Each year as we recall and celebrate Chanuka, the miracle of a tiny little band of Jews, leading a revolt against the mighty Greek Empire; and the wondrous Talmudic account of a tiny jar of oil defying the laws of nature and fueling flames that last for eight days, I can’t help but find myself searching for answers. What exactly are we to learn from this depiction of the miracle of the extended flammability of this tiny jar of oil?
Let’s begin by reviewing the words of the Talmud (Masechet Shabbat 21b):
“Mai Chanuka? D’Tanu Rabanan, B’Kuf Hey B’Kislev, yumei d’chanuka, tamneya inun delo lemasped behon, udelo lehitanot b’hon.Shekenichnisu yevanim leheichal timu kol hashmanim shebeheichal. Uchshegavra malchut beit Chashmonai, unitzchom, bidku velo matzu eleh pach echad shel shemen munach b’chotmo shel cohein gadol, velo haya bo l’hadlik yom echad, naaseh bo nes, v’hidliku mimenu shmona yomim...”
“What is Chanuka? As our Rabbis taught: On the 25th of Kislev begins the days of Chanuka - days when we do not eulogize, and do not fast. For when the Greeks entered the Temple, they rendered impure all of the oil that was in the Temple. And when the Kingdom was again established by the Chashmonaim, they went to search for oil, and found only one jar of oil with the seal of the High Priest. It was barely enough oil to burn for one day, and a miracle occurred and the oil burnt for eight days...”
Traditionally this story has been interpreted to suggest that the miracle was in the longevity of this small amount of fuel lasting for eight days, in the increased potency of the oil itself. However, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, zt’l the former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, suggests another interesting explanation of this Talmudic account.
In his important collection of essays on the Jewish holidays, Moadei Yisrael, Rav Goren suggests a parallel between this story depicting miraculous flames, with another equally well known narrative of inexplicable flames, the biblical account of the burning bush.
In the third chapter of Shemot, the Torah describes Moses’ first prophetic interaction with G-d. Moses, happening upon a mountain top in the desert, is awe- struck by a puzzling, miraculous occurrence.
“Vayeira malach adonay eilav b’labat eish betoch hasneh, vayar, v’hinei hasneh boeir ba’aish, v’hasneh einenu ukal...”
“And an angel of the Lord appeared before him in a flame of fire from within the thorn bush, and behold, the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the thorn bush was not being consumed...”
According to Rav Goren, the episode of the burning bush, of this supernatural flame defying the laws of physics, is pregnant with profound mystical meaning. Normally a flame burns and becomes all consuming, burning not only the initial source of fuel, but if not contained, it burns and destroys any other material in its midst. But in this seminal moment in world history, when G-d made his presence known to Moses here in this world, the medium of fire is not a consuming destructive force rather, a holy divine light.
Similarly, Rav Goren suggests, when the Chashmonaim kindled that little bit of oil, restoring the holy lights of the Menorah, restoring the sanctity and splendor of the Beit Hamikdash (Temple), the flames simply did not consume the oil!
The secret inherent in the miracle of the Chanuka lights is not in the potency of that small amount of oil, rather in the very nature of the flame that was kindled. The Chashmonaim act as G-d’s emissaries, as they return the light of holiness, the flame of G-d’s divine presence-a flame, not of consumption and destruction, but of purity, sanctity and divinity to “dwell” once again within the Temple.
May the lights of our chanukiot, reflect the kindling of the Chashmonaim, reminding us of the great gift of seeing the light of G-d’s presence manifest in our daily lives.
Shabbat Shalom Umevorach and Chanuka Sameach....Rabbi Sam Shor