[Avodah] pach hashemen

[Eli Turkel]

I recently saw the Or Zarua (2:321) quoting his rebbe Ri Sir-Lion

He explains that that the light of the menorah lasted for 8 days because
they were occupied for 7 days building a new mizbeach and other kli sharet.
He quotes megillat taanit that they lit candles in purity because
the Greeks made the all the vessels taameh and they had no way of lighting
the oil (lo hayah lahem ba-mah le-hadlik hashemen)
until the Hashnoneans won and brought seven spears (shipudei barzel)
and covered them with ba-atz (what is this?) and lit them.
So Chanukah is 8 days for the building of the mizbeach and 7 days for
fixing the kli sharet. (end of megilat taanait)
i.e. they could have made new oil right away but they were busy fixing the
mizbeach and therefore there was a miracle that the oil lasted for 8 days
and so Chanukah is called after the chaukat hamizbeach
(not clear if this explanation is from Ri Sir-Lion or Or Zaruah)

Hence, this quoted verison of megillat taanait does not mention the miracle of
the oil.
Note that megillat taanait was composed towards the end of bayit sheni and
so is the first written word since Tanach and precedes the writing of
the Mishna by
some 150-200 years

In the manuscripts that we have there are various verisons of megillat
taanait (or rather the Scolion  which is like a gemara on the Mishna). Even the
one that quotes the lighting of the menorah only mentions that they found
tahor oil and lit it for 8 days. The version we all know appears for
the first time
in Masechet Shabbat and is not based on megillat taanait or pesikta rabati
which are the earlier versions that discuss chanukah
(not including non-chazal sources like sefer makabim)




-- 
Eli Turkel