There was no moon last night.  15 days ago was the last supermoon of 2017.  But, what makes this special?  In my religion, each new moon is a special holiday called Rosh Chodesh, the start of a new month.

And, Rosh Chodesh Tevet comes towards the end of Chanuka.  The Chanuka holiday is one of the very few that does not involve the addition of the special prayers of Hallel, where we praise Hashem for his special gifts to us.  Except today (and tomorrow), we do add Hallel, because the holiday of Rosh Chodesh demands it.

Since the lights on the menorah are on the increase today, we recognize that this month is meant to remind us that light conquers darkness, that good has tremendous power over evil.  We need to reveal and revel in the good that is hidden in our lives and share it with the world around us.

Tevet is either the 10^th month of the Jewish Calendar (which means we start the year counting with the month of Nisan, the month that contains Pesach or Passover, which is the celebration of our freedom) or the 4^th month (which means the year starts with Tishrei, the Jewish New Year).

(Yes, I mean it- we have FOUR potential new years in our tradition.  But, Tu B’Shvat that comes next month is the new year for trees- and we don’t count events from that date.  And, Rosh Chodesh Elul [the month before Tishrei] only counts for cattle- and for beginning our annual introspective atonement process.)

The name, Tevet, is of Babylonian origin.  It’s first mentioned in the scroll of Esther.  Because the first day of Tevet is the day Esther was brought to the palace of Achashverosh, to whom she was about to become the queen.

Unfortunately, the 10^th day of Tevet is one of our fast days.  This fast day recognizes that the siege of Jerusalem began on this day in 3336 (aka, 425 BCE), when Nebuchadnezzar sent his armies to destroy the Jewish state. It took him 3 and a half years, when on the 9^th of Av, he destroyed the Great Temple [which is where the Dome of the Rock is now perched in Jerusalem].  (By the way, the 10^th of Tevet is the day Achashverosh chose Esther as his queen, 109 years later.)

And, the 11^th day of Tevet is remembered by Ashkenazi Jews as the day they were expelled from Austria in 1668.  Sfardi Jews, who were expelled from Spain on 9 Av (in 1492), which involved the movement of many of them to Portugal, were then kicked out of Portugal on 22 Tevet (1497)- except most of them were killed or forcibly converted instead.

The 20^th of Tevet is remembered as the day the first tractate of the Talmud, Brachot, was printed in Soncino, Italy (1483), 26 years after the first book (The Gutenberg Bible) was printed.   Oh, and that’s why the name (Soncino Press)was chosen by one of the first modern Jewish printing houses in the UK.

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