Welcome to the Chai Weekly.
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​salām shāgerdāné aziz (hello dear students), ​
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This is Leyla from ​​Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation​​. Each week, I share ideas to ponder, inspire, and motivate you on your own journey to learning about the Persian language and Iranian culture.

In this very special edition of the Chai Weekly newsletter, I'll be going over everything you need to know about the celebration of shabé yaldā, occurring on December 21st.

About shabé yaldā

So what exactly is shabé yaldā? Shab is simply the word for night, and yaldā is the word for the longest night of the year- the winter solstice, which in the northern hemisphere this year occurs on December 21st. In so many cultures, especially ancient ones, this night holds great meaning. It is the longest, darkest night, and often the coldest- when people start to fall into despair, loneliness, and hopelessness. Agriculturally, it is a time when things are very difficult, as few crops can grow in the bitter cold. Because of the natural difficulty of this period of time, many cultures have a 'celebration' on this night- to gather with family and friends, to eat, and to express joy as a contrast and antidote to the darkness. Although these are ancient traditions, they carry into our celebrations today. In the west, most of our gathering holidays occur during these cold bitter months- think Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. It's not a coincidence that these holidays occur so close to the solstice (and to the pagan rituals that came before them).

The point of yaldā is exactly this- to acknowledge the difficulty of what has come to pass, and to look forward to the lengthening of the days, and warming and coming of light that is to come.

The celebration

With all that being said- how exactly do we celebrate yaldā? In essence, it's an excuse to get together with family and friends around candlelight and warmth, eat delicious wintery foods (and some summery ones as well- I'll explain in a moment), listen to music, read poetry, and tell stories. Let's look at each of these individually.

Candlelight and warmth

Traditionally, on shabé yaldā the korsi would be the centerpiece of the ceremonies. A korsi is a tablecloth set with coals underneath it- people would sit with their feet under the tablecloth to keep themselves warm. But in modern times, I like to think of the theme for this night as the Danish concept of hygge- the ritual of creating a feeling of coziness and warmth in the face of the cold. So light candles, reminiscent of the fire of the korsi and make your space into an inviting gathering place.

Food

The rituals of yaldā night are largely centered around eating delicious foods (as are many other Iranian traditions).

On this night, the most common foods to serve are pomegranates, nuts, dried fruits, and... watermelon! Traditionally, watermelon would be saved from the summer months to enjoy on this night, and to remind people that summer would come once again.

There are a few other dishes that are traditionally served on this night, and these include āsh and fesenjoon.

I recently made fesenjoon, a Persian stew prominently featuring pomegranates and walnuts, using a recipe from the fantastic cookbook Sofreh, but I've also made an equally delicious version from another favorite cookbook of mine, Bottom of the Pot. If you don't have either of these books (I recommend you buy them now!) this is a fantastic recipe available online by the Caspian Chef.

As for the āsh- āsh is the Persian word for a thick, hearty soup, and this would be perfect for a long and cold night. This year, I think I'm going to cook the 'Everything but the kitchen sink' āsh recipe from the Sofreh book. This is an appropriate dish because it incorporates pomegranate, which is the star fruit of the night. Another version is this online recipe from Naz Deravian, author of Bottom of the Pot.

In addition to your spread, you should have plenty of chai going to warm up with throughout the night. Don't shy away from caffeinated tea- it's what most Iranians go for, even throughout the night.

Music

Music is such an important part of the holiday, and I personally love to fill the night with classics by Iranian artists like Haydeh and Shahram Nazeri.

I also highly recommend the album 'Pomegranates' that came out in 2007. I'm sure you can find it on Spotify, but for the luddites like me, you can stream it on youtube as well.

Poetry

Another central part of the shabé yaldā night is the reading of poetry- specifically doing 'fāl-é hāfez'. This is a tradition in which you get your fortune read by choosing a poem at random from a book of Hafez poetry. Whichever poem you choose determines your fate for the season.

We also have several Hafez poems as part of our program. Check out our poetry page and scroll down to the Hafez section for some poems you can read. We have the Persian script of the poem, but they're also written in English phonetic, and include the English translation as well. You can also listen to some podcast episodes we have about Hafez to prepare.

You can also choose any poems that are meaningful to you to recite through the night. When else do you have the excuse to recite poetry with a cup of chai and candles around you all night?

On Having People Over

I recently read the book Having People Over by author Chelsea Fagan. I'd previously interviewed her about another recent book called High Dive in which she has an Iranian-American love interest. Her new book doesn't have any characters- it's non-fiction- but as I was reading it, I couldn't help but think how Iranian so many of her core principles are. In it, she talks about the lost art of mehmoondāree, literally, having guests. In Iranian culture, one of our core values is throwing mehmoonees, or parties, and preparing our home and many dishes for people to come over and enjoy.

The book was especially inspiring, because she argues that in this day and age of social media perfectionism and capitalism, inviting people over has become less common. She argues that "In a world that often feels disconnected and transactional, there's nothing more radically hospitable than welcoming people into your space, your table, and your life."

So, if you need some inspiration for a shabé yaldā gathering, it might be a perfect time to check out this book.

Some final thoughts.

Really, shabé yaldā is a celebration- a celebration of light over darkness, a celebration of the spirit of humanity. The past few years, as I've been writing about this holiday, I've had to temper the festivities with the realities of what's going on in the world, and this year is no different. It sometimes, for me, seems difficult to want to celebrate. However, I have to remind myself that this celebration has lasted a thousand years- through war and famine and destruction- and does show the resilience of the human spirit. In fact, that's the entire point of the holiday.

So, I hope that you can tap into that spirit, into the lightness that always somehow wins over the darkness, and that we can let that be a guide for the coming days and weeks.

At least one can hope.

Additional Resources

If you'd like to learn even more about shabé yaldā, here are a few more resources that provide good information about the night:

The best comprehensive explainer on shabé yaldā I've ever seen

Naz Deravian explains shabé yaldā in New York Times​

Lousia Shaifa describes her experiences with yalda in Food52​

I also love to read this book, called The Shortest Day, by one of my absolute favorite children's books authors, Carson Ellis for my children in the days leading up to shabé yaldā. It is an illustration of a poem of the same name by Susan Cooper, and talks about the winter solstice throughout the ages. Every time I read it, I feel grateful to those who came before us, and for where we are now, as flawed as we may be.

And that's it for now!

Until next week,

khodāhāfez from,

Leyla

p.s.- will you be celebrating shabé yaldā this year? Please email me back and let me know- I love to hear about your celebrations!