Post date: Nov 27, 2013 5:0:11 AM
The name “Chanukah” can be split into the two word phrase of “Chanu Koh.” But what is the significance of this?
The Sefas Emes explains that Hellenism sought to disrupt our Mesorah, the chain of tradition, by deemphasizing the importance of Chazal (aka, Emunas Chachamim, the faith we maintain in the leadership of our Rabbis). In their mind, only natural phenomena could be grasped, and Mesorah didn't fit within that line of thinking. The message that we get from Chanukah is contained within its name.
Chanu = stay
Koh = here
We are implored to stay here, remain, and cling to the traditional teachings of the Torah as taught to us by our Rabbis. Even if, in our own rational minds, something doesn’t seem to make sense, we are not to deviate from the accepted practices. (That’s not to say that we shouldn't ask questions. Questions are great! Just make sure to ask the right person.) Emunah, the antithesis of Hellenism, was key then, and no less critical now, to defeating Hellenism and the battle against Secularism.
[Days of Joy, p. 40]
--
The letters of “Shemen” could be interpreted as being Roshei Teivos for the following phrase:
Natzru Mitzvos Sheloshah
They (the Chashmonaim) guarded three Mitzvos (Shabbos, Milah, and Rosh Chodesh, which the Yevanim attempted to abolish).
[Inside Chanukah, p. 463]