Shovavim is a season in the Jewish calendar, the weeks when the parshioth of Shmos until Mishpatim, the first six parshioth of the Book of Exodus, are read in the synagogue, when the Kabbalists teach that it is auspicious to repent of sins. Some have the customs of fasting and giving extra tzedakah during this time, and of reciting Selichos and other Kabbalistic prayers and tikkunim.
The word Shovavim (Shin, Vav, Bet, Bet, Yud, Mem) is an acrostic for the names of the parshioth read during this period:
When it is a Jewish leap-year, two more weeks are added, the readings of:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||