WHAT CHANUKAH IS ABOUT
The holiday of Chanukah was enacted to memorialize two miracles that occurred on Chanukah; the miracle of the pitcher of oil, and the miracle of the victory of the Hasmoneans over the Greeks in the war and the re-establishment of Jewish self-reign.
In the middle of the days of the second temple the Greeks ruled over the nation and land of Israel. “They declared bad decrees against the Jews, and nullified their religion, and didn’t let them engage in Torah and mitzvot. They helped themselves to the Jews’ possessions and daughters, entered the sanctuary and breached it, and defiled that which was pure. The Jews were very troubled by them, and they pressured the Jews greatly, until the Lord of our fathers had mercy on them and saved them from the Greeks. The sons of the Hasmoneans, high priests, overcame them and killed them, and saved Israel from them. They coronated a Cohen as king, and the reign returned to the Jews for more than two hundred years, until the destruction of the second Temple.”
The Gemara relates the miracle of the pitcher of olive oil:
When the Greeks entered the sanctuary, they defiled all of the oil in it. When the Hasmonean leadership became strong and defeated them, they searched, and found only one pitcher of oil that was intact, with the seal of the high priest. It contained no more than enough to light for one day — and a miracle occurred, and it lit for eight days. The next year, they enacted that these days will be a holiday, with praise (Hallel) and thanks.
Similarly Maimonides writes:
The Jews overcame their enemies and destroyed them on the twenty-fifth of Kislev. They entered the sanctuary and couldn’t find pure oil in the Temple except for one pitcher, that contained no more than enough to light for one day. They lit the lights (of the menorah) from it for eight days, until they pressed olives and obtained pure oil.
Because of these two miracles our sages enacted [A] to light Chanukah lights, in memory of the miracle of the pitcher of oil. [B] To say Al hanisim and the full Hallel, in memory of the military victory. Consequently, these days are called Chanukah, as if to say Chanu-kah, that on the twenty-fifth (the numerical value of kah) of Kislev they camped after the war against their enemies.
The two miracles are connected: The re-establishment of Jewish self-dominion is connected to lighting the Menorah in the Temple. The regime of King David and his scions is called “candle-arranging,” as it is written in T’hillim (Psalms), “And I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her pious ones will joyfully shout. There I will cause David’s reign to shoot up; I have arranged a candle for My anointed. His enemies I will cloth with shame, and on himself his crown will shine.” King David prophesies about the return of sovereignty to Israel and about a salvation done by priests, and writes, “I have arranged a candle for My anointed.
When the prophet Z’charyah prophesied at the beginning of the second Temple about the reign returning to Israel, he saw a golden Menorah. “He said to me, ‘What do you see?’ and I said, ‘I have seen, and here is a totally golden menorah and a bowl on its top…And two olive trees beside it’…and I said to the angel who spoke with me, ‘What are these, sir?’” The angel answered him that the prophecy means that the Priesthood of the Cohanim and the Jewish kingship will return, because both of them are anointed with anointing oil.
We learn from this that the Jewish regime is compared to a golden Menorah, which is connected to the Priesthood, which is likewise symbolized by the lighting of the Menorah. Therefore, we pray for the return of Jewish reign in the prayers of the High Holidays with the words “and a candle-arrangement for the son of Yishai, Your anointed.”
Significance of the miracle of the pitcher of oil: It is written: Everywhere oil (for lighting the Menorah) is mentioned in the Torah and in our sages’ words, it represents the wisdom of the heart and the thoughts of the brain. When the Greeks entered the sanctuary they defiled all of the oil, meaning they blemished the wisdom and thoughts of the hearts of most of the Jews. These Jews started to be attracted by the Greek wisdom, and thought that it was worth something.
When the Hasmoneans entered the sanctuary and found only one pitcher of pure oil that could light the Menorah only one day, it was is if to say, that even though the Greeks had blemished the thoughts of the hearts of the holy Jewish people, they still had one pure thought, one spark of the true wisdom — that they knew that they’re holy and the chosen people, and that all of the gentiles will follow the Jews’ light, and the Jews won’t follow their “light.”
This miracle of purity of the heart and the soul is important to Jews of all generations. It’s even more important when we are subjugated, and under the yoke of the gentiles. As long as the faith in our hearts and thoughts is pure, then even amidst our subjugation we are destined to be redeemed.
However, when the faith and the wisdom of the heart are blemished, then even when we’re free, we are truly subjugated. If the faith of the heart is shaky, if the wisdom has been transposed, it is prone to extinguish, and the Jews will likely be lost and thrown around the nations, Heaven forbid.
There is no way for the Jews to be saved from this evil fate save by miraculous Divine assistance. When do we merit such miracles? As long as the last ember has not extinguished, and we still contain enough “oil” to light one day, we merit this miracle, and the Heavens will help us to light an everlasting light with this oil, and then all of the evil decrees of the gentiles against us will be nullified.
Nachmanides (Ramban) wrote in his commentary on the Torah:
I found a statement similar to this in the Megillat S’tarim of Rabbeinu Nissim, who brought this account, and said, “I saw in the Midrash, that since the princes of the twelve tribes brought sacrifices (at the inauguration of the altar) and the tribe of Levi didn’t bring a sacrifice… the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, ‘Speak with Aharon and tell him that there’s another inauguration with the lighting of the Menorah. I will do it through your descendants with miracles and salvation for Israel.’ The inauguration (Hebrew: Chanukah) that was Levi’s was the Chanukah of the Hasmoneans. Therefore, this portion (discussing the lighting of the Menorah) was written adjacent to the inauguration of the altar.” I also saw in the Midrash Y’lam’deinu and in Midrash Rabbah, “Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moshe, ‘Go tell Aharon, “Don’t be afraid — you are destined for greater things. The sacrifices will be offered up (only) as long as the Temple is standing, but the lights will be forever “facing the Menorah,” and all of the blessings that I gave you to bless my children will never be annulled.’” It’s obvious that when the Temple isn’t standing and the sacrifices aren’t offered because it was destroyed, that the Menorah won’t be lit, either. The Midrash isn’t referring to the Menorah in the Temple, rather it’s referring to the lights of the Chanukah of the Hasmoneans, which will be lit even after the destruction of the Temple.
IMPORTANCE
Foundations of the sanctuary at the beginning of the second Temple: The foundations were laid on the twenty-fifth of Kislev. When the exiles in Babylon returned to the land of Israel and started rebuilding the Temple, there were opponents who halted the construction for twenty-two years. Afterwards, the construction resumed, and they laid the foundations of the Holy Sanctuary on the twenty-fourth of Kislev, and at night i.e., the twenty-fifth of Kislev, they were happy that they laid the foundations and rejoiced. Similarly, the prophet said, “Place upon your hearts from this day on, from the twenty-fourth of the ninth (month, i.e., twenty-fourth of Kislev). From the day of the founding of the sanctuary of Hashem, place it upon your hearts.” From this day on a blessing rested upon the Jews who came from the exile.
Chanukah with happiness and fine clothes: The Rabbi Kaf Hachayim wrote that one should be joyous when lighting the candles and blessing. The pride of our strength, the Ben Ish Chai, wrote in his book Ateret Tif’eret, “On Rosh Chodesh and Chanukah and Purim the women attain a higher spiritual level. Therefore they should change their clothes, and not remain in weekday clothes. A woman who has golden jewelry should wear them during these days, to show that women have a higher spiritual level during these days.”
Therefore, women need to be careful to dress nicely, and to put on jewelry in honor of the lighting, since the lighting accomplishes the mitzvah, i.e., the time of lighting is most important. Men should also be sure to wear what they would wear in honor of guests. Someone who puts on a hat or jacket when important guests arrive to his home should put them on when lighting, and certainly not bless while wearing a torn shirt, sandals, or the like. All of this is to show how dear and beloved this mitzvah is to us!
Endearing the mitzvah: The mitzvah of the Chanukah light is very dear, and a person should be careful about it, to publicize the miracle, and to praise Hashem even more, and to thank Him for the miracles that He did for us. Even if one lives on charity, one must borrow or sell one’s clothing in order to buy oil and a Menorah and light it.
PROHIBITION AGAINST FASTING
“What is Chanukah? On the twenty-fifth of Kislev there are eight days of Chanukah, one neither eulogizes nor fasts during them.” This is the halachah.