It’s more than just historical happenstance. According to a beautiful passage in the Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic commentary on the Bible, there’s a deeper, cosmic reason.
The story begins with the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, that portable sanctuary that accompanied the Israelites through the desert. R’ Chanina tells us that the Tabernacle was actually finished on the twenty-fifth of Kislev – right around the time we celebrate Hanukkah! But here’s the thing: it wasn’t erected until Nisan, the first month, as we read in Exodus 40:2: “On the day of the first month, on the first of the month, you shall set up the Mishkan of the Tent of Meeting.”
So, what gives? Why the delay?
Well, the Israelites, bless their hearts, started to grumble. They wondered if something was wrong with the Mishkan. Maybe there was a flaw, they worried!
But according to the Yalkut Shimoni, God had a plan. He wanted to connect the joy of the Tabernacle with the month in which Isaac was born. Remember the story in Genesis 18:6? “…knead and make cakes,” the angels told Abraham, promising him a son. And then, in Genesis 18:14, they declared, “…At the appointed time, I will return to you, at this time next year…” That appointed time, the sages say, was Nisan.
But here’s the rub: because of this divine plan, Kislev, the month when the Mishkan was actually finished, kind of… lost out. It didn't get its moment in the sun, so to speak.
And the Holy One, Kadosh Baruch Hu, ever mindful of fairness, felt the need to compensate. The Yalkut Shimoni tells us, “It is incumbent upon Me to make restitution.” What restitution did God make?
The rededication of the Temple by the Hasmoneans! undefined! The victory over the Greeks, the miracle of the oil, the lighting of the menorah – all a divine compensation for Kislev's missed opportunity. A way of saying, "I see you, Kislev. Your time has come!"
And the story doesn't end there. The Yalkut Shimoni concludes by saying that God will also compensate Marcheshvan, another month that sometimes feels a little… overlooked, in the future.
Isn't that incredible? It suggests that even the calendar, even the ebb and flow of months and seasons, is subject to divine justice and compensation. It's a reminder that nothing is ever truly forgotten in the grand tapestry of creation. And that even in the darkest of months, like Kislev, light can, and will, emerge.