The darkest night of the year is this Friday night - reflections and teachings for the end of Chanukah
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David Seidenberg
Dec 19, 2025, 12:30:51 AM (8 days ago) Dec 19
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Some reflections and teachings for the end of Chanukah; also see links below 1) for more articles on holy darkness, 2) for making an ice menorah, 3) for revising Chanukah songs, and 4) for my teaching online at the Valley Beit Midrash this December 29th
The darkest night is this Shabbat
As we enter Rosh Chodesh on Shabbat, we also enter the darkest night of the year, which is the moonless night closest to the winter solstice. The long nights are full of greater shadows the more intensely the light shines. Opposing these long nights with a bonfire, a madurah, with "or eitan", a great light, only sharpens and deepens the shadows. That's the kind of leaping fire placed on the altar, the light of the fire that consumes the sacrifice.
The Maccabees were attracted to the image of flaming fire like moths, and the books of the Maccabees mention fire again and again: the fire that fell from heaven to light the wood on Solomon's altar, the altar fire that was stored in a cave by the priests just before the exile, where it turned into naphtha, the fire that reignited when the naptha was spread on the rededicated altar, and the fire they used to burn down their enemies. Not once do the books of the Maccabees mention the seven-branched menorah in the Temple.
Not so the rabbis: our Chanukah, our Temple dedication, was all about the gentle flames of the olive oil lamps in the menorah, the quiet slow light, planted like a row of seeds. Seeds of light like jewels, adorning the darkness. Not driving away the darkness, but softening it. A row of small flames when spread out makes the lines of shadows blurry, not sharp, brings the light into crevices and corners, without pulverizing or opposing or polarizing the darkness.
That's the kind of light we need now.
1) For more on the menorah and holy darkness, see:
"The Menorah, Part 1: On being a small light" - https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-menorah-in-covid-part-1/
"The Menorah, Part 2: The Miracle of Light from Olives" - https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-menorah-in-covid-part-2/
"The Menorah, Part 3: Rabbis vs. Maccabees, Light vs. Fire" - https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-menorah-part-3-the-maccabees-vs-the-rabbis-fire-vs-light/
"Starlight and menorah light: Three Hanukkah teachings about holy darkness" - https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/starlight-and-menorah-light/
2) To learn how to make an ice menorah -- because it's beautiful and because it reminds us that the earth's ice is melting and because we hope for the time when the plague of ICE kidnappings will melt away -- go to: https://neohasid.org/zman/chanukah/ice_menorah/
3) Fixes for Chanukah songs: "l'eit tashbit matbe'ach" for Ma'oz Tzur, Banu choshekh l'kadesh ("we come to sanctify the dark"), and why no one should sing Mi Yimalel - go to: http://www.neohasid.org/resources/mi_yimalel/ for all three songs, and http://www.neohasid.org/pdf/Banu-Choshekh3.pdf
--
The darkest night is this Shabbat
As we enter Rosh Chodesh on Shabbat, we also enter the darkest night of the year, which is the moonless night closest to the winter solstice. The long nights are full of greater shadows the more intensely the light shines. Opposing these long nights with a bonfire, a madurah, with "or eitan", a great light, only sharpens and deepens the shadows. That's the kind of leaping fire placed on the altar, the light of the fire that consumes the sacrifice.
The Maccabees were attracted to the image of flaming fire like moths, and the books of the Maccabees mention fire again and again: the fire that fell from heaven to light the wood on Solomon's altar, the altar fire that was stored in a cave by the priests just before the exile, where it turned into naphtha, the fire that reignited when the naptha was spread on the rededicated altar, and the fire they used to burn down their enemies. Not once do the books of the Maccabees mention the seven-branched menorah in the Temple.
Not so the rabbis: our Chanukah, our Temple dedication, was all about the gentle flames of the olive oil lamps in the menorah, the quiet slow light, planted like a row of seeds. Seeds of light like jewels, adorning the darkness. Not driving away the darkness, but softening it. A row of small flames when spread out makes the lines of shadows blurry, not sharp, brings the light into crevices and corners, without pulverizing or opposing or polarizing the darkness.
That's the kind of light we need now.
1) For more on the menorah and holy darkness, see:
"The Menorah, Part 1: On being a small light" - https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-menorah-in-covid-part-1/
"The Menorah, Part 2: The Miracle of Light from Olives" - https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-menorah-in-covid-part-2/
"The Menorah, Part 3: Rabbis vs. Maccabees, Light vs. Fire" - https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-menorah-part-3-the-maccabees-vs-the-rabbis-fire-vs-light/
"Starlight and menorah light: Three Hanukkah teachings about holy darkness" - https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/starlight-and-menorah-light/
2) To learn how to make an ice menorah -- because it's beautiful and because it reminds us that the earth's ice is melting and because we hope for the time when the plague of ICE kidnappings will melt away -- go to: https://neohasid.org/zman/chanukah/ice_menorah/
3) Fixes for Chanukah songs: "l'eit tashbit matbe'ach" for Ma'oz Tzur, Banu choshekh l'kadesh ("we come to sanctify the dark"), and why no one should sing Mi Yimalel - go to: http://www.neohasid.org/resources/mi_yimalel/ for all three songs, and http://www.neohasid.org/pdf/Banu-Choshekh3.pdf
More Chanukah teachings here: http://neohasid.org/zman/chanukah/
4) Join me on December 29, 1-2 pm MST (3-4 pm EST) for a shi'ur on "Bal Tashchit: How to turn an ancient law into a force for Earth’s care". To register for this Valley Beit Midrash program, go to:
https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/class/bal-tashchit-how-to-turn-an-ancient-law-into-a-force-for-earths-care/
"The law against wasting or destroying things, Bal Tashchit, is a torch held up by Jewish environmentalists to prove that Judaism cares about the Earth, but the law as it is codified in halakhah (Jewish law) is that you can destroy anything, if you can make a profit doing it. We will delve into the roots and interpretations of Bal Tashchit, including Rambam, Ramban, Sefer Chinukh and others, to find the basis for fixing Bal Tashchit so that it can become a strong and powerful ethic that will actually stand up to destruction and help us protect the Earth."
https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/class/bal-tashchit-how-to-turn-an-ancient-law-into-a-force-for-earths-care/
"The law against wasting or destroying things, Bal Tashchit, is a torch held up by Jewish environmentalists to prove that Judaism cares about the Earth, but the law as it is codified in halakhah (Jewish law) is that you can destroy anything, if you can make a profit doing it. We will delve into the roots and interpretations of Bal Tashchit, including Rambam, Ramban, Sefer Chinukh and others, to find the basis for fixing Bal Tashchit so that it can become a strong and powerful ethic that will actually stand up to destruction and help us protect the Earth."
"Kabbalah and Ecology: God's Image in the More-Than-Human World" (Cambridge, 2015) is in paperback. Read sections and get more info at: neohasid.org/KAE/.
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