With this weekend being the start of the wonderful holiday of Chanukah, I would like to further discuss what the miracle is that we are really celebrating on Chanukah. This week in mishmar, given by Mrs. Perl, we learned about two different miracles and which one we are really celebrating on Chanukah. We learned about the miracle of the oil, and the miracle of winning the war against the Chashmonaim.
The first source that we learned from was a part of the Gemara telling us all about the miracle of the oil, and implying, of course, that this is the miracle that we are celebrating. This source suggests that the miracle is a religious/spiritual miracle, and that when they lit the menorah that meant there was an everlasting presences in the Beit HaMikdash.
The second source that we learned from is a part of our everyday Chanukah davening. The prayer that we say on Chanukah and on Purim is על הנסים and this prayer doesn't mention the miracle of the oil at all. So shouldn't this tell us that we are not celebrating the miracle of the oil? Well, if you think about when in davening we say על הנסים, it is right after we say מודים in שמונה עשרה. What we are praying for in מודים is thanks. We are thanking Hashem for the everyday miracles he causes. So in this sense we aren't implying that the miracle is religious or spiritual but, it is the miracle of the victory against the Chashmonaim. That was more of an everyday miracle. It was still huge, but it wasn't as huge as making 1 little jug of oil last for 8 days. It was that Hashem was helping us. So from these two sources I think that we can concur that we are more celebrating the miracle of the victory because Hashem makes more of those everyday miracles in reality rather than rare, huge miracles like the miracle of the oil.
Let's now go back to the miracle of the oil that the Gemara talks about. It is implying that lighting the Menorah with that oil meant that there would be an everlasting presence of Hashem in the Beit HaMikdash. When I heard this a light bulb switched on in my head. We have been learning about how Hashem is going to destroy the Beit HaMikdash because of the people's lack of morality. I know that in the Chanukah story, we are speaking of the second Beit HaMikdash, but still. I am sure that Hashem and the people, for that matter, expected His everlasting presence in the Beit HaMikdash. How could this miracle represent this presence if ultimately the Beit HaMikdash is going to be destroyed? Now, my standing question would be, how can this miracle represent the everlasting presence in the Beit HaMikdash if there is no such place anymore? This, to me, is another big factor of why we aren't really celebrating the miracle of the oil. It represents something that isn't possible now.
Sophie, this is an interesting point. I think that maybe the celebration of Chanukkah has come to mean something else now that the Beit Hamikdash is not here anymore. Many things have changed since the destruction and this might be another one. We don't give korbanot anymore--instead we daven. For now, the miracle might reperesent G-d's everlasting presence in general and when the Beit Hamikdash is rebuild we will once again be reminded of His presence in the Beit Hamikdash.
ReplyDeleteSophie, as I was not able to attend Mishmar, I enjoyed the content of this blog post. To answer your question: The Beit Hamikdash was a representation of G-d. Hashem is everywhere. The two miracles really demonstrate that. Hashem helps us remain victorious physically, and guides us spiritually. I think that with the Beit Hamikdash destroyed, this miracle of the oil that we celebrate, helps us appreciate G-d's presence with us today, despite His home being destroyed. This further shows Hashem's love for us. I wrote in my blog post that we do not truly appreciate something until it is taken away from us. I think that this applies to the holiday of Chanukah. We have to learn to continue to recognize Hashem's sovereignty, even if if there is not a physical representation today.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all these points. To justify the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, like Noga had said, it was there to show that Hashem is everywhere, but we see in these Perakim that we just learning that the people no longer believed that. The destruction of the Beit Hamikdash represents the destruction of the relationship between Hashem and Bnei Yisrael. With the miracles, I think that Channukah today is celebrated to remind us that Hashem is still there everyday fighting with us and helping us win our battles-with ourselves or with other people. Also though, the celebration shows that Hashem can do huge things. He has the power to do anything He desires.
ReplyDelete