Magnolia Warbler : Each New Year

This is a Magnolia Warbler. She’s passing through, briefly stopping during her journey down south. Each year there are two migrations, spring and fall, north and south, and as a “learning-stage bird person,” I assumed the two migrations would be essentially mirror images of each other. I expected to see identical behavior in both seasons as visiting birds stop over on their way. But as it turns out, that’s not the case; Spring tends to be a significantly richer time for seeing these visitors. I’ve not tried to unearth the rationale. Each has its own nature, and I’ll savor both as they come.

Talmud teaches the Jewish calendar has four(!) New Years. Best known is Rosh Hashanah, literally “head of the year,” the first day of the seventh month. We celebrate a New Year in Nissan, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt and the birth of the Jewish nation. Additionally, trees and cattle each have their own New Year dates, in Shevat and Elul. These Torah dates, and the Talmudic commentary, are integral parts of a Divine constitution. Certainly there is a religious dimension to these dates, but equally important are the practical considerations intended to govern everyday life.

Four New Years. Will four leave us confused? Or will we marvel at the year’s complementary wholeness. Each New Year acknowledges both human agency and the environment, unchangeable - the stage on which we play. We demarcate the kings’ reigns, tax season, schedules for tithing and harvesting - all the human dramas playing out on HaShem’s immutable “set.” Our tradition teaches the cycles within cycles that blend into wholeness. This fall’s Warblers behave differently than they will in the spring, as per their natures. So too, our four New Years combine and contrast to illustrate life’s different dimensions.