Tonight is Rosh Hodesh Iyyar, the beginning of the new month of Iyyar. In the middle of counting the omer, day by day by day, Rosh Hodesh seemed to sneak up on me. It almost seems to be a missing month.

Every month has a theme, usually tied to the holiday of the month. For instance, Kislev with Chanukah is about light, Sh’vat, with Tu B’shevat the new of the trees is about growth, planting, trees. Adar is about joy. Nissan is about freedom. But Iyyar? What is it’s spiritual theme?

Maybe after the frenetic pace of Nissan with all of the Passover preparations and then celebrating Passover itself, it is about rest. Our calendar seems to do that with Heshvan as well. Right after all of the four fall holidays are celebrated, then comes Heshvan without any holidays. A chance to catch our breath. Maybe Iyyar is another chance to catch our breath.

This second month also has Pesach Sheni, a second Passover. For those who missed the opportunity to celebrate Passover on the 15th of Nissan, here is a second chance. It is a mandated make-up day. Lag B’Omer the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer is the 18th of Iyyar. And maybe that is why the month of Iyyar seems to get lost. We have had the frenetic pace of Passover and the daily counting of the Omer. Each week of the Omer has its own special flavor, its own attribute. This week is about tiferet, compassion.

On the first day of Iyar following the exodus, the thirsty Israelites reached a well of bitter water. Moses cast a rod into the water and it miraculously became sweet. God promised that if Israel followed commandments: “The diseases I have placed on Egypt I will not place upon you, for I am the Lord your Healer.” Mannah, the food that was a gift from God, began to fall during Iyyar. The Hebrew letters Iyyar form an acronym of I am the Lord your Healer, therefore Iyyar is an especially propitious time for healing.

Iyyar has another name in the prophets. It is referred to as Ziv. “Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.” (Kings I:6:1). On the exact same day, hundreds of years later, Ezra began the construction of the Second Temple (Ezra 3:8). So this is the month that the construction of the Temple was begun.  Maybe the theme then is about building.

In much more modern times, despite the omer being a period of semi-mourning, we celebrate Israel Independence Day, Yom Ha’atzma’ut on Iyyar 5 and Jerusalem Day on Iyyar 28. While these real historical events are worthy of celebrating, they seem to pull focus away from the traditional counting of the omer and our ability to number our days to make them holy.

So Iyyar is a time of healing, meditating on God and being ready for the revelation at Sinai. It helps to develop our mental and spiritual capacities.  It is about building, and about Israel. Tonight is Rosh Hodesh Iyyar and I am listening to the sound of birds and the sounds of men and the sounds of women all praying at the Kotel, at the Western Wall. The sounds are beautiful. Perhaps that is what we are building, finally. Beauty.