As the sun goes down Sunday Nov 3, we say goodbye to Cheshvan and welcome the new month of Kislev. Kislev is the 9th month of the spiritual calendar, and the 3rd month of the civil calendar. It comes quite early this year, usually Kislev spans the end of November and deeper into December.
Kislev marks the onset of the winter seasons, and is the 3rd month of the rainy season in Israel. The days are getting shorter, and the darkness is getting longer this month. As the darkness moves in, there’s a tendency to embrace despair. When dark times come upon us, for whatever reason, it’s easy to focus on the darkness. When we backslide in finances, or health, or relationships, we focus on the slide we are on. The fact that we are falling isn’t so bad, it’s that we don’t know how far we will fall, and so we despair, thinking the fall will never end. Once we hit bottom, it’s not so bad, because then we can start to climb back up, and the progress is positive. But until then, we tend to lose hope. Our future is hidden, uncertain.
But God called forth light from the darkness, and it is in our darkest times that he responds with light, hope, and His presence. During these dark days, we are asked to search the darkness for His light. We are to look for His promises, His presence, and His embrace when it seems darkest.
And when we do that, God does what He always does. He responds.
The 40 days and nights of rain that caused the great flood of Noah ended this month. And so as the rains end, we can expect to see a rainbow. A reminder of the promise of God to never forsake us.
This year (2013) we have a special coincidence between the US civil calendar and the hebrew calendar. Thursday Nov 28, or the 25th of Kislev, is Thanksgiving here in the US. It is also the first day of Chanukah. On the 25th of Kislev, the Maccabees liberated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The victorious Jews repaired, cleansed and rededicated the Temple to the service of God. But they found only one small vial of ritually cleansed oil, the rest had all been defiled. But they lit the Menorah anyway, giving thanks for what they had, and worshiping with what they had. Miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days until more oil arrived. Today, for 8 days, jews celebrate with a feast that God’s provision never ends. When we bring forth what light we have in the darkness, God will always respond.
Some say that this is a month of dreams as well. That this is a month we should trust fully in God, and sleep well. And as we sleep, we will have dreams and visions. It seems fitting. Jacob, for example, was a man whose greatest visions came to him when he was alone at night, far from home, fleeing from one danger to the next. When he escapes Esau, afraid for his life, he sleeps alone with only a stone for a pillow, and dreams of a stairway to heaven. Later, when fleeing Laban, and terrified again of his brother Esau, he leaves to be alone and wrestles all night with a stranger that renames him Israel. These events happened when he was in that ‘slide’, when he isn’t sure how far he’s going to fall. He’s not at a starting point, or a destination, he’s in transition. A scary place. And in that place, God meets him, and defines him and sets him on a course that will define a nation. His destiny is defined in those dark places. And so is ours.
So, as we walk through Kislev, when you have a dark moment, find some time to be alone, and light a candle. Let God’s rest come over you this month and embrace his shalom sleep. This month God will answer you in the darkness, and his dreams and visions will propel you into your new future.
