the Winter Solstice (21 December) • the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶקְט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ

תהלים קל״ט | Psalms 139, a mizmor by David with verses attributed to Adam haRishon for the Winter Solstice

A well-known midrash explaining the universality of the Kalends festival beginning after the Winter Solstice attributes this psalm to Adam haRishon, the primordial Adam, as they describe being knitted together within the Earth in Psalms 139:13-16. In the Roman calendar, the calends or kalends (Latin: kalendae) is the first day of every month. Named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, and derived from ianua, “door,” January began with the first crescent moon after the winter solstice, marking the natural beginning of the year. Marcus Terentius Varro, in his Res Rusticae (37 BCE) divided the agricultural year into eight parts. In the final part beginning on the winter solstice, no hard work was to be done outdoors. . . .

Categories: Tehilim Book 5 (Psalms 107–150), the Winter Solstice (21 December)

Tags: Calends, Kalendes, קלנדס Ḳalends, מזמור Mizmor, Psalms 139, solstice, winter

Contributor(s): the Masoretic Text, David ben Yishai (traditional attribution) and Aharon N. Varady (translation)

📄 מִדְרָשִׁים עַל אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן וּתְקוּפַת הַחֹרֶף | Midrashim on the Origin of the Winter Solstice and Kalends Festivals by Primaeval Adam

A sourcesheet shared by Dr. Devora Steinmetz to accompany a shiur on the Winter Solstice in Jewish thought. . . .

Categories: 🌐 Gregorian New Year's Day (January 1st), Midrash Aggadah, the Winter Solstice (21 December), Ḥanukkah Readings

Tags: הבדלות havdalot, קלנדס Ḳalends, night, Psalms 139, סטרנורא Saturnalia, solstice, sourcesheet, sunset, unicorn, winter

Contributor(s): Devora Steinmetz and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

בָּאנוּ חֹשֶׁךְ לְגָרֵשׁ | Banu Ḥoshekh l’Garesh (We come to chase the dark away), by Sara Levi-Tanai (1960)

In 1960, the Publishing House of the Composers’ League in cooperation with the Center for Culture and Education (בית הוצאה של איגוד הקומפוזיטורים בשיתוף עם המרכז לתרבות ולחינוך), published the songbook זמר־חן (Zemer Ḥén), containing the now popular Ḥanukkah song and melody “Banu Ḥoshekh l’Garesh” (p. 49), originally simply titled “Ḥanukkah” by Sara Levi-Tanaiׁ (1910-2005). . . .

Categories: Ḥanukkah, the Winter Solstice (21 December)

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., באנו חשך לגרש banu ḥoshekh l'garesh, ישראל Yisrael, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s): Sara Levi-Tanai and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

בָּאנוּ חׇשֵׁךְ לְקַדֵּשׁ | Banu Ḥoshekh l’Ḳadesh (We come to sanctify the dark), by rabbis David Seidenberg and Jill Hammer

This is a new version of the popular Ḥanukkah song, Banu Ḥoshekh. (The original by Sara Levi-Tanai can be found here.) Our new version does two things: 1) it avoids the association of darkness and blackness (shḥor) with evil and harm, which in our society gets tangled up with white supremacy, and 2) honors the darkness as something precious that we need, especially in our time of light pollution when so much of the time, so many people can’t even see the stars. . . .

Categories: Ḥanukkah, the Winter Solstice (21 December)

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., באנו חשך לגרש banu ḥoshekh l'garesh, ecoḥasid, זמירות zemirot

Contributor(s): David Seidenberg, Rabbi Jill Hammer, Ph.D. and Neohasid [dot] org

Tilt: A Prayer for the Winter Solstice, by Trisha Arlin

“Tilt: A Prayer for the Winter Solstice” was first published by the author on her website (17 December 2015). . . .

Categories: the Winter Solstice (21 December)

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., solstice, winter

Contributor(s): Trisha Arlin