Opening question: Think back to your first night at Bamidbar. Or your first night on Masa, as the sun was going down. How did you feel on that first night?
גמ׳ אמר רב חנן בר רבא קלנדא ח' ימים אחר תקופה סטרנורא ח' ימים לפני תקופה וסימנך (תהלים קלט, ה) אחור וקדם צרתני וגו' ת"ר לפי שראה אדם הראשון יום שמתמעט והולך אמר אוי לי שמא בשביל שסרחתי עולם חשוך בעדי וחוזר לתוהו ובוהו וזו היא מיתה שנקנסה עלי מן השמים עמד וישב ח' ימים בתענית [ובתפלה] כיון שראה תקופת טבת וראה יום שמאריך והולך אמר מנהגו של עולם הוא הלך ועשה שמונה ימים טובים לשנה האחרת עשאן לאלו ולאלו ימים טובים
Rav Hanan bar Rava said: Kalenda is celebrated in the eight days after the Winter solstice. Saturnalia is celebrated in the eight days before the Winter solstice.
(The Rabbis are talking about holidays of other near eastern religions).
The Sages taught: When Adam, the first human, saw that the days were progressively getting shorter, he said, "Woe is me! Perhaps it is because I sinned that the world is becoming dark around me, and returning to chaos and void. And this is the death that is sentenced upon me by heaven." He arose and sat eight days in fast and prayer.
What is Adam's response to his observation that the days are getting shorter? (What is his explanation? What does he do about it?)
When he saw the time of Tevet (the solstice) and saw that the days were getting progressively longer, he said, "This is the way of the world." He went and made a festival for eight days. The next year he observed both (the days he had fasted and the days he had celebrated) as a festival.
Where do you see yourself in this story? Which moments feel resonant for you?
Depending on answers, choose from the following:
Adam experiences an unknown element of nature, which makes him afraid. Think of a time on at Bamidbar, or before Bamidbar, when you felt afraid or out of control. How did you respond?
Have you ever had a moment when you saw that something that was frightening was "the way of the world?"
Adam blames himself for the darkness. Why? Have you ever blamed yourself for something out of your control? What would have been more constructive?
Why does Adam celebrate even the days where it gets progressively darker? Wouldn't it make more sense to only celebrate the light?
Why do you think different cultures have holidays during this time of year? (Hannukkah, Christmas, New Years, these holidays mentioned in the text, and others)
Why are the Rabbis are telling an origin story for holidays that aren't Jewish?
Another midrash tells a similar story, but with a significant difference:
A midrash tells us that on the first Shabbat, the sun shone for 36 hours. When the sun was about to go down on Friday night, God decided to honor Shabbat by letting the light continue to shine throughout Shabbat. When the sun set at the end of Shabbat, the darkness began to set in. Adam was terrified (having been created the day before and never having experienced darkness). He thought, "surely the darkness will hurt me." What did God do for him? He gave him two flints which he struck against one another. Light appeared and Adam uttered a blessing on it. And this is why we bless the light at Havdalah.
-Bereishit Rabbah 11:2
Where do you see yourself in this story? Which moments feel resonant for you?
In times when you feel a sense of darkness or difficulty coming on, what tools do you have to resist it and create a light for yourself?
Do you relate more to one story or the other?
In the Shabbat story, Adam is able to do something to stave off the darkness. We all know how hard it can be to light a fire from a striker when you've never done it before. And we know that when you practice, it gets easier. There are times when we can't do anything, like in the first story, and the darkness or difficulty is just a part of life. In that case we wait it out and look for the light, celebrating both the darkness and light. But sometimes, we have a set of flint, and we can create a light for ourselves.