In honor of Chanuka, AIMeM is taking the week off. Please enjoy last year's Dvar Torah and have a wonderful Yom Tov!
We all know the story of Chanukah, the
Jews defeated the mighty Greek army and returned to the Beis Hamikdash. When
they came to light the Menorah, they could not find any pure oil to light it
with until, after a long search, they found enough oil to last one night. They
lit the Menorah and the oil lasted miraculously for eight days. To commemorate
this great miracle, we celebrate eight nights of Chanukah. There is a very
famous question from the Beis Yosef concerning these eight nights. While the
Menorah stayed lit for eight days, the actual miracle only lasted for
seven nights as there was already enough oil to last for one night! So really
we should celebrate seven nights, not eight?
There are literally hundreds of answers
to this question. I have decided to use the answer found in the Kedushas Levi,
written by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Mi’Berditchev, for this Dvar Torah.
He explains that we are really
commemorating two miracles here. The first day commemorates the miracle of the
battle against the Greeks. The fact that Hashem helped us defeat the much
stronger and larger Greek army is reason enough to establish a chag. The other
seven days represent the miracle of the Menorah. So the eight days of Hallel
and Thanksgiving are for both these reasons, the miracle of the war and the miracle
of the Menorah.
According to this explanation, another
question arises. If the miracle of the Menorah has nothing to do with the first
night of Chanukah, then why do we light the Menorah on that night? The Kedushas
Levi answers that once the nation saw the miracle of the oil, they realized
that the entire Chanukah miracle, including the battle, was only through
the zchus of the menorah. What exactly does this mean? What is so special about
the Menorah that we had the miracles of the war and the oil because of it?
When the Greeks came and took over the
Beis Hamikdash, they did not allow any of the daily service to continue.
Korbanos, the Ketores, the Levi’im’s singing, the lighting of the Menorah, they
were all discontinued. The Bnei Yisrael had no opportunity to even commemorate
any of these services as they are all specific to the Beis Hamikdash, except
the Menorah. When we light Shabbos candles or the Ner Tamid in Shul, they
fulfill the same purpose as the Menorah, to have candles of Kedushah lit at all
times, even outside of the Beis Hamikdash.
If there is something you really want
that is sitting right in front of you, and you cannot get to it, it makes it
even more precious to you. That is Hashem’s attitude towards our Shabbos
candles, they remind Him of the holy lights of the Menorah that were lit in the
Beis Hamikdash, making them more precious to Him than any other part of the
Avodah. During the time of Greek occupation, the Jews would light their Shabbos
candles and think longingly of the Beis Hamikdash and the opportunity to once
again do the Avodah. Because this longing came through the lights of the
candles, Hashem brought the Beis Hamikdash back through the zchus of the
Menorah’s light.
What an idea to take into Shabbos
Chanukah! Both the Shabbos and Chanukah candles remind Hashem of the Beis
Hamikdash and show our desire to once again perform the Avodah. What better
time to act on this than the time when we light both of these candles. So when you
light your Chanukah candles this week, realize that they
don’t just symbolize the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days or even the
Menorah itself, they represent the entire service done in the Beis Hamikdash.
May this Chanukah bring the Geulah that we have all been waiting for.
Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!
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AIMeM
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