What is (the reason of)
Ḥanukka? The Sages taught: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev the days of
Ḥanukka, which are eight, commence. One may eulogize the dead and fasting is
forbidden. When the Greeks entered the Sanctuary, they defiled all the
oils therein, and when the Hasmonean monarchy overcame and defeated them, they searched
and found only one jar of oil which lay with the seal of the High
Priest, but which contained sufficient oil for one day's lighting only;
yet a miracle occurred and they lit (the menorah) from it for eight days. The
next year (the Sages) established these (days) as holidays with (the recital
of) Hallel and thanksgiving.
Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 21b
Rabbi
Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal [Mishne Sachir, Ḥanukka]
notes that during the period of oppression by the Greeks which led to the
Hasmonean revolt and hence to Ḥanukka, the Jews suffered greatly at
the hands of the Greeks and thousand were martyred in God's name. God too, as
it were, suffered because his nation was prevented from serving Him since the
Greeks defiled the Temple, forbade the practice of mitzvot and wanted to
cause the Jews to forget Torah. Thus, when the Hasmoneans triumphed over the
Greeks, the salvation was double, not only for the Jews, but for the Shechina
as well. Nonetheless, the Divine joy at Israel's victory was not God's personal
joy, but His rejoicing over the salvation of His nation. Indeed, al haNissim,
the thanksgiving prayer added to Sh’mona Esreh and the Grace after Meals
notes that "The evil kingdom of Greece rose up against our people Israel
to make them forget Your Torah and to force them to abandon the statutes of
Your will." The continuation focuses upon God's salvation of Israel,
"And You, in Your great compassion, stood by them in their time of
distress … and took their vengeance." Rabbi Teichtal notes that the Sages
who authored al haNissim spoke of God's vengeance for His nation, not
for Himself. The great miracle of the Hasmonean victory over the Greeks is an
expression of His immense love for the People of Israel.
For
this reason, there is no mention in al haNissim of the miracle of the
jar of oil. That miracle was not connected to the physical salvation of Israel,
rather to God Himself and the ability to serve Him properly within the Temple.
Essentially,
the message of al haNissim is praise of God, Who, as it were, ignored
His own distress and focused on that of His nation. God's love of Israel is so
great that He made their honor more important than His own.
Rabbi
Teichtal comments that Ḥanukka is not the first time that God
demonstrated His priority. Though Moses was instructed to "Take revenge for the children of Israel against the
Midianites, [Numbers 31:2], he instructed Israel to "Carry out the revenge of the Lord against
Midian." [ibid. v.3] While the revenge against Midian was
both for the desecration of God's name and for the deaths of Israelites caused
by the Midianites, God instructed Moses to avenge the Israelites, not Himself.
Moses' instructions indicated that for the Israelites, it was revenge of the
desecration of God's name which was primary, not their own vengeance.
Rabbi
Teichtal cites Rabbi Levi Yitzḥak of Berditchev, who notes that the same point
is demonstrated by the fact that Israel calls the holiday of its freedom from
Egyptian enslavement "Passover" as a reminder of God's action in
sparing the first-born Israelites [Exodus 12:27], while the Torah refers to the
"holiday of matzot" as a reminder of Israel's actions. The
Torah, God's word, prefers to praise the Israelites' readiness to follow God
into the wilderness (see Jeremiah 2:2) over praise of God.
The
war against Midian and the names of the holiday of our freedom both demonstrate
that Israel responds to God's priority of their salvation by giving Him
priority. This is true of Ḥanukka as well. Though for God, the
salvation of His nation is the primary aspect of Ḥanukka,
the Sages instituted the holiday in commemoration of the miracle of the jar of
oil, the spiritual aspect of Ḥanukka which allowed the Nation of
Israel to continue to be faithful to the statutes of God's will. This fact
demonstrates that "Our main joy is in being privileged to fulfill God's mitzvot,
not in our physical salvation."
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