Tevet ּּ~ Cinnamon קינמון or צמצםי kinamon or tzimtzimai

The scent of cinnamon likely brings thoughts of havdallah, a spice often used in the blend to mark the end of Shabbat and beginning of the week. When the bark of the tree is harvested, they curl, and retract in on themself, into a straw like shape. There is a mystical Jewish teaching that in the beginning of time goddexx had to withdraw her energy to make room for creation to emerge. This contracting of energy is known as tzimtzum in Kabbalistic literature. There is a Talmudic story that after the Babylonian destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, all the cinnamon trees were destroyed and that only a few were kept in the storage houses of Queen Tzimtzimai. This time of year, when there are many long dark nights, we breathe in the scent of cinnamon and remember the power of retreating, withdrawing, curling up - in order for new life to emerge.