גמ׳ אמר רב חנן בר רבא קלנדא ח' ימים אחר תקופה סטרנורא ח' ימים לפני תקופה וסימנך (תהלים קלט, ה) אחור וקדם צרתני וגו'
GEMARA: Rav Ḥanan bar Rava says: When are these festivals celebrated? Kalenda is celebrated during the eight days after the winter solstice, and Saturnalia is celebrated during the eight days before the winter solstice. And your mnemonic to remember which festival is that the one that occurs after the solstice is mentioned first in the mishna, and the festival that takes place before the solstice is mentioned after, as in the verse: “You have hemmed me in behind and before, and laid Your Hand upon me” (Psalms 139:5), where the word “before” appears after the term “behind.”
With regard to the dates of these festivals, the Sages taught: When Adam the first man saw that the day was progressively diminishing, as the days become shorter from the autumnal equinox until the winter solstice, he did not yet know that this is a normal phenomenon, and therefore he said: Woe is me; perhaps because I sinned the world is becoming dark around me and will ultimately return to the primordial state of chaos and disorder. And this is the death that was sentenced upon me from Heaven, as it is written: “And to dust shall you return” (Genesis 3:19). He arose and spent eight days in fasting and in prayer.
From Conservative Yeshiva of Jerusalem
This is an etymological story of the origins of Kalenda and Saturnalia. Some scholars also point to this story as the origin of why we light candles on Hannukah. Holidays around the winter solstice are often associated with fire, as a way of noting the beginning of the days getting longer, or to at least bring light to the darkest days of the year (in the northern hemisphere). There is also a sense here of cultural expropriation—your holidays were originally our holiday (in a sense) and you corrupted them. While there is of course a negative side to this phenomenon, the supremacist ideology it espouses, it also seems to me quite natural.
Would this origin story fall under the umbrella of 'cultural appropriation'?
This week's parasha (Vayechi), like numerous places in the Torah, hints to possible adoption of other groups' traditions.
Pay attention to the tone of the authors in the next three passages.
Then Joseph ordered the physicians in his service to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Attributed to Tosafists of the 1200s century, printed in 18th centruy
ויחנטו הרופאים, “the physicians embalmed, etc.” they made his bodily remains stench-proof, emptied his bowels, stomach, etc.; afterwards they inserted various spices into the orifices of his body so that it would not decompose. We have a similar expression in Song of Songs 2,13: התאנה חנטה פגיה, “the fruit of the fig tree were sweetened.”
lived 1255-1340
ויחנטו הרופאים, “the physicians embalmed.” The technique of embalming consisted of perfuming the body with a variety of spices, similar to what is written concerning King Assa of Yehudah in Chronicles II 16,14: “he was laid in a resting place which was filled with spices of all kinds, expertly blended.” This took place after the body had been washed. The wording ויחנטו which is transitive, indicates that the physicians ordered others who had expertise in that science to perform this task whereas they themselves did not touch Yaakov’s body.
For reference, the Chabad website describes a clear prohibition of embalming:
The guiding religious ideal in regard to embalming is that a person upon his demise should be laid to rest naturally. There should be no mutilation of his body, no tampering with his remains, and no handling of the body other than for the religious purification. Disturbance of the inner organs, sometimes required during the embalming procedure, is strictly prohibited as a desecration of the image of God. The deceased can in no wise benefit from this procedure. So important is this principle, that Jewish law prohibits the embalming of a person even where he has specifically willed it.
How do you think the authors of Genesis, Daat Zkenim and Rabbeinu Bahya viewed the embalming practice?
How does the discussion of embalming relate to the Talmudic origin tale of Saturnalia?
Should it be permissible for Jews to celebrate the form of Saturnalia founded by Adam?