Tevet - The ultimate teacher

The start of Tevet comes with a beautiful gift: Zot Chanukah. This is when all the lights of the Chanukiah are lit, glowing and filling our homes. As Kislev (read about this month here!) comes to an end, we are given an extraordinary final moment of light to begin the month with. Chanukah escorts us into Tevet, which marks the start of the winter phase in the Hebrew calendar, a time known to challenge and learn to reveal light when it feels most concealed.

In Kabbalistic teachings, Tevet is associated with the spiritual energy of Eisav, the twin brother of Yaakov. This connection explains why Tevet is considered one of the more challenging months spiritually (in addition to Av and Tammuz). It is a month that can bring up reactivity, inner battles, fear, and resistance, asking us to face parts of ourselves we might prefer to avoid.

The transition from Kislev to Tevet is intentional, as everything in the Hebrew calendar is. Kislev taught us how to awaken our inner light and strengthen our faith. Tevet now asks us to activate that light when conditions are hardest.

Tevet (טֵבֵת) corresponds to December–January and is the tenth month from Nissan. It is the coldest month, the darkest month, and one of the most spiritually demanding. Tevet is known for personal trials, constriction, and inner hardship rising to the surface.

And yet, this is where the secret of the month lays.

Tevet begins with the letter Tet (ט), the first letter of tov (טוב), meaning “good.” The good of Tevet is not obvious. It is hidden, buried beneath challenge, and waiting to be revealed through inner work. But it is real.

This is the spiritual opportunity of Tevet.

The way I like to experience the Hebrew calendar is as a journey of the soul. Each month carries a specific opportunity that guides us to grow, learn, and actualize our potential. Sometimes the spiritual opportunity feels more natural, and other times it feels impossible but each month stretches our capacity to receive blessing and growth.

I often use the analogy of a garden to understand this process. Here’s a little run through..In Elul, we begin to reflect on the past year. We take an honest look at our garden such as what we planted, what grew, what didn’t, and what needs attention.

In Tishrei, we begin clearing space. We remove weeds, release habits and patterns that no longer serve us, and make room for the year ahead. It’s a time of reset, forgiveness, and creating space for something new.

Next comes Cheshvan, when the rainy season begins. At this stage, we are not planting yet. Instead, we focus on nourishing the soil itself, our foundation. We slow down, integrate the light of Tishrei, and begin strengthening our inner foundation such as our beliefs, mindset, and inner stability.

In Kislev, we continue strengthening our roots. We are reminded of our inner light and asked to stay committed to the inner work, even though we don’t yet see results externally. Through our actions and choices, we gently begin planting seeds for the year ahead.

Then comes Tevet.

In Tevet, the seeds planted in Kislev begin to break down. Just like in nature, every seed must rot before it can grow. What looks like decay is actually part of the process of transformation.

This is why Tevet can feel challenging. On the surface, the garden still looks bare. There is no visible growth yet. But beneath the soil, life is forming. Old structures dissolve so new life can emerge.

Tevet asks us to stay with the inner work long enough for real change to take root. We are still strengthening our roots, still nourishing the soil, and still doing work that may not be seen yet but is essential for what will eventually grow.

Sometimes things need to fall apart beneath the surface so that life can form in a stronger, more stable way.

From Kislev to Tevet: Light That Must Be Carried

Kislev hints to us that even our hardships are something to be grateful for. We actually have been saying this for eight days straight directly in Al HaNissim, the prayer added during Chanukah to the Amidah and Birkat HaMazon (and often sung when we light the Chanukiah):

עַל הַנִּסִּים וְעַל הַפֻּרְקָן וְעַל הַגְּבוּרוֹת

וְעַל הַתְּשׁוּעוֹת וְעַל הַנִּפְלָאוֹת

וְעַל הַמִּלְחָמוֹת / הַנֶּחָמוֹת

We thank Hashem not only for the miracles and salvations, but also for the struggles, the battles, and the inner strength that was required to face them.

This prayer sets the tone for the transition into Tevet.

Kislev reminds us that struggle does not mean something is wrong. It doesn’t mean life is “bad.” It means something is being built. Hardship strengthens us because it gives us something real to respond to. It forces choice. It asks us how we want to show up and to do something about our situation. It becomes the catalyst for real change — the kind of change that only happens when things aren’t easy.

Struggle activates potential and turns it into action.

It takes an idea you’ve had, a value you believe in, or an intention you set, and gives you the opportunity to actually live it. Without resistance, much of our growth would stay theoretical and forgotten.

This is where Kislev hands the work to Tevet.

Tevet is the month that tests whether we can carry the effort of revealing light forward, whether we can stay aligned with our inner commitments even when life feels heavier, more reactive, or less reassuring.

Where Kislev comforts the inner world,

Tevet confronts it.

Where Kislev reminds us of light,

Tevet asks us to live in a way that activates it.

Tevet brings us face to face with our habits, our automatic reactions, our fears, and our desires for control. It doesn’t do this to break us, but to strengthen us. It shows us where faith and truth still needs to be practiced.

Kislev teaches gratitude for the struggle.

Tevet asks us to stand inside the struggle without losing our gratitude and ultimate vision.  

Tevet, Ten and Tet

Tevet is the tenth month, and in Kabbalah, the number ten corresponds to Malchut.

Malchut is the lowest of the Ten Sefirot, this is not meant to be mistaken as something weak or less than. Although it is the lowest, it receives light from all the other nine Sefirot and can sustain the light without shattering. Malchut is where everything spiritual flows into the physical. It is where intention turns into action, belief turns into behavior, and inner work shows up in the way we actually live our lives.

In Kabbalistic terms, the upper Sefirot represent ideas, emotions, and consciousness, while Malchut is the place where all of that becomes real and is formed. It is not about inspiration or insight, it is expression. What you think, believe, and feel only becomes meaningful once it is lived and practiced.

The Zohar describes Malchut as having no light of its own and expressing what comes from above. Simply put, Malchut doesn’t create ideas, it reveals them through action.

The heaviness we can feel in Tevet is rooted in these teachings, because this month doesn’t deal in theory. It asks for action:

• What are you actually doing with what you’ve learned?

• How are you responding when life pressures you?

• Where does your faith show up in real time?

Malchut is called olam ha’asiyah, the world of doing. Tevet brings us down to the ground. It shows us where we want to turn internal ideas into something tangible and what we want to integrate as part of our lives. 

Tevet takes what was formed inside during Kislev and live it - not when it’s comfortable, but when it’s inconvenient, pressured, or challenging.

Tet (ט): The Good That Is Hidden

The name Tevet begins with the letter Tet (ט), which is also the first letter for good טוב and this letter carries direct guidance for the month.

Our sages teach that the first time the word good appears in the Torah - “And God saw the light that it was good” (Genesis 1:4) - it is written with the letter Tet. Shortly after, that light is hidden away.

The Midrash explains that this light was too powerful to exist openly in the world as it is. If revealed fully, it would remove free will. Therefore, it was concealed for the righteous and for a future time (Bereishit Rabbah 3:6).

This teaches something very important:

Not all good is obvious.

Not all good feels pleasant.

Some good is hidden specifically because it is still forming.

Tet represents good that is concealed - not because it isn’t real, but because it is not yet ready to be revealed.

Tevet carries this exact energy.

The good of this month isn’t obvious at first. It often shows up through challenge, resistance, discomfort, confrontation, and pressure.

This is why Tevet can feel difficult. The good is there, but it requires inner strength and patience to recognize it.

Seeing With a Good Eye

Part of Tevet’s spiritual growth is learning how to look at life with a good eye (עין טובה) - not a naïve eye and not a dismissive one, but an eye that can see with depth and honesty.

Tevet trains us to see through struggles and hardships, and when things don’t come easily to us, as part of the growth process and not as signs of failure. When something feels hard in Tevet, it doesn’t mean you’re off track. Often, it means you’re finally working at the level where real change happens.

The hidden good of Tet is revealed when we stay present long enough to let it unfold.

This is Malchut in practice:

• choosing responses instead of habitual reactions

• staying present when emotions rise, without suppressing or exploding

• continuing the inner work even when it feels unseen or unacknowledged

Tevet teaches us that good doesn’t always feel good at first - but it leads somewhere meaningful.

And that is the deeper invitation of the month.

Tevet and the Energy of Eisav

Kabbalistically, Tevet is connected to Eisav, the twin brother of Yaakov. This association comes from the inner traits Eisav represents in the Torah as described in Parshat Toldot.

The Torah describes Eisav as “אִישׁ יֹדֵעַ צַיִד, אִישׁ שָׂדֶה” - “a man who knows hunting, a man of the field” (Genesis 25:27). This describes his lifestyle and on a deeper level, our sages explain that hunting represents a consciousness that is constantly scanning for what it can seize, control, or secure.

Hunting is about instinct, speed, and reaction. A hunter must respond immediately, act quickly, and operate with impulse. This is why Eisav’s energy is associated with raw instinct, survival consciousness, reactivity, anger, and fear of loss.

The “field” (שָׂדֶה) represents an untamed landscape, a place not yet refined or ordered. Eisav operates in that space. His consciousness is driven by immediacy: What do I need right now? What might I lose? How do I protect myself?

This is why Eisav sells his birthright for food. Our sages explain that it wasn’t hunger alone, it was an inability to tolerate waiting, uncertainty, or inner tension. Eisav represents a mindset that cannot pause long enough to see beyond the present moment.

This is the root of the Eisav energy that surfaces in Tevet.

Tevet does not introduce something new but rather illuminates something that already exists within us. It brings to the surface the places where we still habitually react instead of respond, where fear leads instead of trust, and where we feel the need to control outcomes and revert back to our old ways in order to feel safe.

This does not mean Tevet is a “bad” month.

On the contrary, this exposure is a form of guidance.

Tevet shows us where we are still operating from survival rather than trust. It reveals habits, emotional reactions, and inner defenses that normally stay hidden when life feels easier. And this is the work that allows for deep inner growth and to change as a person. 

Kabbalah teaches that the greatest light emerges from the deepest concealment. Eisav’s energy is powerful, intense, focused, driven but it must be refined and focused. When it is directed and within measure,, that same intensity becomes strength, discipline, and resilience.

We are able to transform these traits and Hashem gives us the ground work to do it. What once controlled us becomes something we can work with. And this is how hidden light is revealed - not by avoiding the darkness, but by learning how to stay present within it and uplift it.

Fasts of Tevet  

Tevet contains three fast days, although most people are familiar with only one of them. Each fast marks a moment where spiritual loss occurred.

8 Tevet marks the translation of the Torah into Greek. While intended to spread wisdom, this reduced infinite, living Torah into fixed language and concepts, limiting its depth and spiritual resonance.

9 Tevet commemorates the passing of Ezra the Scribe, a central spiritual leader who helped rebuild Jewish life after exile. His death weakened spiritual leadership and clarity for the people.

10 Tevet marks the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem. Although the Temple was not yet destroyed, this moment initiated a slow tightening that eventually led to collapse.

Tevet marks the beginning of breakdown, not the end. That’s why this fast is so powerful as it invites us to repair the root before collapse, to notice where pressure is building in our own lives, and to intervene early with awareness, honesty, and dedication.

Tevet’s Spiritual Design

(Based on Sefer Yetzirah and the Vilna Gaon)

Astrological Sign: Capricorn (גדי)

Capricorn is an earth sign, which explains the strong pull this month toward the material world, what is tangible, practical, and achievable. This energy supports discipline, structure, and responsibility. However, when it is not guided with intention, it can easily turn into fear of instability and excessive worry about security.

Capricorn energy is practical, grounded, and hardworking, but it can also be anxious. It tends to rely heavily on effort rather than trust, and struggles with emunah. This way of being tends to lean towards control instead of surrender, toward managing outcomes rather than trusting what lies beyond our control.

Kabbalah does not teach us to sit back and rely solely on faith. We are meant to put in effort as this is the world of action. But effort without emunah is only half of the work, they are meant to go together.

Our sages teach that when a person takes a step forward, Hashem takes the second step. This is a partnership. We do our part with action and commitment, while trusting that Hashem is guiding the outcome in the way that is truly best for us - even when we cannot see it.

This is why many people find emunah more challenging during Tevet. The Capricorn energy amplifies concern, pressure, and fear of loss. The spiritual work of this month is not to fall into that fear, but to strengthen faith within action, to keep showing up, doing what is required, and trusting that effort combined with emunah creates real stability.

Tevet teaches us that true security does not come from control alone, but from action with emunah.  

Planet: Saturn - Shabtai (שַׁבְּתַאי)

The planet that corresponds to Tevet is Saturn, called Shabtai (שַׁבְּתַאי) in Hebrew. Within this name is a powerful clue to the energy of the month. Embedded inside Shabtai is the word Shabbat (שַׁבָּת)l.

Saturn’s energy is one of limitation, contraction, and restraint, similar to the nature of Shabbat. Just as Shabbat limits physical action in order to reveal what truly matters, Saturn limits excess so that truth can come forward. It strips away illusions and false sources of security and brings us back to what is real and essential.

This is why Saturn is known in Kabbalistic teachings as “the Great Teacher.” Saturn teaches not through comfort, but through clarity. Its lessons come by removing what no longer supports growth. When something falls away under Saturn’s influence, it is often because it was never stable to begin with. Saturn reveals where we were relying on something external instead of building something rooted and lasting.

Just as Shabbat brings us back to ourselves, to presence, values, and inner truth, Shabtai clears away what is not essential. It exposes where we are over-attached, over-controlling, or mistaking effort or material stability for true security.

This is why Tevet can feel heavy or demanding. Saturn presses on weak foundations, not to punish, but to teach. What remains after that pressure is our revealed potential. When we stop resisting Saturn’s lessons and instead work with them, we gain discipline, maturity, and inner strength. Tevet becomes a month not of loss, but of refinement, where what is essential stays, and what is not causally (or firmly) moves away.

Letters of the Month: Bet (ב) and Ayin (ע)

• Bet (ב) creates Saturn

  • Earth below, sky above, a channel between them

  • The shape is forward facing

  • Teaching: blessing flows when heaven and earth are aligned

  • Gematria of 2

• Ayin (ע) creates Capricorn

  • Literally means “eye” and even in the shape of an eye!

  • Teaching: perception determines reality

  • Gematria of 70

Together they equal 72 (ע״ב), this is a divine configuration of Hashem’s name using Miluei Alpin מילוי אלפין. This comes out to the Divine Name of Chochmah.

Tevet has access to very high wisdom. Use these letters as a source of meditation throughout the month as a way to connect to Hashem.

Tribe: Gad (גד)

Gad is the seventh son of Yaakov and the first son of Zilpah. When Gad is born, the Torah says, “And Leah said, bagad, and she called his name Gad” (Genesis 30:11). On the surface, Leah intends ba gad - “good fortune has arrived.” But the Torah spells the word without an Alef, leaving it as בגד, which means betrayal. 

In Kabbalah, the Alef represents Divine presence, unity, and emunah. Its absence points to a blessing that exists, but hasn’t been actualized yet. Gad’s name therefore reflects a state where strength, effort, and success are present, yet the inner sense is, “It is up to me to do it.” Gad became known as a warrior tribe, described by Moshe as “one who dwells like a lion” (Deuteronomy 33:20). They were strong, disciplined, and self-reliant, yet they did not abandon responsibility to the collective. Gad’s men crossed the Jordan first to fight alongside the other tribes, only returning home once the land was settled (Joshua 1:12–15). 

The tikkun of Tevet is restoring the Alef, bringing Hashem back into the picture. Not by doing less, but by trusting more. When effort is partnered with emunah, pressure turns into ease, and בגד becomes בא־גד blessing that arrives with Divine support.

Sense: Anger

Anger is not the enemy. Harmful expression of anger is.

Anger can be a source of information. When anger is worked through, it shows us what matters, what is laying within us, and where something doesn’t feel right.

When anger is a reactive response, it consumes and we become overtaken by it. This is not because we’re “bad,” but because anger is fast, quick, and a muscle not worked on often. It bypasses reflection and goes straight to reaction. At that moment, we are vulnerable and not in a state of choosing; we are responding from a protective reflex.

Anger often happens when a threat is felt, but the underlying fear or hurt doesn’t get acknowledged — so the system switches into fight.

In Tevet, anger rises more easily because pressure is constant. When something feels unstable, unfair, or out of control, the nervous system reacts before there is time to process what’s really happening.

Fear might be subtle, fear of loss, fear of being overpowered, fear of uncertainty, fear of not being okay but when that fear isn’t recognized it shifts into anger. Anger feels more active, more powerful, more protective. In some cases, it gives the illusion of control.

Tevet doesn’t ask us to suppress anger. It asks us to slow it down enough to ask: What threat am I reacting to right now? What feels unsafe, pressured, or at risk?

This is the deeper work of the month: learning to respond instead of react and to let anger become information rather than destruction.

When anger is reacted through yelling, shutting down, blaming, self-attack, it becomes destructive fire.

When anger is slowed down, felt, and understood, it becomes refining fire, an energy that clarifies boundaries, reveals truth, and motivates change.

This is the work of the month, and yes - it’s hard work.

Anger rises when:

• things don’t go according to plan

• expectations aren’t met

• reality doesn’t match what we think should be happening

In Tevet, this shows up strongly because the month is about pressure, limitation, and action. It exposes where we’re gripping too tightly, trying to manage everything on our own.

The tikkun is not to suppress anger, but to listen to it:

• What am I afraid of right now?

• What am I trying to control?

• Where am I being asked to respond with awareness instead of react with force?

Tevet doesn’t ask us to eliminate anger.

It asks us to use it consciously and to turn raw emotion into clarity, restraint, and trust.

This is how anger stops burning us and starts strengthening us.

Body Part: Liver (כבד)

The liver’s role is to filter and purify the blood, separating what nourishes the body from what doesn’t belong. In Judaism, the liver is also associated with anger and not because anger is “bad,” but because it’s a raw, intense emotion that needs processing. When anger isn’t filtered or understood, it circulates through the system and overwhelms the heart and mind.

The gematria of כבד (liver) is 26, the same as the Name of Hashem (י־ה־ו־ה), teaching that anger is meant to be sweetened through Divine wisdom. When anger is directed as a force for clarity and correction instead of destruction, it can purify our ‘emotional blood’: to notice anger as it rises, slow it down, and reconnect to our values and wisdom before responding.

Spiritual Work of Tevet

Kislev reminded us of our inner light, Tevet tests whether we can live by it when conditions are heavy, pressured, or uncomfortable. This is where inner work becomes real life. Not theory. Not intention. But in action.

Tevet guides our growth in such a way that asks for real behavioral change. It challenges us to stay steady in difficulties, slow down reactive responses, and choose our actions even when we don’t feel capable or comfortable doing so. And even when there is a setback, the work of this month is not perfection but how you return to yourself and choose differently the next time.

This is the month where emunah is not felt easily. It calls for tremendous inner work to reveal. 

This is the work of Tevet:

• slowing reactions before they turn into damage

• regulating emotions instead of being driven by them

• practicing trust when outcomes feel uncertain

• choosing response over instinct

• revealing hidden good by changing how we see what’s difficult

Closing Reflection

Tevet reminds us that growth is measured by our actions and how we behave when things are tough. It is important to remember that it’s not about perfection but for effort in personal changes. There can be moments where you react instead of respond, where old patterns surface, or where you realize you’re not as steady as you hoped. That isn’t failure - it’s information.

Every misstep shows you where the work still is. Every reaction points to a place that needs more care, attention, or patience. Tevet shows us where the soil still needs nourishing, where roots are strengthening, and where something needs time before it can rise above the ground. Everything is precise - the struggle, the discomfort, and even the setbacks.

The work of this month is to notice, adjust, and try again. To come back to yourself after a moment of reactivity and choose differently the next time. To remember that what feels heavy now is part of a temporary process, not a permanent state. Growth underground is quiet, slow, and often unseen but it is exactly what makes real change possible.

Tevet asks you to stay in the process long enough for it to work.

To trust that what’s forming beneath the surface will eventually take shape.

And to keep tending your garden, even when nothing seems to be blooming yet.

May Tevet help you uncover the tov hidden inside the dark.

Chodesh Tov,

Elisheva