Maybe you didn’t know but we are just finishing up the first week of Adar I, and therefore in a Jewish leap year (shanah me'uberet, translates to “a pregnant year”). Because us Jews love to make a big deal out of everything (actually because we have a solar/lunar hybrid calendar), our leap years mean adding an entire extra month – an entire new moon cycle. So, I thought a story about the moon was fitting for this moment. Please enjoy the following: my embellished version of a short, lunar Talmudic tale.
Love, Meg.
A Story About The Moon
The following is my version and interpretation of the story told in the Talmud (Chullin 60B). I have taken many liberties. Call it my Moon Midrash.
Once upon a time the moon and the sun were the same size. The Torah tells us that God made them and they were both great! It says, “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night” (Genesis 1:16). So how did the moon become smaller than the sun? This is how the story goes.
One day, the moon was just floating about in the sky, thinking about life and what it’s like to be a moon, when out of the corner of her eye she noticed the sun – it was almost time for morning. She considered how they both ruled the sky, and how it was going pretty well. They took turns giving off light – in truth, they rarely saw each other. When they overlapped they’d catch up, talk about the weather, it was all pretty casual. But for some reason, on this particular seam between night and day, a question jumped into her head. Is it really possible for them to both rule the sky? So, she decided to ask God.
“God!” she said, “Is it possible for two rulers to rule with one crown? I mean, is it possible that the sun and I can really rule the sky equally and together?”
God was shocked. How could the moon question the design of the universe?! Deeply distressed by the moon’s question, God’s voice boomed down and said:
“You know what, I guess you’re right! I will redesign this great spinning system – shrink yourself down. If you are so smart, you be the lesser one.”
The moon thought this was totally unfair – just because she had a compelling question, why should she be punished? But, as God commanded, she shrunk herself down, smaller and smaller until she was a fraction of the size she was before. Her face crumpled in frustration and then fell in sadness.
God noticed that the moon was very upset and said, in an attempt to cheer her up, “Listen, yeah you are smaller now, but how about this, how about you shine both day and night. The sun only comes out during the day. But you, you can be visible during both. Does that make you feel better?”
The moon thought about it, but no. It did not make her feel better. “Who cares if I shine during the day – next to the giant sun, it would be like turning on a little flashlight – barely noticeable. Insignificant. If a moon shines in the night and no one sees it…”
God thought about this again, and admittedly, started to feel somewhat bad. What were other ways to make the moon feel special? Aha! How about this, “The Jewish people will build their calendar around you – they will count days and months and festivals by you!”
The moon saw through this too. “Yeah,” she said, “but we all know the sun plays a big role in seasons and years and days and all that stuff.” She was starting to feel deflated.
Finally, God said, “What if we think about this differently. You know, being small isn’t bad! I will name some of the greatest heroes of the Jewish tradition after their smallness. Samuel, King David, Jacob, even the Jewish people themselves will be small. But small can be mighty!”
Still, the moon was inconsolable. Nothing could make it better. To ask someone to shrink themselves? It was irreversible.
Deep down, God realized that asking the moon to dim her light was wrong – God needed to ask for forgiveness.
When we look up into the night sky and see the moon, we remember this conversation between her and God. We hold two truths in tandem:
One, that she is spectacular in her smallness. She is strong and sways the waters on Earth at her will.
And two, even God couldn’t make it better after asking her to dim her light – there was no remedy for forcing her to be less than her full self – no compensation for taking away who she was.
We’ll never know for sure what happened after the moon and God had this conflict. We do know she keeps shining. We do know she also takes breaks in the dark.