Kislev כסלו

The dark month of the year—and the month of lights: on the twenty-fifth of Kislev the Hasmoneans rededicated the Temple, and the eight days of Chanukah almost always cover the longest nights. The dispute of the schools of Shammai and Hillel over the order of the candles—decreasing or increasing—was settled with Hillel: in holiness one ascends, and each evening the lights grow by one.

The month names now in use are Babylonian: "the names of the months came up with us from Babylon", says the Jerusalem Talmud. In the Torah months are counted—"the first", "the seventh"—from Nisan, the month of the Exodus.