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

[Micha Berger]

On Sat, Dec 30, 2006 at 10:54:31PM +0200, Moshe Feldman wrote:
: 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.

Actually, all three focus on Chanukas haBayis, as does the name of the
holiday. Barring some word-play on chanu k"h.

: 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...

I would say for saving me'atim miyad rabim. I know that AhN says things
as you quote, but I'm stressing that we're celebrating our victory, not
their defeat.

Last May <http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol17/v17n028.shtml#08> RJF
paraphrased the Meshekh Chokhmah on Shemos 12:16 d"h "uVayom haRishon
Miqra Qodesh vGo':

    ...That while other nations create a holiday and celebrate on the
    day their enemies fell, it is not like that with Yisrael, for they
    will not rejoce in the downfall of their enemies or celebrate a
    holiday for that purpose, as it says Binfol Oyivkha al Tismakh vGo'
    pen Yireh Hashem V'ra B'einav vGo'...
    ...And that is why on Hanukah the Holiday is celebrated for the
    miracle of the oil and the reinstallation of the services in the Beis
    HaMiqdash... and as the Military leaders were the kohanim, and to
    avoid the possibility of their attributing the military victory to
    their own strength rather than to divine providence, God performed
    a miracle in the Heikhal, an area that was limited to the Kohanim,
    so that they could clearly see his involvement in the miracles that
    transpired, that these were not of natural causes.

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             A pious Jew is not one who worries about his fellow
micha at aishdas.org        man's soul and his own stomach; a pious Jew worries
http://www.aishdas.org   about his own soul and his fellow man's stomach.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rabbi Israel Salanter