English translation — חנוכה

A.

In the wording of "Al Hanissim" of Chanukah one says: "And afterward Your children came to the chamber of Your House and cleared Your Hall and purified Your Sanctuary and lit candles in Your holy courtyards."

It is known in this the question: What means "and lit candles in Your holy courtyards" — the place of the menorah is indeed

(not in the Temple courtyard,

but)

inside,

in the Sanctuary?

The Chasam Sofer¹

answers it according to the ruling of the Rambam²

that "the lighting of the lamps is valid by a non-priest, therefore if the priest tended the lamps and took them outside, it is permitted for a non-priest to light them."

And since the Greeks had defiled the Sanctuary — "the³

Sanctuary was full of abominations" — it is "until³

they cleared Your Sanctuary and purified Your Holy Place ..

they did not light lamps inside but in Your holy courtyards, in the Courtyard"⁴

because if they had kindled the Menorah in the Sanctuary,

only the priests would have been able to see the miracle].

But at first glance it is puzzling in his answer:

a)

From the plain meaning of the language— "They came..

And they turned..

And they lit"⁵

it implies,

that the

"And they lit" was after "Clear your Sanctuary and purify your Temple".

And so it is also proven from what it says in several places<sup>6</sup>

that the name Chanukah is on account of the dedication of the altar and the Temple

(after the Greeks had defiled the Temple).

It follows,

that on the 25th of Kislev<sup>7</sup>

— and consequently also the lighting of the candles

(which began on the 25th of Kislev)

— was already after "Clear ..

And they purified..

and purify".

b)

Simply — the Greeks brought "abominations" not only into the Sanctuary but into all parts of the Holy Temple

(including the Courtyard<sup>8</sup>),

as understood from the text of "And on the miracles" itself — "and purify your Temple" simply,

they purified the entire Holy Temple<sup>9</sup>

; why should one say that the purification of the Courtyard was before the purification of the Sanctuary

(and a full eight days)

and that therefore they could light the Menorah in the Courtyard but not inside<sup>10</sup>?

One cannot say that this was done only so that the miracle be publicized

(as a continuation of the words of the Chasam Sofer there,

as above)

— because at the kindling of the menorah

(at least the first time)

they did not yet know that a miracle would occur.

3)

In any case: the above explanation only answers the precision of why one says "in the courtyards" and not "in the Sanctuary."

It remains, however, not understood¹¹

: why does one say

"In the courtyards" — plural language,

and not "in the courtyard of Your holiness"

(in the Temple courtyard⁴)?

And especially since earlier one says everything in singular language — "to the Sanctuary of Your house..

Your Palace..

Your Temple",

and here one changes to plural language — "in the courtyards"*¹¹.

B.

And superficially it seems to say,

that "and they kindled lights in the courtyards of Your holiness" is not meant the lights of the Menorah that were in the Temple — rather other lights¹²

that they kindled as a praise and glory to the Most High.

that one of the ways to express a matter of praise to G-d is through candles.

And along the lines of what is stated<sup>14</sup>

"Honor G-d with lights"

(as it is brought in halacha regarding the candles of the synagogue<sup>15</sup>),

and as one finds

(regarding the Temple)

in the Celebration of the Water-Drawing,

that they would light

"golden menorahs"<sup>16</sup>

in the Women's Courtyard

(which illuminated all of Jerusalem)

because of the great joy of the Celebration of the Water-Drawing].

And "and they kindled lights in Your holy courts" is not a continuation of earlier

(to "and they turned..

and they purified")

but this refers to further — to "to thank and praise Your great name",

that "they kindled lights etc. and

(also)

they established these eight days of Chanukah

(in order)

to thank and praise etc."

And accordingly the wording "in Your holy courts" is also resolved

(plural)

— because the lights were kindled

(not

(only)

in the Temple courtyard

(in the azarah),

but)

also*¹⁶

in the women's courtyard and surroundings of the Temple¹⁷

in general¹⁸.

One remains, however, not understanding: based on this it turns out,

that in the text of "Ve'al HaNissim" nothing is mentioned — even not by a hint¹⁹

— about the miracle of the flask of oil for the lights! One mentions only about the miracle of the victory of the war — "You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak and the many into the hands of the few etc. You performed a great salvation etc."

The wonder is even greater.

The Gemara says in Shabbos²⁰

: "What is Chanukah" — and Rashi there explains: about which miracle did they establish it — "that when the Greeks entered the Sanctuary they defiled all the oils etc. and they found only one flask etc. a miracle was done with it and they lit from it eight days; the next year they established them and made them festive days with Hallel and thanksgiving."

It turns out that Hallel and Hoda'ah

("Al Hanissim B'Hoda'ah"²¹)

were established

(mainly)

on the miracle of the oil²²

— then how does it come that in this text of Ve'al Hanissim the miracle of the oil should not be mentioned at all?

3.

This will be understood by prefacing the explanation in the well-known question²³

: The "main miracle was in the victory of the war, many into the hands of few, mighty into the hands of weak, etc.",

then why were the days of Chanukah established

(not on the miracle of the victory of the war and the salvation of Israel from the Greeks,

but)

on the miracle of the flask of oil?

For prima facie,

"Did they make the secondary into the primary"?

Stands on this the explanation²⁴,

that

The main decree in the days of Chanukah was not on the bodies of Jews,

but on the religion of Israel²⁵

— "they nullified their religion"²⁶

"to cause them to forget Your Torah and to make them pass from the statutes of Your will",

and as the saying of our Sages of blessed memory²⁷

"Write on the horn of an ox that you have no portion in the God of Israel'

(And the wars in physicality were²⁸

a result of the decrees on the religion of Israel²⁹).

And therefore they made an essential,

not from the miracle of the victory of the war

(the saving of the body),

but from the oil — the miracle connected with a fulfillment of a commandment in the Holy Temple,

and in this itself — with the lights of the Temple,

which alludes to the entirety of the matters of Torah and commandments, as it is said³⁰

"For a commandment is a lamp and Torah is light" — that this is connected with the spiritual salvation.

It requires, however, explanation: At the time that the Gemara explains "What is Chanukah" — "For which miracle did they establish it" — it tells only of the miracle of the oil and it is not mentioned at all the miracle of the victory of the war.

— the Gemara says only 1)

As an introduction and fixing of the time "And when the kingdom of the house

of the Hasmoneans prevailed and they defeated them, they searched and did not find etc.",

and 2)

the miracle of the victory of the war

("the mighty into the hands of the weak and the many into the hands of the few etc.'")

is not mentioned at all,

only that there was a victory —

It is not understood: Indeed, it is true that the main subject of Chanukah is the spiritual salvation,

but there was also a physical salvation,

and in a completely miraculous manner³¹

; moreover: the spiritual salvation came only through

(and more)

the physical salvation —

At least in a secondary manner — should the Gemara have mentioned also the miracle of the victory in the war?

4.

And it can be said the explanation in this:

One has already many times spoken³²

about the war of the Greeks,

that it was not simply a war

(spiritual)

against the religion of Israel,

but the exact point was in this — "to cause them to forget Your Torah

(Your Torah)

and to cause them to pass away from the statutes of Your will":

The Greeks did not care so much that Jews learn Torah,

the purpose of their decree was "to cause them to forget Your Torah" — to make them forget that the Torah is Your Torah,

the Torah of Hashem which is above intellect.

And likewise — "to cause them to pass away from the statutes of Your will",

that Jews should not fulfill the statutes — the commandments which are

above intellect and their fulfillment is only with acceptance of the yoke — because so is Your will,

the will of the Almighty.

The war of the Greeks was against that which among Jews G‑dliness is entirely above the boundaries of creation,

and cannot be grasped with intellect

(human).

H.

This is also one of the explanations in that the name of Chanukah

(in relation to the spiritual salvation)

was connected specifically with the lights of the Menorah —

At first glance,

the Greeks had indeed defiled the entire Holy Temple and they needed to consecrate the altar and all the vessels of the Sanctuary³³

; why did the Almighty cause that the miracle should be related to the lights of the Menorah specifically?

So the matter in this³⁴

: One finds,

that when one wishes to denote a spiritual matter, one is accustomed to use the concept

(and a parable of),

light"³⁵,

in the language of the verse³⁰

: For a commandment is a lamp and Torah is light.

One of the reasons for this³⁶

: "Light" is distinguished from all creations by that although light is a creation in this world,

it is not grasped

(so much)

in the materiality of the world.

And regarding this distinction in voice, appearance, and smell:

Regarding air in relation to voice, Chazal say³⁷

that "it has no substance."

But although in comparison to other physical things, voice is "without substance,"

nevertheless it is grasped in a physical thing — movements of the physical air³⁸

: and so too smell,

although this is merely a diffusion from the object³⁹,

it has a hold in the physicality of the thing⁴⁰,

it is a part of the object that is diffused further

(and therefore it is possible that the smell becomes weaker until it is consumed⁴¹).

But not so, appearance is not the physical substance of the thing seen.

And for this reason spirituality is signified by the name light — because among all physical things in the world,

light⁴²

is the most spiritual created thing.

6.

The above explanation regarding light,

also gives an explanation in the statement of Chazal⁴³

regarding the lights of the Menorah — "It is a testimony to the inhabitants of the world that the Shechinah rests upon Israel"

(due to the miracle that occurred with the western lamp — "from it he would light and with it he would conclude").

For at first glance it is not understood⁴⁴

: Why is the miracle of the western lamp singled out from all the "ten miracles

(that)

were performed for our forefathers in the Holy Temple"⁴⁵,

that specifically this miracle was a testimony "that the Shechinah rests upon Israel"?

And at first glance, on the contrary: The Menorah stood in the Sanctuary where not everyone could enter; in contrast, some of the ten miracles were in the Courtyard⁴⁶

and thus they were

(more)

"known to all"⁴⁷.

And according to the above it is understood,

because light

(or physical light)

— is more a vessel for the light of the Shechinah.

And therefore,

when the light of the Shechinah

(which is higher than the world)

becomes connected with a

(physical)

light,

it has a stronger effect in illuminating the world with the light of the Shechinah,

and therefore specifically the wick

(with the light of the menorah)

influenced the "inhabitants of the world" that they should recognize "that the Shechinah rests upon Israel."

And with this it is also understandable why the spiritual salvation of Chanukah was connected with the name of the flask of oil of the menorah: This is not a side miracle,

but in this was expressed the victory of the days of Chanukah:

The recognition of "Your Torah" and "the statutes of Your will" — that among Jews is illuminated

(as above section 4)

the Divine light that is above human intellect

(and the boundaries of creation)

— was revealed in

(a)

a miracle

(that is, it is elevated and above the order of nature),

and

(b)

in connection with the light of the menorah,

which is a vessel for the Divine light that is above creation,

which therefore is "a testimony to the inhabitants of the world that the Divine Presence rests upon Israel".

7.

According to all the above, one will also understand what the Gemara says "What is Chanukah" — about which miracle did they establish it,

and it mentions only the miracle of the flask of oil and does not mention at all the miracle of the victory of the war — because when one speaks about the essence of Chanukah

("What is Chanukah"),

this is the miracle of the lights of Chanukah,

which points to the spiritual light

(a lamp of mitzvah)

that illuminated through the spiritual victory.

And although the physical miracle was the introduction and the cause of the spiritual miracle

(because were it not for the victory of the war, there could not have been the dedication of the Temple and consequently also not the miracle

the candles)⁴⁸

— nevertheless,

after one already has the spiritual miracle,

is the thing

(and miracle)

physical does not take up space.

a candle at midday what does it avail,

that the light of the candle becomes nullified relative to the light of the sun — because there,

although the light of the sun is not merely a greater light in quantity,

rather it is also different in the quality of light, but the light of the candle is an existence of light⁵⁰,

it is only "what does it avail",

But not so in our case,

is regarding the spiritual light that illuminated on Chanukah

(through the kindling of the lights)

— which is connected with the Divine light that is above the limits of creation — the existence of physical victory has no place<sup>51</sup>].

And therefore it is accordingly,

on the other hand,

regarding the text of "And for the miracles": When one wants to give thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He, for the miracle of victory in war,

one cannot thereby include in one category the thanksgiving for the miracle of the oil — because then the existence

(and importance)

of the victory in the physical war is nullified.

And therefore one separates them into two times<sup>52</sup>

The thanksgiving for the miracle of the oil of the lights is

(openly⁵³)

through the lighting of the Chanukah candles; and the thanksgiving for the victory of the war

(openly⁵⁴)

— in the recitation of Ve'al HaNissim.

8.

From every matter one must take out a practical lesson in the service of G-d.

So the lesson simply is: From Chanukah one takes the power that among a Jew the light of the soul should shine until in a manner that the physical matters of the person should not occupy space for him.

Because even though the soul is clothed in a body and here in this world the soul cannot serve the Almighty except through the body — all the commandments are specifically with physical things and also the intellect and emotions of the soul become revealed through the physical limbs,

the physical brain and the physical heart —

Chanukah teaches,

that it is in the power of a Jew that the physicality should not take up space for him.

One does not speak about

Materiality that is not connected with the work of the soul — such materiality should initially not exist,

In all your ways

(—yours)

Know Him

(—the Lord).

But even materiality that leads to spirituality

(as the victory of the war in the days of Chanukah which brought about the spiritual salvation)

— one must effect in oneself,

that the "materiality" should not have any hold

place; the entire existence of the materiality should only be that — which through it is carried out the work

(spiritual)

of the soul⁵⁵.

Shabbos

<b>Chanukah — 5726,</b>

5734)