Kislev

KISLEV

KISLEV (Heb. כִּסלֵו), the post-Exilic name of the ninth month of the Jewish year. The name occurs in Assyrian inscriptions, in biblical records (Zech. 7:1; Neh. 1:1), and frequently in the Apocrypha and in rabbinic literature (e.g., Megillat Ta'anit) with variants in Assyrian and Palmyrian inscriptions and Greek transcriptions. The etymology of the term has not yet been satisfactorily elucidated. Like *Marḥeshvan, it consists of 29 or 30 days, in either common or *leap years. The 1^st of Kislev never falls on the Sabbath. In the 20^th century, Kislev, in its earliest occurrence, extended from November 4^th to December 3^rd (4^th), and, in its latest, from December 3^rd to 31^st (January 1^st).

Historic days in Kislev comprise: (1) 1^st of Kislev, the announcement of a series of public fasts in Judea in the intercession for rain in years of drought (Ta'an. 1:5); (2) 3^rd of Kislev, the anniversary of a Hasmonean victory over the Greeks (Meg. Ta'an. 339); (3) 7^st of Kislev, the anniversary of the death of Herod (ibid.); (4) 21^st of Kislev, "the day of Gerizim," commemorating the decision by Alexander the Great in favor of the Temple of Jerusalem against the rival Samaritan claim for the Temple on Mount *Gerizim (Meg. Ta'an 339–40, with variance of the date in Yoma 69a and parallels); (5) 25^th of Kislev to 2^nd (3^rd) of *Tevet, the festival of *Ḥanukkah.