No Eulogy or Fasting During Hanukka

Our Sages taught: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev (commence) the days of Ḥanukka, which are eight, on which eulogy for the dead and fasting are forbidden.            Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 21b

          Rabbi Kook explains that God’s salvation of His people influences both their physical and spiritual needs.

          Eulogy is a form of spiritual pain, while fasting is physical, thus both eulogy and fasting are forbidden as we commemorate the salvation of Ḥanukka, in order to teach that the spiritual and physical must be interrelated.

          The downfall of many nations came about through their successes. When a nation gets caught up in its tangible victories, it often does so at the risk of its spiritual development. The prohibition of both eulogy and fasting teaches that we must constantly view our material successes through a spiritual lens.