Today is the first day of the Hebrew month of Marḥeshvan, often known simply as Ḥeshvan. While its name, like that of the other months on the Jewish calendar, is Babylonian in origin, a popular folk etymology understands it to mean “bitter Ḥeshvan” (from the Hebrew mar, meaning bitter)—a testament to the fact that it contains no holidays. A more playful variant takes advantage of the fact that mar can also be an honorific, in modern Hebrew the equivalent of “mister.” In fact, explains Shlomo Zuckier, Marḥeshvan derives from maraḥ shevan, meaning “the eight month,” which it is if you count from the spring month of Nissan as the Bible and ancient Jewish sources often do:

[The 13th-century rabbi Moses] Naḥmanides expresses a certain discomfort with counting months based on names acquired in exile rather than the earlier biblical practice of simply numbering them, starting from [Nissan], the month of the exodus from Egypt. He justifies the current practice by arguing that using the Babylonian names recalls and appreciates God’s returning the Jewish people to Israel following the Babylonian exile. Some religious Zionists have even proposed reverting to counting from the exodus, both for months and for years.

In a sense, then, Marḥeshvan might be seen as the ultimate month name, in that it manages both to retain the Babylonian name and to count from the month of the exodus from Egypt.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.