Spring

Nature

In the Torah, the Hebrew word aviv – translated as "spring" – refers to a specific stage in grain growth, often understood as the stage in which seeds reach their full size but have not yet dried. The word is also used as part of the phrase "chodesh ha'aviv" ("the month of spring"), which refers to the time period in which grain reaches this stage. The holiday of Passover occurs during this season, and Jewish sources often refer to this time of year as one of renewal and redemption.

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The Blossoms of Spring

TANAKH

The natural beauty and renewal of the land during spring is poetically captured, symbolizing a time of love and rejuvenation. The Song of Songs, a biblical scroll attributed to King Solomon, uses the imagery of spring to describe the blossoming of love and the renewal of nature.

The blossoms have appeared in the land,
The time of pruning has come;
The song of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.

Song of Songs 2:12

The Celestial Significance of Passover

MUSAR

The timing of the Exodus aligns with the sign of Aries, symbolizing Israel's dominance over Egypt. Rabbi Isaiah HaLevi Horowitz’s 17th-century work, Shenei Luchot HaBerit, explores the astronomical and astrological significance of Passover.

This is hinted at in Exodus 13,4, היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב, "Today you are leaving, in the month of spring." The word "today" in this context seems superfluous. I have heard that the meaning is that on that day the sign of the Aries begins its ascendancy, signifying to Israel and to Egypt its helplessness against Israel. This is stressed since the appearance of that sign does not always coincide with this date. Sometimes it appears a day sooner, sometimes a day later. The Torah emphasizes that in that year the appearance coincided with the date of Passover, i.e…

Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Torah Shebikhtav, Bamidbar, Nasso, Beha'alotcha, Torah Ohr, Beha'alotcha 4

Ensuring Passover in the Spring

COMMENTARY

The Jewish calendar must be adjusted to ensure that Passover always falls in the spring, as mandated by the Torah. In his commentary on Leviticus, the 18th-century Moroccan Kabbalist and Talmudist, Or HaChaim, explains the dual considerations for adjustments in the calendar and the authority of the Sanhedrin in making them.

There may be yet another reason why the Torah repeated the formula אשר תקראו אותם, "which you are to proclaim (or may) proclaim." Maimonides writes as follows in chapter 4 of his treatise on the sanctification of the new month: "There are three considerations which justify lengthening the year by means of the insertion of an extra month. 1) Bringing it in line with the solar seasons of the year. 2) Ensuring that Passover occcurs in the spring as demanded by the Torah. 3) Enabling the period when the fruit of the trees ripen to occur in summer…

Or HaChaim on Leviticus 23:2:3

The Blossoming of the Earth

KABBALAH

The earth's potential and productivity were fully realized only after the creation of Adam, linking the appearance of flowers and the earth's fertility to the presence of humanity. The Zohar, a foundational work of Jewish mysticism from the medieval period, explores the deep spiritual connections between humanity and the natural world.

AND THE LORD APPEARED UNTO HIM. R. Hiya commenced to discourse on the verse: The flowers appear on the earth, the time of song is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land (S. S. 2, 12). He said: ‘When God created the world, He endowed the earth with all the energy requisite for it, but it did not put forth produce until man appeared. When, however, man was created, all the products that were latent in the earth appeared above ground.

Zohar, Vayera 1:1

The Miracle of the Omer Offering

TALMUD

Imagine crops growing in just eleven days instead of six months. The Talmudic tractate Taanit recounts this miraculous event that allowed the Jews to give the omer on time in spite of that year's crops' very late start.

They went out and sowed on the second, third, and fourth days of Nisan, and the rain of the second rainy season fell for them on the fifth of Nisan. The crops grew so quickly that they were able to sacrifice the omer offering in its proper time, on the sixteenth of Nisan. Consequently, grain that normally grows in six months grew in eleven days, and consequently, the omer that is generally sacrificed from grain that grows in six months was sacrificed that year from grain that grew in eleven…

Taanit 5a:6

Passover's Perfect Timing

COMMENTARY

The Jewish calendar is meticulously calculated to ensure that Passover always occurs after the spring equinox, aligning the festival with the season of rejuvenation. Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, a 16th-century Italian rabbi, explains the significance of Passover's timing in his commentary on Exodus 13:4.

בחודש האביב, the reason that the Passover festival is to be observed in spring is so that it will coincide with the legislation of marking the lunar new year with the month of spring, the month of rejuvenation. Our sages have been very careful when calculating a permanent calendar to ensure that Passover never occurs before the spring equinox.

Sforno on Exodus 13:4:1

The Nuances of Spring in the Torah

COMMENTARY

The term 'אביב' (spring) in the Torah has nuanced meanings that are crucial for understanding biblical texts. Rashbam, a medieval French Torah commentator, provides a detailed linguistic and textual analysis of 'אביב' to uncover its various implications in different biblical contexts.

האביב; the time when the earliest harvests ripen. Compare the use of the word אביב in this context in Job 8,12 עודנו באבו לא יקטף, “while still tender not yet plucked.” The word also occurs in Song of Songs 6,11 in this senseלראות באבי הנחל, “to see the budding of the vale.’ The dagesh in the letter ב in the word באבי replaces the missing letter ב from the word אביב.

Rashbam on Exodus 13:4:1

Aligning the Lunar and Solar Years

HALAKHAH

Ensuring that Jewish holidays like Pesach and Sukkot occur in their proper seasons requires the complex and significant task of intercalation, which aligns the lunar and solar years. The Sefer HaChinukh, a medieval work, explains the importance of this practice and why it must be handled by the greatest sages.

It is from the roots of this commandment [that it is] so that Israel shall make God’s holidays in their (proper) times, as God commanded that we make Pesach in the time that the produce is in [bloom], as it is written (Deuteronomy 16:1), “Observe the month of Spring, and you shall offer the Pesach sacrifice.” And the holiday of Sukkot is [to fall] at the time of the harvest, as is written, “And the holiday of the harvest at the turn of the year” (Exodus 34:22). And were it not for intercalation, the holidays would come not at these times…

Sefer HaChinukh 4:3

The Significance of Spring

SECOND TEMPLE

Spring is a time of renewal and gratitude, marked by the harvest and thank-offerings. Philo of Alexandria, a first-century Jewish philosopher, explores the agricultural and ritual significance of the spring season and the associated thank-offerings and feast of first-products.

[183] In the middle of the spring comes the corn harvest. At this season thank-offerings are brought for the lowlands because they have borne fruit in full and the summer crops are being gathered in. This feast, which is universally observed, is called the feast of first-products, a name which expresses the facts, because the first specimens of the produce, the sample oblations, are then consecrated.

On the Special Laws, Book I 35:16

Blessings of Spring

HALAKHAH

The recitation of blessings upon seeing beautiful creations and flowering trees in Nisan highlights the appreciation of God's creation and the joy it brings. In the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides discusses the blessing associated with the beginning of spring in the Jewish calendar.

A person who sees beautiful and well-formed creations or pleasant-looking trees should recite the blessing:
[Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the universe,] whose world is like this.
A person who goes out to the fields or gardens in the month of Nisan and sees flowering trees sprouting branches should recite the blessing:
Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the universe, who did not leave anything lacking in His world and created within it fine creations and beautiful and fine trees so that they would give pleasure to men.

Mishneh Torah, Blessings 10:13

The First Month of Blessings

CHASIDUT

The first month of the Jewish calendar marks the onset of spring, a time of Divine blessings and historical significance for the Jewish nation. This contemporary work explores the spiritual and historical importance of the first month, and its association with renewal and liberation.

Nisan: The first month in the Jewish calendar, which heralds the onset of spring, and is a time of Divine blessings. It is also the month when the Jewish nation departed Egypt.

Flames of Faith, Glossary 144

The Agricultural Cycle of Spring

COMMENTARY

The agricultural cycle of spring, particularly the barley and wheat harvests, is deeply intertwined with Jewish rituals and traditions. Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, a 16th-century Italian commentator, explains the significance of the Omer period, which spans from Passover to Shavuot, and its connection to the barley and wheat harvests.

מהחל חרמש בקמה, in the standing barley, which is to serve as the Omer offering. We know already from Exodus 9,31 that the barley crop ripens in spring (in the latitudes which include Egypt and the Land of Israel. Ed]. Seven weeks elapse between the beginning of the barley harvest and that of the wheat harvest. Hence you are to count these seven weeks.

Sforno on Deuteronomy 16:9:1

Apple Blossoms, Charles-François Daubigny, French, 1873

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