Welcome to Cheshvan, the month of bul. At least that’s the name for it in Melachim Aleph (6:38). The Midrash Tanchuma (Noach, 11) tells us that this is actually a shortened form of the word mabul, flood. The month of Cheshvan was the month when the mabul began, and it retained the imprint of the flood for centuries. Every year, on the 17^th of Cheshvan, it would rain for 40 days straight. This continued until King Shlomo completed the Beit HaMikdash, also in the month of Cheshvan. With the Beit Hamikdash built, we were able to pray for rain properly, and the yearly forty days of rain stopped. The letter mem, which is equivalent to the number 40, was dropped from the name, and the month became known as bul, which is the name used in Tanach for an unformed block of wood (Yeshayahu 44:19).  

Rav Shapiro tells us that this transformation, from mabul to bul is significant. Mabul is a mass of water. It is matter with no form. Imagine trying to hold water in your hand and give it a shape. It is not possible. A block of wood is an entirely different matter. In the hands of a skilled craftsman, it has the potential to be formed into almost anything. Cheshvan was the month of the mabul, but it became the month of the finishing of the Beit Hamikdash. It is the month that once brought the Earth to complete extinction through water but is now the month that we begin to pray in earnest for rain. The process of moving from mabul to bul is the process of building ourselves up.

To understand this more fully, we need to understand that the punishment of the flood was not arbitrary. It was middah kneged middah. They made themselves like water, and so they were destroyed with water. What does it mean to be like water? Water is identified by our  Sages as relating to desire. It moves and goes wherever it likes. A person who acts like water is a person who, moment by moment, is led by his desires. He accepts no limitations. However, since limitation is the essence of form, he also has no form. In essence, instead of acting, he is acted upon. He is formed by his environment and his desires. And this destroys the true form of man. We were created to create ourselves and shape our world. When we allow ourselves to be led by our circumstances and our every passing desire, we dissolve the essence of who we are. The generation of the flood spiritually dissolved themselves and their world. The result was the flood, the physical dissolution of themselves and their world.  

The flood returned the world to the way it was on the second day of creation, the only day when Hashem did not say, “this is good.” On the second day of creation the waters had free reign over the Earth. Then, on the third day something amazing happened. Following the command of Hashem, the waters went against their nature, and formed themselves. They gathered themselves into seas and made space for the dry land. They reformed and recreated themselves. This is the spiritual root of why a gathering of water, a mikveh, has the power to purify. They gave themselves a new form, and in the process, they gained the power to grant new form. The process of going to the mikveh is a reenactment of the original process of creation. We immerse ourselves in water, where we have no place, and then emerge and become visible as the land became visible on the third day of creation, giving us a place to exist.

The promise made after the flood is that we would always have that place to exist, we would never again we completely wiped out. That promise was made with a rainbow. The rainbow is a natural phenomenon which Hashem used to reveal a deep aspect about our world. It is a half-circle of water that refracts the sun’s light. It is a symbol of the beauty that is possible when the unformed matter of this world is illuminated by the light of Hashem’s presence. For this reason, our Chachamim compare the rainbow to the revelation of Hashem’s Presence. This half circle from above meets the curve of our earth, and the two together form one complete circle. The message is that the two worlds are connected. The revelation from above is completed in the world below. Creation is in accord with the Higher Will.

Ramban tells us that the rainbow is also the symbol of an archer’s bow, pointing toward the heavens. A bow is made from a piece of wood, naturally straight, which is pulled into a curve, against its natural form. The force of the arrow comes from the force of the wood, as it exerts force to return to its original form. The immense power of the archer’s bow comes from the aspiration of the wood to return to its natural state. The more the wood of the bow was changed from its natural state, the greater its power to return to itself. The message is that from the time of the flood, the force of the world moving away from where it is meant to be will no longer move us to destruction. Instead, it will propel us back towards Hashem.

Rav Shapiro tells us that this is exactly what we are experiencing today. We are in the dawn of the Moshiach. When the dawn begins, before everything becomes light, there is a moment of darkness that is darker than the night. The first ray of the dawning of Moshiach is the wisdom which has flooded into our world in astonishing amounts since the dawning of the industrial revolution. Dawn’s first ray does not bring light with it. It is an expression of the immense power of a world that aspires with all its might to return to its natural spiritual state. From that expression of power we can only imagine what it will be like to experience that power in the form of beautiful light. At the moment, what is being revealed is the power of the bow, but at the time of redemption, the entire brilliant rainbow will be revealed.

This Wednesday we begin to pray for rain here in Israel. On Yom Kippur we stepped into the mikvah, and came out brand new, like a bul, a block of wood. After the chagim, we return home. Once we are home, we can pray for water that helps us grow and doesn’t destroy us. And if we feel a bit bent out of shape, we should know that that’s all part of the plan. The seventh of Cheshvan is the day that we begin to reshape ourselves in the new year, the first day of the Divine Service to form this year anew. Now’s the time to water and tend to the newness of this year.