of Nissan and Iyar — that the month of Nissan,

the first month,

gives power to the month of Iyar that follows it,

which is conducive to the matter of healing

(as above),

that the healing will come in a manner of "I am the Lord your healer"²¹,

the healing of the Holy One, blessed be He, in His honor and His essence,

which is a healing above nature,

that uproots the illness as if it never existed in him.

3.

And behold, it is known,

that just as there is illness and healing of the body,

so too there is illness and healing of the soul,

and as explained at length in the Eight Chapters of the Rambam²²

(in the name of the ancients).

And based on this, it can be said,

that the main point of "I am the Lord your Healer" of the month of Iyar is in connection with the healing of the soul,

and from this it branches and descends afterwards that it is also a segulah for the healing of the body.

[And particularly according to the known²³

that the Torah speaks about the supernal and alludes to the lower,

meaning that the matters of the Torah speak primarily about "the supernal"

(as they are interpreted in their spiritual content),

and their simple interpretation

(as the words of Torah are interpreted "in the lower",

in this physical world)

is only the "hint" in the Torah.

And likewise in our matter,

that when the Torah speaks about the matter of "healing" — its intention is primarily about healing in its spiritual content

("in the supernal")].

And with this is understood the connection of the matter of healing to the month of Iyar — according to what is explained in Midrash Shmuel&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt;

One of the reasons that we say Pirkei Avot between Pesach and Shavuot,

because "from here begins the time to become warm and the physical desires are aroused and the evil inclination begins to dominate and strengthen,

and this tractate

(Avot)

is full of rebukes and awakens a person to pursue every good quality and strengthens the good inclination over the evil inclination",

and it is found that from the month of Iyar begins the main necessity for healing of the soul&lt;sup&gt;25&lt;/sup&gt;

(since then there is strengthening of the evil inclination etc.).

&lt;pg&gt;75&lt;/pg&gt;

And according to what was explained above regarding the matter of the healing of Iyar —

(a)

that it comes in the manner of "I am the Lord your healer",

and that

(b)

the power for this is from the month of Nissan

(the first month)

— one must say,

that in this manner it is also regarding the healing of the soul that is in the month of Iyar,

that there are in it these two details,

namely:

(a)

In the month of Iyar there is a giving of power from above that the healing of the soul will come to the person in a manner of "I am the Lord your healer"&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt;,

above nature,

(b)

the power for this healing comes from the month of Nissan that precedes it.

4.

And this will be understood with a prior explanation of the difference between the month of Nissan and the month of Iyar in the service of G-d:

Just as the month of Nissan is the "month of redemption" in physicality,

so it is a time of redemption for Israel in spirituality.

And as is known, the redemption from Egypt,

besides being a physical redemption — that the Children of Israel were redeemed from the land of Egypt physically,

was also a spiritual redemption,

that the Children of Israel, while being slaves of Pharaoh, were sunk in the impurity of Egypt,

until the forty-nine gates of impurity²⁷,

and by the Holy One, blessed be He, in His glory and by Himself "appeared upon them..

and redeemed them",

they were redeemed from the impurity of Egypt.

And this spiritual redemption was in a manner of "miracle of miracles",

above nature,

and not in order and gradation at all — that the Holy One, blessed be He, elevated Israel above the impurity of Egypt entirely.

And so it is in every year when the month of Nissan arrives — that a person is obligated to see himself as if he himself went out of Egypt²⁸,

that in this month the power is given to each and every one of Israel to redeem himself from all undesirable matters,

in a manner that he will reach a state of "free men",

that is to say,

not only that he has the power to rule over his evil inclination

(and not the opposite, heaven forbid),

but furthermore,

that there is no need for war at all,

for he is a "free man",

in a state of freedom from the evil inclination.

And this spiritual redemption of the month of Nissan is expressed in that,

it is the only month of all the months of the year in which Tachanun is not recited all the days of the month²⁹.

And as has been explained several times,

that it is impossible to say that on days when Tachanun is not recited

(and a person does not ask forgiveness for his sins)

something is lacking from the effect brought about by reciting Tachanun

(namely, pardon and forgiveness of sins)

— for if so: specifically because one is in a day of virtue in which Tachanun is not recited,

the person remains with his sins without pardon and forgiveness! Rather, certainly,

that on days when Tachanun is not recited,

the forgiveness of sins is effected by virtue of the day itself

(without the person needing to ask for it³⁰).

And this is that Tachanun is not recited throughout the entire month of Nissan,

because since it is "the month of redemption",

in which the Holy One, blessed be He, redeems each and every one of Israel and elevates him above all undesirable matters until he is in a state of "free man" — there is no need for reciting Tachanun.

Thus,

that in the month of Nissan there is no need for the matter of "healing"

(healing of the illness of the soul)³¹,

<pg>76</pg>

since they are in a state of "free man" and above any boundary of the matter of illness.

5.

However, the matter of the month of Iyar is at the opposite extreme — both in the physical,

that then begins a time of strengthening of nature,

namely not only that it is not a time of "miracles of miracles",

but on the contrary — a time of strengthening of nature,

as we see tangibly that then is the time of the growth of trees etc.,

and all the forces of nature are visible to the eye in their strength etc.³²

; and in the spiritual

(as above),

that then is a time of strengthening of the evil inclination and they need a special strength

(beginning with the study of Pirkei Avot)

in order to overcome the evil inclination etc.

(And it is understood,

that these are interdependent,

for since then is a time of strengthening of the force of nature in the world,

this brings about a strengthening of the evil inclination and heat and arousal of desires etc.).

And this is the "blessing" with which the month of Iyar is blessed from the month of Nissan that precedes it — that a proper blessing contains two matters:

(a)

The content of the blessing is in accordance with the power of the one who blesses,

(b)

And on the other hand,

it is measured according to the needs of the recipient of the blessing

(for otherwise it could be an influence of good that one cannot receive).

And so in our matter,

that the blessing of the month of Nissan is that it should be "I am the Lord your healer",

in which there are two extremes: on the one hand, this is a blessing in the matter of healing,

which itself emphasizes that one is in a situation that requires healing; but on the other hand,

the manner of healing is in accordance with the matter of the month of Nissan — "redemption" in a miraculous manner,

above the natural order — a healing of the Holy One, blessed be He, that uproots the illness entirely,

as if it had never existed from the beginning

(as above, section 1).

And simply — that this is a giving of strength,

that also in the month of Iyar a person can elevate himself above all his distracting matters etc.,

until he is in a state of spiritual freedom.

(From the sicha of Shabbos Parshas Shemini,

Rosh Chodesh Iyar,

5747)