Many divrei Torah on Chanukah address the popular question: What are we commemorating on Chanukah? The victory in battle against Hellenistic oppression, or the miracle of the extended burning of the oil in the Menorah? According to the Gemara (Shabbat 21b), the essence of Chanukah is the miraculous combustion of the one small remaining sealed cruse of pure oil that burned in the Menorah for an additional seven days, eight days in total. From the next year forward, these days were instituted by the sages as a holiday with recitation of Hallel and special thanksgiving in prayers and blessings:

נעשה בו נס והדליקו ממנו שמונה ימים. לשנה אחרת קבעום ועשאום ימים טובים בהלל והודאה.

A miracle occurred and they lit from it for eight days. In a later year, they established these days as a holiday of praise and thanksgiving. Shabbat 21b 

The Rambam is uncharacteristically effusive in describing the mitzvah of ner Chanukah:

מצות נר חנוכה מצוה חביבה היא עד מאד וצריך אדם להזהר בה כדי להודיע הנס ולהוסיף בשבח הא-ל והודיה לו על הנסים שעשה לנו. אפילו אין לו מה יאכל אלא מן הצדקה שואל או מוכר כסותו ולוקח שמן ונרות ומדליק:

The mitzvah of lighting Chanukah lights is a very precious mitzvah. A person must be meticulous about it in order to publicize the miracles and increase praise to Hashem and thanks to Him for the miracles that He performed for us. Even if one requires charity for sustenance, one must borrow money or sell one’s clothing in order to purchase oil or candles to light. Rambam, Hilchos Chanukah 4:12

The Rambam explains that the procuring of oil or candles for lighting the Menorah obligates a person to sell his clothing to enable the purchase. This is the only mitzvah in the Torah that the Rambam describes in such a manner.

It is interesting to note this extreme emphasis on the miraculous burning by briefly exploring combustion in the Torah. 

1. Creation:

ויקרא אלקים לרקיע שמים ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום שני.

God called the expanse Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. Bereishit 1:8

Rashi notes that the term שמים is a contraction of word pairs. שא מים — carry water, שם מים — water is there, and אש ומים — fire and water that He mixed together. This would be the first mention of fire in the Torah (though not directly in the text). Heaven is composed of a miraculous mixture of opposing forces.

2. Kayin and Hevel

The next narrative of fire comes with the offerings of Kayin and Hevel. When the Torah (Bereishit 4:4) states that Hashem turned to the offering of Hevel, Rashi explains that a heavenly fire descended, which showed acceptance of the offering of Hevel.

3. Avram and the Fiery Furnace  

וימת הרן על פני תרח אביו בארץ מולדתו באור כשדים.

Haran died in the lifetime of his father Terah, in his native land, Ur Kasdim. Bereishis 11:28

Why is this place called “Ur Kasdim,” (ur connoting fire)? Rashi describes the narrative of Nimrod casting Avram into the fiery furnace and his salvation, followed by his brother Haran’s demise. 

As in all the above examples, the miraculous nature of these combustions is alluded to in the text of the Torah and only explicitly described by Rashi.

4. Moshe and the Burning Bush

וירא מלאך ה׳ אליו בלבת אש מתוך הסנה וירא והנה הסנה בער באש והסנה איננו אכל.

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed. Shemot 3:2

The wonder that Moshe observed was combustion without consumption. The nature of fire is to provide heat and light but also to consume and utterly destroy. Any alteration of the natural laws can be considered miraculous. 

If we view fire as a combination of energy and matter, we understand that the potential energy of the fuel source is converted into heat and light as the matter undergoes a chemical reaction. 

Teva, the Hebrew word for nature, comes from the same root as matbei’a, coin. Just as a coin is cast with the impression of an image, Hashem casts his impression and we call that nature. He hides His hand in the physical world, but we are the recipients of nisecha sheb’chol yom — Your miracles each day.

On a spiritual level, the lack of consumption common to both Ur Kasdim and the Burning Bush do not deviate from G-d’s natural laws. The energy, heat, and light were present, but the combustion is absent since Avram and the spirit of Hashem had no elements of physical matter to consume (contrast this to Haran’s immediate demise.)

Returning to our initial question of commemoration on Chanukah: victory in battle vs. miraculous Menorah, we turn to the Maharal:

י״ל שעיקר מה שקבעו ימי חנוכה בשביל מה שנצחו את היונים. רק שלא היה נראה שהי׳ נצחון ע״י נס הש״י שעשה זה ולא מכחם וגבורתם. ולפיכך נעשה הנס ע״י נרות המנורה שידעו שהכל היה בנס המלחמה ג״כ. 

It seems that the real reason why they established an eight-day holiday was to celebrate the victory over the Greeks. However, it wasn’t abundantly clear that the victory was the result of a miracle from G-d rather than their own might and courage. Therefore, a miracle was performed through the lights of the Menorah so that everyone should know that everything was a miracle, including the war. 

The Maharal explains that while we are commemorating the victorious battle and the miracle of the oil, the emphasis on the Menorah is to ensure for posterity that there will be a recognition that the military victory and the extended combustion are equally miraculous.

Historically, the time period of the Chanukah story is a small bubble of victory from oppression that then cascades into the Roman conquer and the destruction of the temple. In the prayer Al Hanisim we use an interesting form of language:

שעשה נסים לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה.

This can be translated as: “Who wrought miracles for our forefathers, in those days at this season.” An alternative translation can give us a more contemporary application: “Who wrought miracles in those days and presently in this time.”

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” This quote is commonly attributed to Albert Einstein. Whether verifiable or not, the point is valid. The Rambam’s emphasis on the importance of the Menorah lights is now understandable. The mitzvah of lighting Chanukah lights is a very precious mitzvah. We need to emphasize the energy and the spiritual; the heat and the light of the miracle, even if it means giving up the physical: food and clothing. That was truly the essence and victory of Chanukah.

Chanukah is the last holiday commemorated by the sages. It occurred in a brief moment of success before our ultimate galut. It falls during the darkest part of the winter. We could be despondent over the personal battles we wage on a daily basis. Instead, we have been graciously armed with Hashem’s eternal reminder in the form of the Menorah flames. The Menorah reminds us that we are equipped with incredible potential and energy, which can illuminate and glow in scope beyond our comprehension.

Developed from a shiur given by Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, Rosh Yeshiva, RIETS