[Avodah] Chanukah--miracle of the oil vs. miracle of the victory

[Moshe Feldman]

On 12/29/06, Zeliglaw at aol.com <Zeliglaw at aol.com> wrote on Areivim:
> I found it
> disturbing that DL youth are taught that the essence of Channukah was the
> military victory and the retention of national sovereignty( a conclusion
> that flies in the face of the fact this contention is itself the subject of
> a Machlokes Rishonim [Rambam and Ramban!]) and that the Nes Pach Shemen is
> "clouded in mystery" and known "only to Chazal' in a way that presents a
> "kochi votzem yadi" spin on the essential elements of the day.

I originally took your point of view, but now I'm convinced of the
other perspective.  The fact is that all early sources, including
Sefer Chashmonaim, Megillas Ta'anis and our text of Al HaNissim refer
just to the military victory and not to the nes pach ha'shemen.

Therefore, it is likely that so long as the Bais HaMikdash was extant,
the main aspect of the celebration was the military victory, which
allowed Jewish independence for a good number of years.  This does not
have be interpreted as kochi v'otzem yadi--rather we thank Hashem for
the vanquishing of rabim b'yad me'atim.  Once the Jews went into
galus, national independence became largely irrelevant (and according
to Rav Kook--a forgotten goal of the Jewish people), and the main
message became a spiritual one.

But think about it: in the Bais Hamikdash, every day there was a
miracle of oil in that according to the Gemara Shabbos 22b and Yoma
39a, every day oil put in the ner ma'aravi miraculously lasted 24
hours even though not enough oil was put in--and this was a sign that
the Shechina resided in Israel.  (This miracle lasted until the time
of Shimon HaTzadik.)  Why should there be a major celebration l'doros
just because once the oil lasted for 8 days?

Clearly, the point is that we are celebrating the Hasmonean victory
over the Greeks and the Hellenists.  The miracle of the oil shows us
that this wasn't a normal military victory but that it was Divinely
guided, and that Hashem showed us that, due to the religious revival
engendered by the Chashomaim, once again the Shechina resided in
Israel.

Kol tuv,
Moshe