Channukah
Moshe Ben-Chaim

Answer:

Although possible to enact a miracle in the war itself, God chose to enact a miracle in the lights to emphasize our adherence to the Torah commands as the essence of that event, not mere bodily rescue. Life alone is not the goal for man. It must be a life of understanding and adherence to God's Torah. Without Torah, our lives are meaningless.

Perhaps for this reason the Rabbis understood the oil miracle in this light, and sought to build the laws of Channukah around this reuniting of the Jews to their laws, illustrating thereby that the initial act of Torah adherence - lighting the Menorah - was the goal of the victory.

This follows well with Purim, as we state therein, "kimu v'kiblu mah shekiblu kvar", "they (the Jews) rose up and accepted that which they previously accepted", i.e., the Torah. Purim was an event where the Jews saw that a life permeated with wisdom proved to be the source of their salvation, as Mordechai's and Esther's cunning saved the Jews. The statement of "kimu v'kiblu mah shekiblu kvar" displays again that mere victory is not the goal, but rather, the highlight of that military success was the reacceptance of Torah.

Channukah is therefore celebrated via lights (the goal of the victory) which was the reestablishment of the laws of the Temple.

The talmud in Shabbat asks, "what was Channukah established upon?". Meaning according to Rashi, "upon which miracle". Answering our question, that without a miracle, military success would not qualify as a holiday. Only through the event of the miracle of the oil did the Rabbis deem Channukah worthy of institution as a holiday, and did so via lights as this was the goal of the victory.

The essential miracle was the war, as it was the catalyst for our adherence to Torah. So when offering thanks, we thank God for the success of the war, but not the lights, as lights are not grounds for thanks. But in recalling the goal of the day through observance generation after generation, we make recourse to lights to pronounce the goal.

So what was present in Channukah which surpassed the battle at Jericho for example? Or when God stopped the Sun and Moon in Giveon and Amek Ayalon respectively? All had miracles!Why then was Channukah established as a holiday, but not Jericho or other events which included miracles?

The answer could be the following: The miracle of the oil was subsequent to the war when we were already victors. All other wars which had miracles, only had miracles for the sake of winning the war. The fact that God enacted a miracle unnecessary for salvation may have been perceived by the Rabbis as a Divine indication that Channukah was different, and worthy of institution as a holiday. A difference was discussed by a Rabbi, that during Channukah, the Greeks sought to strip us of our Judaism, not so in other wars, where the enemy simply was fighting for land.

The elements of a subsequent miracle (not necessary for salvation) compounded with the fact that we were saved from oppression (not mere military victory) were recognized by the Rabbis as grounds for instituting Channukah as a holiday. That special quality of God's salvation from oppression, enabling us to follow the Torah also existed during Purim.

Therefore we have only two holidays subsequent to the giving of the Torah; Purim recalls our bodily salvation, whereas Channukah recalls our religious salvation.

While discussing this further with Rabbi Mann, we came to the observation that "holiday" means that which is instituted for generations to observe. This needs explanation, as it would have sufficed to celebrate Channukah just that one year. The concept of a perpetual celebration must be adding another point. That is that the future celebrants have what to celebrate, somewhat on par with those who actually experienced the salvation so long ago.

What do we - the future celebrants - have in common with the Jews alive at that event? It is that our existence and ability to practice our laws is a direct result from the miracles of Channukah. As were are direct beneficiaries, we must also show thanks to God for these acts of kindness. This also explains why Passover has two modes; "Passover of Egypt", and "Passover for Generations". We see this idea is consistently part of our laws.

The concept of mehadrin teaches us that there are levels of fulfilling the obligation of Channukah. The reason mehadrin exists for few commands is as follows: When a Torah obligation deals with qualitative act, such as donning tefillin, one either dons them or does not. There is nothing more to be added after one has put on tefillin-you cannot wear tefillin more, once they are on. A quantitative increase is impossible, you either wear them or you don't. The same applies to kosher, either one eats kosher or he doesn't.

But an act which is of a quantitative measure is different. Such acts as discussing the Exodus, Channukah lights, and purchasing a finer Esrog, all lend themselves to quantitative increase. One may discuss the Exodus until morning, or buy a better Esrog, or light multiple candles. But there still must be sound reasoning behind such increase.

The fact is that there is one goal with the lighting of the candles, that is to publicize the miracle to others. There are two ways in which we can increase this publicity: 1) By having more individuals spreading the story through multiple Menorahs, and 2) By increasing the content of the story publicized, which is achieved by increasing the number of lights each night. This teaches a passerby that there were a number of days which the miracle lasted, thus, teaching a new element. By lighting only one candle each night, all one knows when he passes by your house is that there was a miracle of Channukah. But if he sees five candles on the fifth night, he now learns something new, that there were many days to the miracle. This increases the content of the story taught through the lights.