B"H

Tuesday, Kislev 15, 5781 / December 1, 2020

Next week, Thursday evening, December 10th, Jews all over the world, will light the first Chanukah light and usher in the holiday of lights, the eight day holiday of Chanukah.

On Chanukah, we celebrate and thank G-d for two great miracles: 

1) The victory on the battlefield - in which the small army of the Chashmonaim defeated the much larger forces of their Greek-Asyrian enemies. This is expressed in the "Al Hanisim" prayer which is recited on Chanukah; "You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many in the hands of the few..."

2) The miracle of the oil - A small amount of oil, enough for only one day, lasted eight days.

The Talmud describes the miracle as follows, "When the Greeks occupied the sanctuary, they defiled all the oil. When the Chashmonaim defeated them, they searched and found only one jar of oil which had the seal of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest). It contained enough oil to burn only one day.  Yet, a miracle occurred and the oil burned eight days" (Tractate Shabbat 21).

To commemorate this miracle we light the Chanukah lights each night of Chanukah. The Chanukah lights should be lit near a window or door. Each night of Chanukah we add an additional light. The first night one light is lit; the second night two candles are lit and the third night we light three candles, etc. On the eighth night we light eight lights.  

Q.  Is Chanukah a Biblical holiday, or a rabbinical holiday?

A.  Chanukah and Purim are rabbinical holidays. The miracle of Chanukah took place about 1200 years after the Giving of the Torah. It was established by the rabbis of that time to commemorate the great miracles which G-d performed for His people.

Q.  Why are the Chanukah candles lit near a window or door and the Shabbat candles are lit on the table where we eat the Shabbat meal?

A.  The Chanukah candles and the Shabbat candles serve two very different purposes. The purpose of the Shabbat candles is to bring peace and light into our home. We have personal benefit from the light of the Shabbat candles, therefore, they are lit on the table where we eat the Shabbat meal.

But the purpose of the Chanukah candles is to "publicize the miracle" of Chanukah to the world at large. In fact, we may not have any personal use or benefit from the Chanukah candles. For this reason they are placed near a window or door so that their lights will shine towards the outside.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY