On One Foot—Rosh Chodesh Tevet

Let us bring a little Hanukkah light into this dark winter month of Tevet!

It is a month without holidays, so it is all the more important to make the warm light of the Hanukkah candles last longer.

The Sefat Emet says: "Rosh Chodesh Tevet (the new moon of Tevet) carries the light of the candles into every day of the month, because the course of the entire month depends on its beginning. And we see that lighting 36 candles on Hanukkah illuminates the entire month of Tevet. From the beginning of Hanukkah to the end of Tevet there are 36 days, one candle for each day".

It follows that although we light the candles, adding one each day, it is as though each day—the 6 days in Kislev and another 2 days in Tevet—provides light for every day through the end of Tevet (a total of 30 days in the month of Tevet).

How dark Tevet would be without the light of the candles! Our Sages write that Tevet is a month of concealment.

And so, "the Almighty brought the cure before the illness": the light of the Hanukkah candles will illuminate these dark days as well.

 

Prepared by Mrs. Zissi Skarzhinskaya