The Holiday of Chanukah was established by our Sages to commemorate the miraculous victory of the Macabbees over the massive Greek army which enabled the Jews to regain their religious freedom and reclaim the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Once they entered the Temple, the Macabbees, who were Kohanim – Priests, wished to fulfill the Mitzvah of lighting the Menorah in the Temple which required ritually pure oil. However, the Greeks, in their interest of divesting and stripping the Jews of their religious observances, enforced laws forbidding them from serving G-d, and attempted to remove any vestige of holiness from the Temple. They razed the Temple’s Altar upon which the sacrifices were offered and they plundered and contaminated all the sacred ingredients, such as the ritually pure oil, so that it would be unfit for the Temple service. Thus, no pure oil was to be found
Although under these circumstances, the Halacha – law permits the use of tainted oil, the Macabbees were not satisfied with filling the cups of the Menorah with such oil for they wished to induct the service in its purest fashion. They therefore thoroughly and meticulously searched the Temple compound until they finally unearthed a single small flask that retained the seal of the High Priest that attested to its purity. They used the contents of this flask to fill the cups of the seven branched Menorah and then lit the Menorah. Although the contents of the flask had enough oil to last for only one day, it miraculously lasted for an additional seven days, the requisite amount of time necessary to attain new pure oil.
Because of these two miracles, the victory of the war and finding the pure oil and it lasting for eight days, our Sages established the eight days of Chanukah. During these days we express and sing G-d’s praises through reciting the Hallel during the morning prayers, along with a special prayer of thanks called Al Hanissim which describes the miracles of the war and our regaining religious freedom. This prayer is included in the Amidah prayer and in the blessings that we recite after eating bread.
Our Sages also enacted that we kindle the Menorah each evening in our homes. They also instituted many laws pertaining to the kindling, including which blessings we recite before the kindling, where the Menorah should be positioned, how many candles to be lit each night, what time the Menorah should be lit, and until when it should remain lit.
Upon reflection, the two Chanukah miracles, the victory at war and the oil burning are different. The war was an open miracle, for a handful of Macabees defeated a massive, well organized Greek army, whereas the miracle of the oil was almost private, witnessed only in the Temple vicinity.
Yet during the Holiday we seem to commemorate them in the opposite way. The victory of war is recognized in our silent devotion of the Amidah prayer, while the miracle of the oil, represented by our lighting the Menorah in our windows is to publicize the miracle openly to the people in the street.
Why is this so? A possible answer is that the miracle of victory at war might easily be misconstrued and attributed to the Macabbees skill and strategy, or because perhaps the Greeks were taken by surprise. Since G-d’s involvement in the victory might not be noticed, we therefore thank G-d for this along with thanking Him for all He does during our Amidah prayer. We recite the prayer of Al Hanisim over our victory, to emphasize that we believe it all happened through G-d’s allowance and guidance.
The miracle of the pure oil lasting for eight days cannot be misunderstood as a natural occurrence; it could only have happened because G-d was behind it. This miracle represents the special relationship
G-d has with us and it is the one that we publicize. Through this miracle G-d showed us that He is with us and always will be with us.
Just as G-d helped the Macabbees who sought to perform the Mitzvah in its purest form, so too, G-d assures us, “If you make the effort to serve Me in the proper way, then even if you do not know how it could work out or be feasible, I will be there for you and My assistance will come in super-natural ways.”
Each night of Chanukah a single candle is added. This conveys to us and encourages us that seemingly ‘small deeds’ bring spiritual light to ourselves, our homes and to the entire world.
The nations of the world, beyond a doubt, recognize the special relationship we have with G-d. This causes jealously which is the essential root of anti-Semitism.
In the Hallel we recite, King David expresses this sentiment, “In the future, all the nations will sing and praise the Almighty about the overwhelming kindness He provided us with.”
Commentaries explain that this refers specifically to the nations of the world who had wished to harm, obliterate and persuade us away from our sacred trust. They are the ones who are well aware of all their attempts and strategies against us that went awry and didn’t materialize. In the future they will be the ones who will praise G-d for the salvation of the Jews, because they know how so many of their plans were miraculously averted by the protective Hand of G-d.
May this prophetic day, which we so urgently need, come speedily with the heralding of the Moshiach, Amen!
