Chanukah: Richness of Spirit
An important part of the message of Chanukah.

by Rabbi Chanan Morrison

The holiday of Chanukah raises a number of questions:

Why do we celebrate Chanukah for eight days? After all, they had enough oil to burn for one day, so the miracle really was only for seven days. Since the holiday commemorates the miracle of the Temple oil, we should celebrate only seven days.

The minimum requirement is for each family to light one candle each night. The custom, however, is to light with two hidurim (embellishments): every member of the family lights, and the number of candles corresponds to the day of Chanukah. Why do we add these two hidurim?

The Talmud (Menachot 28b) relates that the Maccabees were not able to obtain a solid gold Menorah for the Temple as the Torah specifies. Lacking the means for such an expensive Menorah, they constructed one out of wood (or metal covered with wood). Why was there a miracle for the oil, but none for the Menorah?

Two Hidurim
The truth is, had the Maccabees not found the small cruse of pure olive oil, they could have used any oil. While it is best to use olive oil, any oil that burns well may be used in the Temple Menorah.

The Chanukah miracle could have been the Menorah burning all eight days with 'miracle oil.' But while 'miracle oil' is as good as any other oil, it is not olive oil. The miracle of the first day of Chanukah was that the Maccabees found ritually pure olive oil. Not only was this quite unexpected, it also enabled them to light with the optimal type of oil.

In addition, since most of the nation at the time was ritually impure, the Maccabees could even have used impure oil. The miracle of finding the cruse of oil thus allowed them to fulfill two hidurim: lighting on the first day with olive oil; and lighting with ritually pure oil. Therefore, we also perform two hidurim, with every family member lighting and lighting multiple candles.

Guarding the Inner Spirit
But why was there no comparable miracle with the Menorah itself? Why didn't the Maccabees also find a solid gold Menorah in the desecrated Temple?

The Menorah corresponds to the material state of the Jewish people. It is a vessel for holding the oil. The olive oil, on the other hand, is a metaphor for the nation's inner spirit.

While it is fitting that the external vessel should be complete and aesthetically pleasing, there are times when the physical reality is harsh and difficult. During such troubled times, we must make do with what we have, even if it means lighting with a Menorah made out of wood.

However, the spirit - the oil nourishing the inner flame - must always remain spiritually rich, with all of the hidurim of purity and holiness. This is an important part of the message of Chanukah: the miracle occurred not with the Menorah, but with the oil. We may suffer physical hardships and deprivations, but our spiritual life must always shine with a clear and bright light.

Rabbi Chanan Morrison, of Mitzpeh Yericho, runs RavKook.n3.net, a website dedicated to presenting the Torah commentary of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, to the English-speaking community. He is also the author of "Gold from the Land of Israel".