Naturally Supernatural
Tamara Goldman (Grade 11)
There is a famous question from the Beis HaLevi which says that when the Jews found the pach hashemen, there was enough kosher oil to last for one day, therefore the miracle of the oil was only seven days. Why, then, do we celebrate Chanukah for eight?
A beautiful answer I heard explains that we celebrate for eight days because eight represents something greater than what is possible through nature. When Hashem created the world, He created it to run in a natural way. The week lasts seven days, the Shemita cycle lasts seven years, and there are many more examples of the number seven being used in the Torah. Seven is the ultimate form of a cycle that operates in a natural way. Therefore, the eight-day celebration is not a commemoration of the one miracle with the oil, rather it celebrates Hashem’s love which goes beyond any natural limits.
The oil lasting for eight days, although it is not the “main” miracle that we are celebrating on Chanukah, is the manifestation of Hashem showing the Jewish people that we are worthy of miracles that go above nature. The battle between the Jews and the Greeks was considered a greater miracle but it wasn’t until the miracle of the oil that the Jews recognized that Hashem was operating above nature. Chanukah is therefore eight days to show us that although the miracle was only seven days, Hashem has the ability to operate above and beyond the laws of nature.
A Freilichin Chanukah!
Shine Your Light
Morah Efrat Burkis, Shlicha
Matityahu was one little light fighting against a powerful entity. Sometimes all it takes is one single voice to vanquish the dark. We see this with the idea of light. One little flame can light up an entire dark room – this is the power of light. However, we can see it on the flip side as well, the devastation of what can happen when we put out the light. It’s an important lesson for teachers and parents not to extinguish the lights of our students and children. Just like a light can brighten up a world, sometimes with one comment or gesture we can put out that light. It is so easy to put it out, but so powerful if we let them shine.
In the very beginning of Sefer Bereshit we read: “God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.” When studying Torah, it often is helpful to think about alternative ways that the narrative could go. This leads us to appreciate and find deeper meaning in the way the Torah was written.
First, God could have created through action, but instead created through words. The power of words cannot be overemphasized. Words can create and destroy. The fact that God uses words to begin creating is a powerful lesson that we should be careful how we use our words because they have great impact.
Second, the world was dark and devoid of light. God decided to introduce light into the world. We, too, can choose to bring light into each other’s lives. Sometimes we can be overwhelmed by the many dark things in our world. By shining our light in the world, we can have a tremendously positive impact.
Chanukah is the holiday of lights. Let’s all try and use our light in a positive way to positively impact someone else.
Chag Sameach!
Lighting Up Our Lives
Ahron Abrams, Grade 12
“Not by might and not by strength, but by My spirit, says the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6). This beautiful verse recited by Zechariah is a common idea we have grown up learning about on Chanukah. The theme here perfectly lines up with the miracle of the weak Maccabees defeating the mighty Greeks. As we say in Bimei Matisyahu (in Al Hanisim), “few against the many, the weak against the strong, the pure against the impure”. We were fewer in numbers and weaker in strength yet we overcame the Greeks and won the battle. This is the classic story of Chanukah but this holiday is more than that.
If you look into the Gemara (Shabbat 21b), the question being asked is what really is Chanukah? It’s a bit of a strange question, isn’t it? We specifically don’t ask about the other holidays because we know the answer already. Rosh Hashanah is the start of the year, Yom Kippur is a day of atonement, Pesach is the holiday of our freedom and Shavuot is when we received the Torah. So why is the Gemara asking this question? It must only mean we are missing something on the surface.
The Gemara answers that Chanukah is the holiday celebrating the miracle of the oil. An amount of oil meant to only last one day, lasted eight days. We’ve known this answer since we were little kids but there’s something missing. But what about the first day? What are we celebrating if there was enough to light for one day? What are we celebrating on the first night?
One answer I particularly enjoyed is Chanukah has an additional miracle. That miracle is what we know today as perseverance. After the war, the Maccabim were in charge of taking care of matters in the Beit Hamikdash. What they instantly did was look for undesecrated oil. Why did they do that? There must have been things that may have seemed more pressing. We learn from this is the importance of seizing the moment. Not letting an opportunity pass. They could have looked for the oil at a later time but no, they did it right at that given moment. It was important to them so they made time for it.
We learn an extremely important lesson from this. We all live busy lives and we sometimes forget about making time for the real important matters in life. The Maccabim made time to look for pure oil; shouldn’t we make time for the jars of pure oil in our lives? Shouldn’t we take time out of our busy schedules to spend time with family, learn Torah and do chesed to maximize our growth?
My bracha to us all is that we can make time out of our busy schedules for the real important matters in life and seize every given opportunity!
