Post date: Dec 17, 2014 4:33:44 AM
The establishment of the holiday
The Gemara (Shabbos 21b) tells us that it wasn’t until the year following the miracle that Chazal established the holiday of Chanukah as days of Hallel and Hoda’ah (singing praises and thanksgiving). Why did they wait so long before doing so?
The Sefas Emes tells us that Chanukah is a celebration of not only our liberation, but also of the destruction of evil in the form of the Yevanim. While we were able to immediately celebrate our physical liberation, it wasn’t until a year later that we were truly able to rejoice in the removal and destruction of the spiritual evil from our midst as we finally returned to our prior intimate relationship with Hashem.
[Days of Joy, p. 93]
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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 Beis Yosef gives yet a third answer that on the first night, the entire contents of the jar were poured into the Menorah. However, in the morning, they discovered that despite having burned throughout the night, the cups of the Menorah remained full of oil. Thus, the miracle actually took place on the first night also.
Similarly, the Maharal says that despite having been lit the entire night, only one-eighth of the oil had burned out of the cups of the Menorah.
[The Essence of Chanukah, p. 30]