By Yisrael Yitzchak Rosenfeld
Tammuz calls for the vision of the lion.
We are entering the month of Tammuz, and I would like to show you the inner map of this month.
Most people know it only because of its heaviness.
- The shattered Tablets.
- The beginning of the breach of Jerusalem’s walls.
- The sin of the spies.
- The Three Weeks that follow.
On the calendar, Tammuz appears to be the beginning of a long descent into mourning.
Yet the Kabbalistic tradition reveals something entirely different:
- Tammuz is not the month of darkness.
- It is the month that challenges us to see within the darkness.
And the Hebrew word for this task is among the most beautiful in our entire tradition.
Every month of the Hebrew calendar corresponds to one of the Twelve Tribes and to a specific faculty of the soul.
- Tammuz corresponds to the tribe of Reuven, and its spiritual work (avodah) is re’iyah—seeing.
Within the name Reuven lies the root re’eh—“see.”
The very first thing Leah said upon his birth was connected to seeing:
“Ra’ah Hashem be’onyi”
“The Eternal has seen my affliction.”
The name Reuven is built upon the act of seeing and being seen.
The Sages teach that the faculty of sight is rooted in Chochmah (Wisdom), which itself resides on the right side of the Tree of Life—the side of Chesed, loving-kindness.
- For truly seeing means giving.
- Seeing is the first act of generosity.
- Before you give something tangible, you give your attention.
- You give recognition.
- You give another person the dignity of being noticed.
To see the good in something is to return that being to its own dignity.
Why Does So Much Break During This Month?
Because Tammuz is also the month of Sartan—the Crab.
And anyone who has ever watched a crab on the beach knows:
- It moves sideways.
- It does not look directly at what stands before it.
It approaches reality at an angle, evasively, never quite head-on.
This is the inner challenge of the month.
- The crab symbolizes distorted vision.
A way of looking at life, circumstances, or oneself that never fully grasps the truth.
This is exactly what the spies did in Parashat Shelach.
They saw the Land.
They saw the giants.
Yet they viewed everything through the filter of their own smallness:
- “We appeared to ourselves like grasshoppers.”
The very same facts, viewed from a different perspective, could have led them directly into the Promised Land.
Jerusalem’s walls did not first fall because the stones were weak.
- They fell because the collective vision had already been broken.
When sight becomes corrupted, the destruction for which this month is known follows naturally.
And for that very reason, the opposite is also true:
- Properly aligned vision is the key to its redemption.
The Lion and Seeing
There is a thought that moves me deeply every time I reflect on it.
The Hebrew word for lion is Aryeh.
The Hebrew word for seeing is Re’iyah.
Both are built from the same letters:
Aleph, Resh, Yud, and Hei.
Aryeh and Re’iyah.
- The lion and seeing.
These are not separate symbols.
In Kabbalah, the lion appears on the right side of the Merkavah, the heavenly chariot of the prophet Yechezkel.
The right side of the Merkavah corresponds to Chesed—loving-kindness and generous giving.
At the same time, Aryeh has the numerical value of 216, the very same value as Gevurah, the power and discipline of the left side.
The lion unites both dimensions:
- Chesed and Gevurah.
- Warmth and strength.
- Compassion and clarity.
To cultivate the vision of the lion means to see through both lines simultaneously.
Not like the crab, which looks sideways.
But directly.
Uprightly.
Truthfully.
Rising Like a Lion
The very first words of the Shulchan Aruch teach:
“Yitgaber ka’ari la’amod baboker la’avodat Boro.”
“Be strong like a lion to rise in the morning for the service of your Creator.”
Reb Nosson of Breslov reveals a deeper layer within these words.
To rise like a lion does not merely mean physically getting out of bed.
- It means awakening spiritually every day.
- Remembering who you truly are.
Beneath all the layers of shame, confusion, and self-doubt.
And this rising does not even have to occur in the morning.
Every moment of awakening is a rising like a lion.
Every moment in which you remember your true essence.
To rise like a lion means to rise with restored vision.
To begin the day by seeing the nekudah tovah—the one genuine point of goodness within yourself and within every person you encounter.
This is the teaching of Rebbe Nachman ben Feiga.
The Crown of Goodness
The Baal HaSulam teaches a profound principle.
There is Hakarat HaRa—recognition of what is negative.
We must honestly acknowledge our faults, selfish patterns, and imbalances.
This is necessary.
- Yet even deeper lies Hakarat HaTov—recognition of the good.
For when we recognize goodness, we are not merely identifying a positive quality.
We are uncovering the goodness of the Creator Himself, to which every form of goodness ultimately points.
Then the Baal HaSulam reveals something astonishing:
The word Hakarat (“recognition”) is composed of the same letters as HaKeser (“the Crown”).
Keser is the highest sefirah.
The Crown.
The pure will of the Creator to bestow goodness upon His creation.
This means:
- Every time you recognize goodness, the Crown is revealed.
The ability to see the good is itself already a gift from the Creator.
To see goodness is to wear the Crown.
Hope Is the Line
Now all of this connects to hope.
The Hebrew word for line is Kav.
And Kav shares its root with Tikvah—hope.
This is no coincidence.
- Hope means remaining connected to the line.
Connected to the highest Source.
No matter how dark a moment may appear:
The line remains.
The connection has never been severed.
When Yirmiyahu wept over the destruction, that grief ultimately gave rise to the realization:
“Od lo avdah tikvateinu.”
“Our hope has not been lost.”
This hope is not naïveté.
It is structure.
It is the line itself.
The Tree and the Lion
To grow like a tree means to live from your essential nature.
To know:
- You are unconditionally valuable.
- Completely good.
- Eternal.
Regardless of what may be falling apart around you.
To remain rooted even when walls collapse.
To trust that your life’s purpose is still being fulfilled in this very moment.
A tree is simple.
And by simply being what it is, it grows.
This is the line of Chesed.
The right side.
Being.
- The vision that already recognizes the good.
To lead like a lion, however, means bringing that essence actively into the world.
- Through Gevurah.
- Through discipline.
- Through courage.
- Through action.
That is Aryeh.
The lion.
Seeing in active form.
The Gematria of Peace
When these two forces come together, something remarkable happens.
Etz (tree) has the numerical value of 160.
Etz shares its root with etzah—counsel or guidance.
A tree receives guidance.
It remains open to wisdom beyond its limited perspective.
Aryeh (lion) has the numerical value of 216.
160 + 216 = 376.
And 376 is the gematria of Shalom.
- Peace.
The tree and the lion together create peace.
The Work of the Month of Tammuz
Enter this month with the vision of the lion.
See the good.
See the nekudah tovah.
See the hand of the Creator in the shattered Tablets,
the collapsing walls,
the giants, and the negative reports that your own mind produces without end.
The destruction is real.
And the line remains.
Both at the same time.
Grow like a tree.
Lead like a lion.
And the peace born from their union will be yours.
Rosh Chodesh is the head of renewal.
Rosh means consciousness.
- Chodesh shares its root with chadash—new.
- A renewal of consciousness.
Use this Rosh Chodesh as the gateway that it is.
Renew your vision.
Renew your hope.
Renew your willingness to see the good, even when all the evidence seems to suggest otherwise.
May this be a Tammuz in which you recognize what has always been there.
Grow like a tree.
Lead like a lion.
Live in alignment.
