The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 10b) presented a disagreement between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua concerning the actual date of the Jewish New Year, which should reflect the date of the creation of the world. Rabbi Eliezer held that the world was created in Tishrei, whereas Rabbi Yehoshua held that the world was created in Nissan. Rabbeinu Tam (see Tosafos, Rosh Hashanah 27a) suggested that both opinions were correct and that in Tishrei, HaShem conceived the idea for the creation of the world and in Nissan, HaShem physically created the world [see Rabbi Y. Reiss for a review of this subject].

Practically, the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer has prevailed, as noted by the passage in the musaf service of Rosh Hashanah: “Today is the birthday of the world; today all mankind is judged, whether as children or as servants.” With regards to the yearly cycle of Jewish festivals, Nissan has been considered as the first month of the year. Both Rosh Hashanah and Pesach, which occurs in Nissan, have some connection to mustard, either as a seed or as a condiment..

First, some background on mustard. Mustard plants are any of several plant species in the genera, Brassica and Sinapis. Mustard leaves are dark yellow in color and are edible; mustard seed is used as a spice. Both mustard leaves and seeds have a pungent, acrid taste. Grinding and mixing the seeds with water, vinegar, or other liquids, creates the yellow condiment known as prepared mustard. The seeds can also be pressed to make mustard oil and the leaves can be eaten as mustard greens (Wikipedia). The Rambam (Mishnah Torah, Hilchos De'os, chapter 4) noted that in the summer a person should eat cold foods without much seasoning and as well as sour foods (pickled or with vinegar). During the rainy season (winter), a person should eat warm foods with spices and a small amount of mustard. In the Talmud (Berachos 40a) it was noted that the regular consumption of mustard once in 30 days keeps sickness away but that eating it every day may weaken the heart. Mustard, because of the isothiocyanate content, protects against genotoxins and carcinogens (Lamy et al., 2011, 2012). In Chullin (132b) Rabbi Chisda ruled that portions of those animals not slaughtered as a sacrifice must be given as a gift to a kohen, who must eat it, but only after roasted and only with mustard. According to the Rama (Orach Chaim 164:1) mustard should not be eaten on Pesach, as the Ta’Z explained that mustard is similar to beans in that they both grow in pods. Thus, mustard is considered kitniyos (Bleich, 2004).

On the first pasuk in Bereishis the Ramban has a long piece on the creation of the universe, stating that HaShem created all matter from absolute nihility. G-d brought into existence from complete, absolute nihility an exceedingly fine primary essence with practically no matter. This primary essence contained the potential for bringing forth other things, ready to receive form and matter and to emerge from the potential to the actual. This primary substance was termed “hule” by the Greeks. After creating “hule,” G-d did not create anything else. Rather, He formed and made things into being from this hule and endowed them with forms and perfected them. Ramban continued that the Greek term hule was termed tohu in Hebrew. Tohu is a contraction of “it is in it,” interpreted as “there is form in this hule.” Ramban cited from Sefer Yetzirah (2:6), “G-d formed substance from tuhu and thus made a nothing into a something. He further cited a midrash of Rabbi Nechunia ben Hakaneh (Sefer HaBahir): Rabbi Berechiah said, “What is meant by the phrase that the land was “tohu” and “bohu’? Initially, it was tohu (i.e., something that had no form) and it was changed to bohu (i.e., something that had form) (Ramban, Artscroll edition, Bereishis, vol. 1). Elsewhere, the Ramban defined the size of this primary essence as that of mustard seed (Kisvei Ramban, Mossad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem, p. 146). .

Today, the Ramban’s description of the creation of universe is termed the Big Bang Theory, with hule or tohu defined as “energy” and bohu as matter, with the conversion of energy to matter described in Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, E = mc2, with E = energy, m = matter, c = speed of light. According to this theory, suddenly out of nothing there appeared an enormous source of energy, initially termed the “primeval fireball.” Prior to this primeval fireball nothing else existed and the sudden appearance of this marked the beginning of the universe. The primeval fireball was extremely hot and of an intense concentration of pure energy (the Greek’s hule and the Ramban’s tohu) and from it matter (bohu) was formed according to Einstein’s equation. In a vacuum, the value of c is 186,000 miles/second or 67.1 million miles/hour; it is the maximum speed at which all matter and massless particles (such as light) and information in the universe can travel. The high value of c means that an enormous amount of energy is required to form a small amount of matter. Yet, all the matter in the universe is traced to originating from the energy in this primeval fireball (Wikipedia).

According to the Big Bang theory, all the matter of the universe was originally pressed into one pinpoint, incomprehensible hot, as compression generates heat. Possibly, this initial pinpoint of energy might have bubbled at trillions of degrees, before it detonated (Big Bang). After the initial explosion, the universe was filled with an incredibly high energy density and huge temperatures and pressures and was very rapidly expanding and cooling. Within a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, the universe consisted of light of the primeval fireball interspersed with plasma, particles of either positive or negative charges (Aviezer, 1990). After the initial explosion and expansion, the universe cooled sufficiently to allow for the formation of subatomic particles, including protons and neutrons. A few minutes into the expansion, when the temperature was about a billion degrees Kelvin and the density was that of air, neutrons combined with protons to form hydrogen and helium nuclei; eventually, electrons were formed. Upon further cooling, photons of light energy dominated. Much, much later in time, nuclei combined with electrons forming atoms. Over a long period of time, gravitational forces attracted nearby matter to produce dense regions that formed gas clouds. Giant clouds of these primordial elements coalesced through gravity to form stars, galaxies, and other astronomical structures. Heavier elements were synthesized either within stars or during supernovae. Eventually, the Earth and universe, as we know them, came into existence (Wikipedia). Dr. Alan Guth, a physicist and cosmologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, labeled the initial pinpoint of energy as a “cosmic mustard grain” (Easterbrook, 1998).

According both to the Ramban and to Dr. Guth the entire universe started with an incredibly huge amount of energy, condensed into a unit of minute size. Ramban’s concept of the creation of the universe preceded the Big Bang Theory by about 750 years! Look around - everything you visualize on land and the entire cosmos seen above - all initiated from a unit the size of a mustard grain. Although difficult to comprehend, this apparently is the truth. The Ramban lived in an agricultural community, so I can understand his comparison of the primeval fireball to a mustard grain, but what about Dr. Guth? Why didn’t he compare the primeval fireball to a sand grain or to a dot on a piece of paper? Why a mustard grain? I doubt that any reader has viewed a mustard grain. If so, it is highly unusual that Dr. Guth mimicked the Ramban’s concept that the size of the initial pinpoint of energy was that of a mustard seed. Perhaps, Dr. Guth was familiar with the Ramban. Or perhaps, Dr. Guth’s statement is a subtle example of HaShem’s sense of humor, i.e., HaShem implanted the phrase “mustard grain” into Dr. Guth’s subconscious.

For the connection between Nissan and mustard we turn to the end of Parashas Lech Lecha (Bereshis, chapter 17) when Avraham, at 99 years of age, was commanded by HaShem to perform a circumcision. At that point he was also told that his wife, Sarah, a 90 year old woman, would conceive. The next Parashas, Vieira (chapter 18) commences with Avraham, on the third day subsequent to his circumcision, sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day, looking for guests. At a distance, three Arab travelers are seen and Avraham rushed to greet them. Unbeknown to Avraham, these three travelers actually were messengers (“angels”) from HaShem, each with a specific mission. Michael came to inform Sarah of the good news that she will have a son; Refael came to heal Abraham’s suffering from the aftereffects of circumcision; and Gabriel was on his way to destroy Sedom (Bava Metzia 86b).

The term “hospitality” is a synonym for Avraham. Thinking that these three travelers were humans, Avraham hurried to prepare a meal. Sarah was requested to handle the preparation of bread. One opinion is that this occurred after Yom Kippur and another thought is that this occurred on the first day of Pesach (MeAm Loez), with Sarah baking matzah (Tur). Avraham focused on the meal itself. Three calves were slaughtered and their tongues, prepared in mustard, were served as the main dish (Rashi 18:7). Tongues with mustard were considered a delicacy and by preparing three tongues Avraham avoided issues of favoritism (Bava Metzia 86b). Avraham selected tongue as it was readily available. Other meats would require the calf to be skinned, which would have delayed the meal (Tur). Tosfos HaShalam noted that the accepted custom was to prepare tongue with pepper, not with mustard. Peppers, although small, are sharp (Megilla7a) and are excellent as a spice. Tosfos HaShalam suggested that peppers were unavailable to Avraham, so, instead, he used mustard as the spice. Or, Tosfos HaShalam suggested that whereas mustard cools the body, peppers heat the body - and were not appropriate to serve to desert travelers..

Just as Tishrei and Nissan are connected via the creation of the world, the above incident of the 3 messengers also connects Rosh Hashanah to Pesach. On the first day of Rosh HaShanah the Torah reading (Bereshis 25) commences with HaShem remembering Sarah regarding her conception, which according to tradition, occurred on Rosh HaShanah (see Artsroll, The Chumash, Bereishis 21:1-3). According to the Tur, it was on Pesach that Michael initially informed Sarah of her subsequent pregnancy.

References

Aviezer, N., 1990, In the Beginning … Biblical Creation and Science, Ktav Publ. House, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.

Bleich, Z.Y., 2004, Kosher Food Production, Blackwell Publ., Ames, IA.

Easterbrook, G., 1998, What came before creation? U.S. News & World Report, July 20th, pp. 44-52.

Lamy, E., Schmitz, S., Krumbein, A., and Mersch-Sundermann, V., 2011, Isothiocyanate-containing mustard protects human cells against genotoxins in vitro and in vivo. Mutat. Res., 726: 146-150.

Lamy, E., Garcia-Kaufer, M., Prinzhorn, J., and Mersch-Sundermann, V., 2012, Antigenotoxic action of isothiocyanate-containing mustard as determined by two cancer biomarkers in a human intervention trial, Eur. J. Cancer Prev., 21:400-406.

Reiss, Y., 2009, When was the universe created? Yeshiva University, Rosh Hashana To-Go, pp. 44- 48.

Wikipedia, retrieved 7/18/2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang.

Wikipedia, retrieved 7/18/2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustard_plant