The Hebrew Month "Shvat"

"Through obedience to the Tzadik (the great Righteous One), who manifests the will of the Creator, we can abandon slavery."

The month of Shvat is the eleventh month of the year in the count that begins from the month of Nisan, and the fifth from the month of Tishrei.

The scriptures always refer to this as the eleventh month:
"and it was in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month..."
(Deuteronomy 1:3)

"...On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shvat..."
(Zechariah 1:7)

It was on the first day of Shvat that Moshe began to give his final speech to Israel, the book of Dvarim (Deuteronomy 1:5) says:
"Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moav, Moshe began to explain this Torah..."
It was then that he admonished the people of Israel for having rebelled against Hashem during their forty years in the desert.

There he reviewed and taught many of the precepts that had already been given at Mount Sinai and at Ohel moed, the Tabernacle (tent of meeting), and he also made known new Mitzot that had not yet been entrusted.

I enumerate the blessings and curses that the people would be subject to if they fulfilled or violated the Divine Will and I prepare the nation for their entry and taking possession of the land of Canaan and I conclude by blessing them before their death.

For thirty-six days Moshe spoke to the entire people of Israel, beginning on the 1st of the month of Shvat and concluding on the 7th of the month of Adar, the day of his death.

"His opening words were: "You have dwelt in this mountain too long; move on and go to the mountain of the Amorites and all their neighbors..., to the great river, the Euphrates" (Deut. 1:6-7)
And his final words were: "Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you? A nation saved by the Lord, a shield for your protection, a sword for your glory. Your enemies will plot against you, but you will trample on their high places" (Deut 33:29)
(Excerpts from Sefer HaToda, Month Shvat)

Jodesh Tov!

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