The REAL reason for eight days of Hanuka
This is a bit of a departure from my usual postings, but I want to share something I learned from one of my teachers at Yeshiva University, Dr. Meir Herskovics z"l. (I also saw a similar posting here in the name of R' Aaron Levine zt"l.)
One of the perplexing questions of Hanuka, is, why is it eight days long? If they found enough oil for one day and it burned for eight, the actual miracle was only seven days!
You probably know some of the usual answers. The two most favored are: 1) The celebration is one day for the miracle of the victory, and seven for the oil; and 2) They divided the oil into eighths and only used one-eighth each day, so there was already a miracle on the first day. There are problems with both answers, but it is a difficult question we are dealing with.
Dr. Herskovics' answer, on the other hand, is simplicity itself. In the Gemara (Shabbat 21b) that speaks of the miracle, the standard texts say that the oil was ONLY enough for one day. (Hebrew elah.) But there is an accepted alternate version of the text that reads not EVEN enough for one day! (Hebrew afilu.) That means that already on the first day there was a miracle, which explains why there are eight days to celebrate!
So far, this sounds like a deus ex machina: 'gee, let's just change this word here, and we have an answer.' (Even though it is well known that over the years the text of the Gemara has not been as well preserved as that of the Torah, and there are many who compare different editions to try to discover the proper text.) But there are other pieces that come together very nicely to make this puzzle fit together.
The other crucial piece is one that everyone ignores: the Gemara says they found one container of oil with the seal of the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest on it. People usually gloss over this, or if they think about it they assume it was a hashgacha (Kosher certification.) But the Kohen Gadol was not in the hashgacha business! Even if he had the time, with all his other duties, within Yerushalaim, in this case he would have had to travel to the locations where they actually produced the oil, and that would have been extremely difficult. So what was this seal?
The answer is, the seal was a sign that the oil was the private property of the Kohen Gadol. The Kohen Gadol has a Mitzva (Vayikra 6:12-16) to bring a mincha, a flour-offering, made with oil, every day. The oil could have been of a lesser quality than that required for the Menorah, but according to Rav Levine it was the minhag at the time for the Kohen to use the highest quality oil, fit for the Menorah, as a hidur (beautification of the) mitzva. He had to pay for the ingredients with his own money, so of course the oil would have his name on the seal!
The daily amount of oil needed for the Kohen's offering is three logim. The amount required for the Menorah is one-half log per lamp, for a total of 3 1/2 logim. Do the math...if the oil they found in the Mikdash was the Kohen's daily measure, it was already 1/2 log short on the first day!
So now it all fits...the alternate text in the Gemara, why the oil had the Kohen's seal on it, and why, therefore, the miracle was on all eight days. The only thing I don't understand is why this solution is less well know...it is brilliant in it's simplicity.
One of the perplexing questions of Hanuka, is, why is it eight days long? If they found enough oil for one day and it burned for eight, the actual miracle was only seven days!
You probably know some of the usual answers. The two most favored are: 1) The celebration is one day for the miracle of the victory, and seven for the oil; and 2) They divided the oil into eighths and only used one-eighth each day, so there was already a miracle on the first day. There are problems with both answers, but it is a difficult question we are dealing with.
Dr. Herskovics' answer, on the other hand, is simplicity itself. In the Gemara (Shabbat 21b) that speaks of the miracle, the standard texts say that the oil was ONLY enough for one day. (Hebrew elah.) But there is an accepted alternate version of the text that reads not EVEN enough for one day! (Hebrew afilu.) That means that already on the first day there was a miracle, which explains why there are eight days to celebrate!
So far, this sounds like a deus ex machina: 'gee, let's just change this word here, and we have an answer.' (Even though it is well known that over the years the text of the Gemara has not been as well preserved as that of the Torah, and there are many who compare different editions to try to discover the proper text.) But there are other pieces that come together very nicely to make this puzzle fit together.
The other crucial piece is one that everyone ignores: the Gemara says they found one container of oil with the seal of the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest on it. People usually gloss over this, or if they think about it they assume it was a hashgacha (Kosher certification.) But the Kohen Gadol was not in the hashgacha business! Even if he had the time, with all his other duties, within Yerushalaim, in this case he would have had to travel to the locations where they actually produced the oil, and that would have been extremely difficult. So what was this seal?
The answer is, the seal was a sign that the oil was the private property of the Kohen Gadol. The Kohen Gadol has a Mitzva (Vayikra 6:12-16) to bring a mincha, a flour-offering, made with oil, every day. The oil could have been of a lesser quality than that required for the Menorah, but according to Rav Levine it was the minhag at the time for the Kohen to use the highest quality oil, fit for the Menorah, as a hidur (beautification of the) mitzva. He had to pay for the ingredients with his own money, so of course the oil would have his name on the seal!
The daily amount of oil needed for the Kohen's offering is three logim. The amount required for the Menorah is one-half log per lamp, for a total of 3 1/2 logim. Do the math...if the oil they found in the Mikdash was the Kohen's daily measure, it was already 1/2 log short on the first day!
So now it all fits...the alternate text in the Gemara, why the oil had the Kohen's seal on it, and why, therefore, the miracle was on all eight days. The only thing I don't understand is why this solution is less well know...it is brilliant in it's simplicity.
Two other Random thoughts on Hanuka
Hanuka is about our resistance to outside influences; in this case the Hellenizers. But over the centuries we have absorbed many things from non-Jewish sources, some bad, but most of which have enhanced our lives. The difference is in what our priorites our, whether we put God and Torah first or the physical beauties first. I have seen several Divrei Torah about this this year, but the best is this one from Rav Riskin. I suggest you read it.
I have already mentioned, in my Hanuka and Purim essay, how many people use the Hanuka example to talk about civil war. I think maybe chazal knew that people would do that. That may be one of the reasons they chose the Haftara for Shabbat Hanuka that they did, from the Navi Zecharia, because the Haftara ends with (4:6) "...Not by military might, and not by strength, but by My Spirit, says Hashem of Hosts." As I will continue to say until I am blue in the face, while we need physical might to protect ourselves, unless and until we win the spiritual battle and win the support of the Spirit of Hashem, we can NEVER be victorious.
I have already mentioned, in my Hanuka and Purim essay, how many people use the Hanuka example to talk about civil war. I think maybe chazal knew that people would do that. That may be one of the reasons they chose the Haftara for Shabbat Hanuka that they did, from the Navi Zecharia, because the Haftara ends with (4:6) "...Not by military might, and not by strength, but by My Spirit, says Hashem of Hosts." As I will continue to say until I am blue in the face, while we need physical might to protect ourselves, unless and until we win the spiritual battle and win the support of the Spirit of Hashem, we can NEVER be victorious.
posted by meturgeman | 9:07 PM
