Hanukkah a Private Miracle

Lighting a Menorah in one's home seems like quite a private affair. You go to your living room, bring your family together, say the blessing, light, and sing a few songs. Nobody has to know. And yet, there are many public aspects to this ritual that are subtle, but required. The very point of the entire commandment to light a Menorah is, in Aramaic, Pirsumei Nisa. In English, that is publicizing the miracle.

The miracle must not only be remembered and commemorated, but rather publicized to people who may not even be required to commemorate it in the first place. Why is this?

The miracle of Hanukkah, historically, came in response to massive Jewish assimilation into the surrounding Greek, Hellenistic culture. The assimilation was so rampant that it actually began a civil war amongst Jewish camps. There were the Hellenists, and there were the Religious Traditionalists. The war of Hanukkah, which broke out when the elder Matityahu, the high priest, called for a rebellion against the Syrian Greek elite attempting to quash religious observance with the sanction of much of the Jewish leadership at the time. His sons followed him, leading the war effort. The tide turned slowly, and after much guerrilla warfare, the Traditionalists won the day, and rededicated the Holy Temple to God after it was trashed by Assimilationists.

At the re dedication, there was only one certified jug of oil remaining that was able to be used as fuel for the Temple's Menorah. The certificate was actually an unbroken seal with the wax imprint of the High Priest currently tenured. The reason for this was that once the seal was broken, contamination was possible, and no ritually contaminated material was allowed to be used in the Temple.

It's not that the other jugs were empty. They were full, but the seals were broken. Meaning, whoever did it was an Assimilationist Jew attempting to ridicule the Temple's religious statutes. What happened next was the miracle of Hanukkah.

The miracle itself was very private. No one would have noticed it except for the people actually inside the room where the Menorah was lit - one day's oil lasting eight. But the meaning of the miracle was divine sanction for the fight of the Traditionalists. And this had to be publicized. If not, what good is the miracle? So oil lasts longer. Does that have any importance for our lives other than the message it sends? The message is the substance of the miracle. As such, if it is not publicized, it is worthless.

This is why the Menorah must be lit in the window, so passersby can see. Also, it is lit in the Synagogue before people go home for the night. It is lit at a time when most people are still up and about (until the last come home from the market, as the Talmud puts it), all to maximize exposure to the miracle.

Is it any wonder that this commandment, symbolizing the return to tradition, is the most widely observed among the Jewish people, secular and religious alike? This only proves that, no matter how assimilated a Jew may be, he is, at heart, as pure as an unopened jug of oil, sealed with wax by the High Priest.

You can commemorate this miracle, too, with your own Menorah. For thoughtful Hanukkah gifts for your family or friends, or for yourself, consider the handmade dove Menorah, hand painted by Israeli artist Ester Shahaf and available at MostOriginal.com.