← Cheshvan       Kislev (כִּסְלֵו)       Tevet →
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, begins on the 25th of Kislev.
Month Number:	3
Number of Days:	30 (sometimes 29)
Season:	autumn
Gregorian Equivalent:	November-December

For the Warhammer Fantasy location see Kislev (Warhammer)

Kislev (Hebrew: כִּסְלֵו, Standard Kislev Tiberian Kislēw ; from Akkadian kislimu) is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is an autumn month of 30 days, except in "deficient" years, when it has 29 days (see Hebrew calendar: Modern calendar). Kislev usually occurs in November–December on the Gregorian calendar and is sometimes known as the month of dreams.

Holidays in Kislev

25 Kislev—2 Tevet - Hanukkah – ends 3 Tevet if Kislev is short

Kislev in Jewish history

5 Kislev - (1631) - Passing of Maharsha

• The 5th of Kislev is the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the death) of Rabbi "Shemuel Eliezer Eidel's (1555-1631), also known by the acronym "Maharsha". Rabbi Shmuel authored a widely used commentary on the Talmud and of its primary commentaries, Rashi and Tosfot.

9 Kislev - (1773; 1827) - Birth & Passing of Rabbi Dovber of Lubavitch

• Kislev 9 is both the day Rabbi Dovber Schneuri was born and died on. He was the son of and successor to the founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman·of Liadi.

10 Kislev - (1826) - Release of Rabbi Dovber of Lubavitch from prison after being arrested the week after Sukkot on slander charges.
13 Kislev - (475 CE) - Passing of Ravina II as well the Talmud was completed

• In the first decades of the 5th century, Rav Ashi (died in 427 CE) and Ravina I (died in 421 CE) led a group of the Amoraim (Talmudic sages) in compiling the Babylonian Talmud, which involved collecting and editing the discussions, debates and rulings of hundreds of scholars and sages which had taken place in the more than 200 years since the compilation of the Mishnah by Rabbi Judah HaNasi in 189 CE. The last of these editors and compilers was Ravina II, who died on the 13th of Kislev of the Hebrew year 4235 (or 475 CE). After Ravina II, no further additions were make to the Talmud, with the exception of the minimal editing undertaken by the Rabbanan Savura'i (476-560). This date thus marks the point where the Talmud has been since "closed," and has since served as a book for referencing Torah law.

15 Kislev - (162 BCE) - The Greeks set up the "Abomination of Desolation" in the Temple

• "Now the fifteenth day of the month Kislev, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Judah on every side." (1 Maccabees 1:54)

15 Kislev - (188 CE)- Passing of Rabbi Judah HaNasi.

• Rabbi Judah haNasi, (Hebrew: יהודה הנשיא‎, pronounced Yehuda haNasi, "Judah the Prince"), also known as Rebbi and Rabbeinu HaKadosh (Hebrew: רבינו הקדוש‎, "Our Holy Rabbi"), was a key leader of the Jewish community of Judea toward the end of the 2nd century CE, during the occupation by the Roman Empire. He is best known as the chief redactor and editor of the Mishnah.

18 Kislev - (1237) - Passing of Rabbi Abraham Maimuni

• Rabbi Abraham Maimuni HaNagid (also called "Rabbi Avraham ben HaRambam") was the only son of Maimonides (the Talmudist, codifier of Jewish Law, philosopher, physician and statesmen, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 1135-1204). He was born in 1185, Rabbi Abraham succeeded his father as the leader of the Jewish community in Fostat (old Cairo), Egypt, at the young age of 19. He wrote many responses and commentaries explaining and defending his father's writings and Halachic rulings. Rabbi Abraham died on the 18th of Kislev of the Hebrew year, 4998 (1237).

18 Kislev - (1811) - Passing of Rabbi Boruch of Medzhybizh

• the son of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov's daughter, Adel, and her husband, Rabbi Yechiel Ashkenazi. He was born in 1753 in Mezhibuz, the town from which his illustrious grandfather led the Chassidic Movement. He was one of the Rebbes (Chassidic masters) in the 3rd generation of Chassidism, and had thousands of followers.

19 Kislev - (1772) - Passing of The Great Maggid of Mezeritch

• Rabbi DovBer, known as "The Maggid of Mezeritch", was the disciple of, and successor to, the founder of Chassidism, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. Rabbi DovBer led the Chassidic movement from 1761 until his death on Kislev 19, 1772, known commonly as "Yat Kislev" after the numerical system for the date.

19 Kislev- (1798) - Release of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi from prison

• Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad was released from Russian prison of this day. This date is celebrated as the New Year of Chasidism by Chabad Chasidim.

20 Kislev - (347 BCE) - Ezra's address

• Ezra, head of the Sanhedrin and the leader of the Jewish people at the time of the building of the Second Temple, made an address to a three-day assemblage of Jews in Jerusalem, telling them to adhere to the teachings of the Torah and to dissolve their interfaith marriages (this was from assimilation due to their 70-year exile in Babylonia).

21 Kislev - (1944) - Satmar Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum rescued

• The Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (1887-1979), was rescued from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, along with 1,368 other Jews, through the efforts of Rabbi Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl of Nitra, who spearheaded rescue operations in Hungary and czechoslovakia (an earlier transport of 1,686 Jews had been rescued on Av 29)¹. The Satmar community celebrates the 21st of Kislev as a day of thanksgiving.

25 Kislev - (1312 BCE) - Mishkan completed

• The vessels, tapestries, wall sections and other components of the Mishkan (the portable sanctuary or "Tabernacle" which was built under Moses' direction to house the Divine Presence during the Israelites' journeys through the desert) were completed on the 25th of Kislev of the Hebrew year 2449 (1312 BCE). However, the Mishkan was not assembled until 3 months later, when, beginning on Adar 25 of that year, it was set up and taken down daily for a 7-day training period prior to its dedication on the 1st of Nisan. The Sages said that Kislev 25 was compensated 12 centuries later, when the Maccabees dedicated the Holy Temple on Kislev 25, 3622 (139 BCE).

25 Kislev - (162 BCE) The Greeks make pagan sacrifices in the Temple

• "Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God." (1 Maccabees 1:59)

25 Kislev - (164 BCE) - The Hanukkah miracle
25 Kislev - (1904) - Rabbi Chaim Chizkiah Medini died

• Kislev 25 is the yahrtzeit (date of death) of Rabbi Chaim Chizkiah Medini (1832-1904), who was the author of the Halachic encyclopedia Sdei Chemed.

26 Kislev - (1198) - Raavad's death

• Rabbi Avraham ben David of Posquieres (Provence), who was known by the acronym "Raavad", and wrote the hagaot critical notations to Maimonides' Mishneh Torah. He was born around 1120, and died on the 26th of kislev of the Hebrew year 4959 (1198 CE).

27 Kislev - (2105 BCE) - Flood rains cease

• It is said that the forty days and nights of rainfall which covered the face of earth with water in Noah's time ended on Kislev 27 of the Hebrew year 1656 (2105 BCE). The flood itself lasted a full year (According to Genesis 6-8).

27 Kislev - (1817) - Death of Rabbi Chaim of Tchernovitz

• Rabbi Chaim of Tchernovitz (1760-1817) who was a disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch and of Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov. He authored Be'er Mayim Chayim ("Well of Living Waters"), a commentary on Torah. Chaim died on the 3rd day of Hannukah.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References In fiction

• In the story of Xenogears, Kislev is the name of a country, named after the Hebrew month.
• In the Warhammer universe, Kislev is both the name for a city near the chaos wastes and the country in which it resides.
• In the Dragonlance universe, Kislev (or Chislev) is the name of the neutral goddess of nature

References

1. ^ Min HaMetzar, Weissmandle, Rabbi Chaim.

• This Month in Jewish History
• Resources on the Month of Kislev

The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the copyrighted Wikipedia "Kislev" article.