The gemara in Yoma 29a states that Purim is סוף כל הנסים the last of the miracles," and immediately challenges, "What about Chanukah?" The gemara answers with the cryptic statement, "ניתנה ליכתב קא אמרינן, We are talking about those miracles that can be written down." What is so special about Chanukah that makes it unable to be written down?

The שפתי חיים states that in order to understand Chanukah, it must be put in its historical context. The gemara in Nazir 32b says that בני ישראל. knew from the outset that בית שני would be destroyed. The Malbim (Daniel 9:24) goes one step further, claiming that the entire tekufah of בית שני was still considered a period of golus. During בית ראשון all the Jews lived in ארץ ישראל and miracles took place in the בית המקדש on a daily basis; בית שני did not enjoy these same conditions. The gemara in Yoma 21a even says that there were five things during the tekufah of בית ראשון that were not during בית שני, one of which, very tellingly, is nevuah. בית הראשון had the benefit of nevi'im; בית שני had none. בית שני was based around the explosion of תורה שבעל פה, the mishna, gemara and midrashim being collated and written. This was the time that we needed Chachamim to make halachic rulings, unable to simply rely on Divine Guidance. It was during this time that the Jews once more became a nation, coming together to bear the responsibility placed upon them to preserve their Judaism. This was when the Jews prepared themselves for the long road that was to be golus, almost everything that happened during בית שני was either a precursor to or a preventative measure for something in the future. This is the first step to understanding Chanukah.

To understand Chanukah's message for the future, we must understand it simply, without the lomdus. The story on its most basic level takes place in three steps: the Greeks oppressed עם ישראל, the Chashmonaim were מוסר נפש to fight them, and Hashem saved them miraculously.

The Bach, in his commentary on the Tur (סימן תר"ע), asks why there is a mitzvah to have a seudah on Purim but not Chanukah. He answers that the difference between the two holidays is one of רוחניות versus גשמיות., spirituality versus physicality. In the story of Purim, the sin was with the גןף (Achashveirosh's party), the punishment was on the גוף (the threat of physical death), the teshuvah was with the גוף (three days of fasting), and therefore we have a mitzvah to celebrate with the גוף. Chanukah is different. Our sin was one of laziness, not caring about the בית המקדש, leading to the elimination of the Avodah through the Greeks' forbidding of the sacrifices and contamination of the בית המקדש. Our teshuvah was therefore performed through the מסירת נפש of the Chashmonaim to restore the Avodah. This is the way to understand Chanukah's message for the golus.

Why can Chanukah not be written down? When something is written down, it shows that it is finished. Most of the chagim are remembrances of things long past, with little connection to our day-to-day lives. Chanukah’s message, however, is as real today as it was then. The idea that מסירת נפש for the Avodah is what keeps us alive is part of the fabric of our lives, and one of the most important things to realize daily.

Rav Yaakov Emden writes, in the introduction to his siddur, that the greatest miracle is that although the Jews are hated, ostracized, and persecuted, they continue to survive, with Torah and vibrancy. Even the most powerful nations have come and gone, but only we, by clinging to Hashem, have survived for so long. As great as the ten plagues and the miracles of the forty years in the desert were, the miracle of Jewish existence despite the golus is greater and continues to grow as the golus continues.

This is the Light of Chanukah. Even in the preparatory golus of בית שני, we see hints of the redemption if only we are attached to Hashem and מוסר נפש for His mitzvos. Hashem promises that if we keep His mitzvos, we will survive, but sometimes we grow lazy and Hashem must send us tzaros to wake us up and help us return to Him.

The נס of golus should cease to grow and come to an end, with the Light of Chanukah shining brightly with our מסירות for Torah and mitzvos, and with the coming of משיח, speedily in our days.