Word Prompt – MAR CHESHVAN – Elli Fischer

Every year a friend of mine posts a picture of Reggie Jackson swinging a baseball bat with the Hebrew caption "Mar Cheshvan."

If you get the joke, great. I will explain for those who don't, but bear in mind the old saying that explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog: you understand it better, but it dies in the process.

Reggie Jackson was known as "Mr. October" for his postseason exploits for several teams, and most notably for hitting 3 home runs in a clinching World Series game in 1977 (for a team that shall not be named). Since Cheshvan roughly corresponds to October, and the word "Mar" in Aramaic and Modern Hebrew means "Mister" (or "Sir"), voila, Reggie Jackson is Mar Cheshvan!

Of course, the Hebrew word "Mar" also means "bitter." It is often assumed – and I was always taught – that the name of the month is "Cheshvan," and the "Mar" is added because Cheshvan has no holidays, thus embittering it. Considering its nearest neighbors – Tishrei, which is filled with holidays, and Kislev, which brings us Chanukah – Cheshvan is sort of the calendrical equivalent of a designated driver: sober, yet surrounded by revelry. Bitter indeed!

The truth, as every nudnik knows, is that the name of the month is "Mar Cheshvan." The "Mar" is not a prefix. Like other names of the months of the Hebrew calendar, it was a Babylonian name that accompanied the Jews when they returned to Eretz Yisrael.