December 27th: Ki Tetze and Chanukah
THIS WEEK IN THE TORAH
Rabbi David E. Ostrich
The “lateness” or “earliness” of Chanukah and other Jewish holy days is the result of the relationship between the solar year with its 365 days and the lunar year with its twelve 28-day lunar cycles (months).
Human culture often seeks to regularize and systematize everything, and so we invented calendars. It took a number of centuries before astronomers could figure out the schedule of the heavenly bodies, but eventually they understood the length of time the earth takes to orbit the sun and the length of time the moon takes to orbit the earth. (The moon was easier—and, since no one thought that the earth orbited the moon, less controversial.) Since many of the Biblical holy days are agriculturally and seasonally based, there is a need to observe them “b’itam,” in their correct times.
Many Biblical scholars speculate that the ancient Hebrew pilgrimage festivals of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot began as agricultural observances and were only later associated with historical events. Pesach was the celebration of the birthing season of lambs and goats—with the word pasach referring to the jumping up and down of newborn kids learning to walk. That the Exodus occurred at the same time of year made the combination unbeatable. Shavuot celebrated the Winter Wheat harvest, and the historical event of Matan Torah was glommed onto it as a kind of “harvest of the Exodus:” Israel receiving the Ten Commandments brought the Exodus to its fruition. Sukkot celebrated the Fall Harvest, and the addition of historical connections with the Exodus and with the Wisdom of Solomon followed very naturally: Though “man does not live by bread alone” (Deuteronomy 8.3), bread is nonetheless very important, and Sukkot reminds us of the many gifts of God: freedom, memory, wisdom, and abundance.
The problem with the lunar calendar—with its 336 days (twelve twenty-eight-day cycles)—is that it does not converge with the solar cycle of 365 days. Using a lunar year would have our holy days move around—and arrive a little earlier each year. This is what happens in Islam where its most well-known month, Ramadan, moves around the year—sometimes in Winter, sometimes in Summer. (One can imagine how much more spiritually and physically challenging a Summer Ramadan is with all of its extra hours of daylight fasting.)
We do not know how the solar and lunar years were managed in Biblical times, but during the Geonic Period in Babylonia (600 CE—1000 CE), Jewish authorities decided on a new Hebrew calendar that adds an extra lunar month (a leap month) seven times every nineteen years. With these leap years (years with thirteen months instead of twelve), the solar and lunar calendars are roughly coordinated, and we can maintain our agriculturally based holy day system. The only “cost” over the last 1200 years of our 4000-year history is that we have to deal with the slight shifts that a leap year brings to our Jewish schedules. The extra month (Adar II) moves everything around. While Rosh Hashanah is always in the Fall, it “moves” between September or October. While Chanukah is always in the early Winter, it “moves” between November and December. Whereas the Hebrew dates are consistent (Rosh Hashanah is always on Tishri 1; Chanukah always begins on Kislev 25), their convergence with the Western/solar year is not exact—and we speak of our holidays being “early” or “late.”
Around the same time as the Geonim in Babylonia, several generations of scholarly families in Tiberias in the Land of Israel were at work standardizing the TANACH (Hebrew Bible) and standardizing its use in Jewish worship. First, they took variant manuscripts and determined a standard text—what we now call the Masoretic Text. (These scholars were known as the Masorites, the Traditionalists.) Secondly, they developed a series of notations—little dots and dashes—to remind readers of the traditional vocalizations of Hebrew words. Third, the Masorites added a system of musical notations to remind chanters of the traditional tunes for each word. Whereas assistants had formerly employed hand signals to remind the chanters of the little tunes, these “trope” signs helped the chanters when they practiced from annotated practice texts. And fourth, the Masorites divided up the Biblical Books into chapters and verses—giving us our current organizational structure for the Bible.
Around this time, there was also an effort to define and standardize the portions of the Bible to be read during weekly services. We do not know exactly who was involved, but by the time we get to the Rambam, Moses Maimonides (1138-1204), a pattern had emerged. The Torah was divided into fifty-four portions so that Jews could read the whole Torah, week by week, through the year. (Interestingly enough, the Masorites’ chapters and verses do not match up with the weekly parshiot/Torah portions. Some weekly portions begin with verse one of a Torah chapter, and some begin in the middle of the chapter. Not everything is regularized and managed in Tradition; sometimes the chorus of voices and traditions abides.)
In case you are wondering why we need fifty-four parshiot per year when there are only fifty-two weeks, remember the leap years when the extra month brings four extra weeks. With various Jewish holy days occurring on weekends—and having their own special Torah portions, we never need fifty-eight parshiot, but some years we need all fifty-four. And, for the non-Leap Years, some parshiot are combined. Among the most famous combinations is Acharay Mot and Kedoshim in April or May. This is particularly useful for Bar/Bat Mitzvah students for whom Acharay Mot (Leviticus 16-18) is much more difficult to expound than Kedoshim’s Leviticus 19 with its “You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If their service is a few weeks earlier, it is a toss-up of whether Tazria and Metzorah are read together or separately. Leprosy, mildew, bodily emissions, and sexual immorality are all difficult subjects for early adolescents to discuss on the bimah…
In any event and in conclusion, whether early or late, Christmas-adjacent or not, Chanukah is a special time for us Jews. May you all enjoy your celebration and find inspiration in the story of the Maccabees and God’s miracles!