Miracles of Creation: The Snow that Stopped the Hasmonean War

Almost a month has passed since Chanukah. Tevet is usually the rainiest month of the year. There were years when we were fortunate to see a little snow in Jerusalem or even in the Galilee hills.

Chanukah marked the day when the Hasmoneans succeeded in purifying the Temple, but the Hasmonean wars continued even after the celebrations of the rededication.

Jonathan, son of Simon the Hasmonean, fought for the independence of the Hasmonean kingdom, opposed by Tryphon, a Greek general. Tryphon arrived with a major army to conquer Jerusalem from the Hasmoneans in the middle of winter. He was not intimidated by the Israeli winter, which isn’t known as "General Winter" like in Europe...

But divine intervention was against him: Snow had already paralyzed the entire central region and did not allow him to approach Jerusalem.

As described in the Book of Maccabees: "Tryphon sought to reign over Asia and to set the crown on his head, to reach out against King Antiochus... Tryphon set out from Akko with a great army to come to the land of Judah... to conquer the land and destroy it, and he turned toward Adora... and the men from the fortress sent emissaries urging Tryphon to come to them… so Tryphon prepared all his cavalry to go, but that night there was heavy snow, and he could not proceed due to the snow, so he moved on and went to Gilead... and Tryphon returned to his land" (1 Maccabees 12:39–43, 27).

Tryphon despaired and left the land. It seems the snow lasted several days, and he was unable to sustain his army.

The exact date of the heavy snow isn't mentioned in the Books of Maccabees, but other records mention heavy snow in the Land of Israel at unusual times. Rabbi Yosef Schwarz, in his book "Tevuot Ha'Aretz," tells of an elder recounting that the snow of the year 1754 in the area around Nazareth killed about 25 people and lasted in Jerusalem until the month of Sivan. "Almost no quorum was present in the synagogue here in the Holy City on Shavuot, as that night snow fell so heavily that hardly anyone could leave for morning prayers."

In ancient times, snow was not only a children's game or a delightful vision but a danger to many lives, as described by Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kamanitz about the snow of 1836: "When I came to the Holy Land in the month of Elul, I saw ruins in Zefat. People told me that in the month of Tevet of that year, a great snow fell from the heavens, remaining on rooftops until they melted and collapsed over ten days... the snow and cold devastated all the donkeys carrying loads, causing great expense in the land."

David Shuv, in his "Memoirs of the House of David, Jerusalem, 1936," describes: "On Friday of Shabbat Shirah, Tu Bishvat 1881, snow began to fall, and by Shabbat, the snow was a meter high on the ground. People struggled to move in Zefat, and hot pots couldn't be fetched from the ovens to the houses. Many were forced to fast on that Shabbat. Disasters struck, and homes collapsed. In one house, a young eighteen-year-old man was killed, who was to be married that week."

The snow events were significant enough that in the ancient synagogue of Baram, a remnant exists, bearing an inscription on the wall: "Do not be surprised by snow in Nisan, for we have seen it in Sivan.”

Thus, we can understand why we bless for dew and rain for a blessing, as these wonderful natural resources that bring us blessing can easily bring anguish and disaster.

Wishing everyone a healthy and mild winter.