and Adam kvetched about the darkness...

I am excited to share this information about an alternative way to look at, and celebrate, the time of Chanukah!

As you likely know, the more commonly known Chanukah story is NOT found in the Bible, but is, instead, derived from the Babylonia Talmud, Shabbat 21b. The text tells us that the Greeks entered our Temple and defiled all of the oil in the Sanctuary. When the Hasmonean monarchy rose up, defeated the Greeks and entered the Temple they found one remaining vial of oil sealed by the high priest. This vial, as expected, contained oil for only one day. The Hasmoneans lit the oil and it burned for eight days and nights. The following year an eight day holiday was established for praise and thanksgiving.

This text has given rise to the widely known interpretation that Chanukah is about the miracle of the oil, defeating oppression and celebrating religious freedom.

What you haven't heard is this, that Talmud Avodah Zarah 8a tells an alternative Chanukah story that portrays Chanukah as Adam’s encounter with the winter solstice: "With regard to the dates of these festivals, the Sages taught: When Adam the first man saw that the day was progressively diminishing, as the days become shorter from the autumnal equinox until the winter solstice, he did not yet know that this is a normal phenomenon, and therefore he said: Woe is me; perhaps because I sinned the world is becoming dark around me and will ultimately return to the primordial state of chaos and disorder. And this is the death that was sentenced upon me from Heaven, as it is written: “And to dust shall you return”. He arose and spent eight days in fasting and in prayer.

We read on: "Once he saw that the season of Tevet, i.e., the winter solstice, had arrived, and saw that the day was progressively lengthening after the solstice, he said: Clearly, the days become shorter and then longer, and this is the order of the world. He went and observed a festival for eight days. Upon the next year, he observed both these eight days on which he had fasted on the previous year, and these eight days of his celebration, as days of festivities. He, Adam, established these festivals for the sake of Heaven..."

While Avodah Zarah 8a doesn’t overtly mention Chanukah, this text ties Chanukah to the winter solstice and Adam. Chanukah, then, did not begin with the Hasmoneans; it started with Adam.

This lesser known Chanukah story recognizes the gift of increasing light. In many ways, this text establishes a universal holiday.

Happy Ramadanadawalichristmakwaanzukkah!