This Chanuka, we will be sharing brief divrei Torah and thoughts about Chanuka just prior to the times for lighting candles each night. We hope these messages help stimulate conversation and encourage discussion throughout the Chag.
By Rabbi Elan Mazer
The holiday of Chanuka was established by the rabbis during the period of the second Beit Hamikdash to celebrate the miracle of Hashem saving us from an existential threat. The ruling Greek party at the time had no intention to physically hurt us, and rather wanted us to assimilate and abandon our beliefs, but their actions seem to be inconsistent. The Midrash says that the Greeks darkened the eyes of Israel, as they demanded them to write on the horn of a bull, “We have no connection to the God of Israel.” This seems to align with their stated goal. However, a different source has Talmai, the previous Greek King in Israel, asking the Sages of Israel to translate the Torah into Greek. From here it would seem that the Greeks were open to, and even encouraged, Torah learning.
How can these stories be reconciled? The Greeks valued our Torah very much, and they recognized it as an incredible book that has tremendous wisdom. However, they did not value the religious side to Torah, and they rejected the notion that Torah is what connects us to Hashem, and to our mission as His Chosen People. They had no problem with us learning Torah as an intellectual pursuit; however, taking the Torah to the next level and actually living by it contradicted what the Greeks were trying to do.
This is why, in the Al Hanissim Tefillah that we say every day of Chanukah, we remember that the Greeks tried to “להשכיחם תורתך” – make us forget our Torah: they did not want us to forget Torah intellectually, rather to have us abandon the Torah as our connection to Hashem.
Chag Chanukah Sameach.
