Light In The Darkness
by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev
Though the holiday itself does not start until the night of December 18, Hanukkah has officially begun! How do I know? Because my favorite radio station, KOST 103.5, has started playing solely Christmas music, which they will continue doing until shortly after January 1st. Seeing as Hanukkah typically comes before Christmas (and this year is no exception), it is only fair to say that the Hanukkah season has started as well. I must confess, however, that I cannot agree with the sentiment expressed by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, the Jewish writers of the song “Let It Snow.” I have never liked the snow, nor have I liked the cold. It is truly wonderful to live in southern California, where these phenomena are less severe.
Certainly there is a great beauty to winter, but it will never be #1 on my list of G!d’s greatest creations. But I don’t worry about it. I enjoy winter for what it’s worth, and it makes me all the more excited for the spring.
In this way, I am reminded of Adam, and his experience during the first ever winter. The Talmud[1] teaches us that Adam, the first human being, was distraught by the diminishing daylight hours. Because he had not yet experienced the full year’s calendar, he thought the world was ending, so he prayed and fasted for eight days. When the Hebrew month of Tevet arrived, and the days began to get longer again, Adam realized that the changing daylight hours were simply G!d’s design for the world. He then celebrated his relief with an eight-day festival. The following year, he observed both eight-day periods from the year before, but made them both festivals. Some have used this as an additional (though unofficial) origin story for the holiday of Hanukkah.
The story never did say that Adam learned to love the winter. It just shows his relief when he understood that with every winter, spring would soon be around the corner. Though he was not Jewish, Adam teaches us a valuable lesson that is very much in line with Hanukkah.
We should not have to wait for Purim to say “לַיְּהוּדִים הָיְתָה אוֹרָה וְשִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשֹׂן,” “The Jews had light, joy, and gladness.”[2] What do we do when we are faced with darkness? We make our own light!
Maayan
[1] BT, Avodah Zarah 8a.
[2] Esther 8:16.