[Avodah] What is to be considered more important

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Dec 14, 2020 at 06:41:22AM -0500, Prof. Levine via Avodah wrote:
> What is to be considered more important regarding Chanukah - the small flask
> with only enough oil to burn for none day that burned for 8 days or the
> military victories of the Hashomayim?

I theorized that it depends when.

The first Chanukah, according to Seifer haMakabiim, was simply satisfying
the need for aliyas haregel, and had echoes of Sukkos. Still present in
Beis Shammai, who pattern the number of lights lit each night after the
parim of the Mussaf of Sukkos -- one less each day.

When they established the holiday, it was about the rededication of the
BHMQ and restoration of autonomy in Judea.

Not about the military victories, but the aftermath. Chanukah isn't on
the date we won. (For that matter, neither is Purim; it's the day after.)
See the Meshekh Chokhmah on Shemos 12:16 "uveyom".

Also, not about the oil. Think about it -- how many people could have
witnessed the neis? Even if they took the menorah out for a public
lighting, who was watching them the whole time to know they weren't
refilled on the sly?

(The phrase "hidliqu neiros bechatzros qodshekha" could mean a lot of
things. Including the possibility that they lit the menorah in the Azarah,
and then put it in place -- hanakhah oseh mitzvah. Or maybe that they
lit lamps in the courtyard, like a Simchas Beis haSho'eivah.)

But then was Churban Bayis and then the Hadrianic Persecutions. Everything
Chanukah was about was gone. OTOH, you couldn't eliminate Chanukah when
the rest of Megillas Taanis was retired, because it has a mitzvah enacted
by the Sanhedrin in the Lishkas haGazis -- there was no one authorized to
repeal it.

I suggested that this was what Chazal mean when the gemara asks "Mai
Chanukah?" What is Chanukah to us, today?

And so they took out the neis shemen and gave it new emphasis. Celebrating
light amid darkness, and the small signs that Hashem is still with us,
fits the tenor of the question.

An enlightening and enjoyable Chanukah!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 You are where your thoughts are.
http://www.aishdas.org/asp           - Ramban, Igeres haQodesh, Ch. 5
Author: Widen Your Tent
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF