Post date: Dec 21, 2014 2:34:47 AM
Not to be found in the Written Law
The Bnei Yissaschar tells us that the name “Chanukah” is a hint that the story and Halachos (laws) of Chanukah can only be found in Torah She’ba’al Peh (the oral teachings).
The Gematriah (numerical value) of the letters of the word Chanukah when spelled out fully (ex, Ches = Ches, Yud Saf; Nun = Nun, Vav, Nun; etc…) equals the Gematriah of the phrase “Bavli vi’rushalmi” (the Babylonian and Yerushalmi Talmuds, the two works that make up a significant source of our oral teachings)! From this hint we can understand that everything related to Chanukah is contained only in the oral law (to the exclusion of the written law).
[Inside Chanukah, p. 461]
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Hallel on Chanukah (though not on Purim)
In his introduction to Mishnah Torah, the Rambam writes that the intent of writing his Sefer is to create an all-encompassing book on Halacha. That being the case, it seems peculiar that the Rambam spends time recounting the evil decrees of the Greeks against the Jews as well as the chronology of the victory of the Chashmonaim over the Greeks in a book intended to be focused exclusively on practical Halacha.
Rabbi Yitzchak Sender, in his Sefer “The Commentator’s Al Hanissim,” explains that in order to understand this, we must first look at the story of Purim. One of the reasons that the Gemara (Megilah 14a) gives for not saying Hallel on Purim is that we were still under the rule of Achashveirosh after the miracle took place. Since our service to Hashem was performed while yet under the rule of a gentile king, our freedom was muted, and so Chazal did not enact the recitation of Hallel on Purim. Contrast that with the miracle of Chanukah when we ended up completely free of all external control, and it becomes clear why the story of the miracle Chanukah was significant enough for the Rambam to include its entirety in his Mishnah Torah. It’s exactly because of the different situations after the miracles that the Halacha for one was enacted differently than the Halacha for the other.
[Likutei Peshatim on Chanukah, p. 19]
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A new answer each night! -- The Beis Yosef poses a very famous question about the length of the Chanukah holiday. “When the Chashmonaim found the jar of oil, they had the first day’s oil at that point. Since the miracle seemed to begin with the second night, why was Chanukah instituted for eight days instead if just seven?” (Below is another possible answer.)
The Alter of Kelm, Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, quotes a Ramban at the end of Parshas Bo which states that “from the great public miracles, people come to recognize the hidden miracles.” Simply put, many people attribute regularly occurring events to “nature,” without recognizing that all events, even such common types no less, are in reality regularly occurring miracles. The cycle of the seasons, the nourishment of rain for the fields, the delicate balance of the ecosystem; these are all things that are commonly attributed to nature without much consideration to exactly what it is that is the power behind “nature.” (After minimal contemplation, most will readily agree that the orchestration of “nature” is clearly Divine.)
On Chanukah we take a step back from our preconceived notions and consider the very essence of oil. Does it burn because of its physical properties, or does it burn because Hashem wills it so. We’re told by Chazal that just as Hashem can order oil to burn, so too can He order vinegar to burn. Our reality is that oil burns while vinegar does not because that is His will. With these thoughts in mind, our focus on the first night of Chanukah can be the recognition of the “miracles of nature” that transpire daily.
[Likutei Peshatim on Chanukah, p. 17]