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 Noah Sonenberg
The Beit Yosef famously asked why we celebrate the miracle of Chanukah for eight days and not seven. The amount of oil that was found was enough to burn naturally for one day so the miracle that was required was only in the extension of seven more days. Many answers have been given including that we celebrate one day for the victory in the war or that the oil was divided into eighths which each miraculously lasted for a whole day. I would like to focus on an answer which I believe can help us find a different perspective in our lives today. The Gemara in Ta’anis tells a story of how Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa saw that his daughter was distressed because she had mistakenly put vinegar in her Shabbat candles. He prayed to Hashem and said “let the One who said that oil should burn, say that the vinegar shall burn” and it lit. When we look at this prayer carefully we realize that the burning of oil does not simply happen, it is decreed by Hashem. The realization that the natural occurrence of burning oil is part of Hashem’s miraculous world could offer an explanation for the extra day. On a holiday that focuses on miracles we should take the time to appreciate this wondrous world that Hashem has made for us.
