Hallel-Rosh Chodesh Shevat-Second Paragraph
“When Israel left Egypt, Jacob’s family from among a people who spoke a strange language, Judah became God’s Holy Place, Israel, His realm.
The Sea saw it and ran away. The Jordan River reversed course. The mountains danced like deer, the hills like lambs.
What’s with you, Sea, that you flee? With the Jordan, that you turn around? With the Mountains, that you dance like deer? With the hills, like lambs?
Quake, you Land, before your Master, before the Lord of Jacob!
Who turned the rock into a pool of water. Pebbles into a source of water.”
One of the Kavanot for Rosh Chodesh Shevat is Transformation:
We focus on the Name of God that is hidden within this verse with a prayer that, this spring, we will merit to transform every aspect of our physical lives into eternal spiritual existence, and that we will merit to experience the eternal joy that is so potent in spiritual existence.
How did a nation of slaves, which did not even speak the same language as their new Master, become God’s sanctuary and dominion?
They learned an entirely new vocabulary as they watched the sea flee and the mountains dance before God. The laws of nature, as they knew them, were suspended before God, and they discovered an entirely new level of existence. That discovery was enough to transform them into God’s sanctuary and dominion.
*Kavana: “I am transformed when I realize that there is a higher vocabulary to existence.”
Another of the Kavanot for Shevat is Teshuva:
A new year begins in Shevat; Tu Bishvat. It is an opportunity for Teshuva, for waking up. We focus on this Appellation as a prayer that God will empower our Teshuva and help us return to Him, and begin the New Year with blessing and joy.
“Quake, you Land, before your Master, before the Lord of Jacob!
Who turned the rock into a pool of water. Pebbles into a source of water.”
“Quake,” as in Tremble with Excitement, over the opportunity to emulate God and “turn rocks,” cold and hard hearts and service of God, into pools of water.
The Third of the Kavanot for Shevat is The Impact of Our Choices: We focus on this Divine Appellation in order to remind ourselves of this great Divine gift, the ability to shed one level of existence for another. We pray that God empower us to use this gift for good so that we can blossom anew with fresh perspectives and new strengths.
“Judah became God’s Holy Place, Israel, His realm.” We celebrate that the ability to make choices that can create a reality of our being God’s Holy Place, and, His realm.
Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.