More Chanuka "stuff"

The Question that Keeps on Asking
It is known as the Beit Yosef’s question, although there are sources with the same question that predate Rav Yosef Karo.

It’s a well-known question that scholars and would-be scholars have answered differently throughout many centuries. Whole books have been written on this one question, and countless suggested answers to it.
No amount of space in Torah Tidbits can do justice to the question, but we can give it a hearty “go”.

If the Chashmona’im found a one-day supply of undefiled sacred oil for the Menorah and that one day supply miraculously lasted for eight days, then there were seven days of miracles. How come the Sages made an eight-day holiday to commemorate the miracle of the oil?

Some say that one day was to commemorate the victory of the Chashmona’im and the other seven commemorate the miracle of the oil.
Not a bad answer, until you rephrase the question: How come they commanded us to light Chanuka candles for eight days to commemorate only seven days of miracle?

One popular answer is that when they realized that they needed to light the Menora for eight days until new oil could be obtained, they divided the one-day supply into eight parts and used only 8 of the amount each night. But rather than lasting only for 1½-2 hours, the oil – on each of the eight nights – miraculously lasted all through the night. That’s eight days of Chanuka for eight days of miracle.

The problem with that answer, perhaps, is that if the mitzva of lighting the Menora in the Beit HaMikdash required an amount of oil sufficient to last through the night, then they would not have acted properly by using such a small quantity of oil each night. Rather, they should have filled up the oil cups of the Menora on the first night, using up their one-day supply, so that at least the mitzva would be performed properly that one time. Without any oil for the next seven nights, they would simply wait until new oil was available.
In fact, this challenge to the first possible explanation of what happened, leads to a different suggestion. That, indeed, they did use all the oil on the first night, but the flask remained full after filling the cups of the Menora. That was a miracle on the first night too.

The problem with this possibility is that on the eighth night, the flask would not need to refill, because new oil would be available the following night. Which leaves us with only seven days of miracles.

Another suggestion is that they used all the oil on the first night, the flask was then empty, but in the morning, the oil cups of the Menora were still full. Miracle. With the same problem of what happened on the eighth day.

Presumably, the oil would be consumed on the eighth day, in the normal fashion of oil. No miracle there. Only seven days of miracle. Back to the original question.

Another suggestion is that it was a miracle that a one-day supply was found at all. Especially a flask sealed by a Kohen Gadol. Odd, because that was not a function of the Kohen Gadol, but of the kohen in charge of the stores of oil in the Mikdash. This opinion includes an explanation of the necessity of finding that one flask, because miracles need to be anchored in reality. If there was no oil at all, there would be no miracle of oil. So that was the miracle of day one, and the seven days beyond the first that the oil lasted were the other seven days of miracles. Hence, eight days.

There are challenges to this theory too, but we’ll skip over them.

Another variation of what happened with the oil is that after the first night, the oil in the Menora diminished by one eighth. This happened on each of the eight nights. 8 days of miracles. Eight days of Chanuka. This theory has an additional appeal. The Menora required oil derived from olives, not oil that came about as a result of a Heavenly miracle. Having the original real olive oil present on each of the days, means that oil of olives was burning, not supernatural oil. We can say that there was no increase in the amount of oil; it just miraculously lasted longer than expected.

Two other answers admit that there was only seven days of miracles with the oil, but say that the Sages declared an eight-day holiday, and an eight day mitzva, corresponding to the Torah holiday of Sukkot and/or corresponding to the eight days of Mila. Mila was a main target of Greek oppression and to best celebrate our victory over the Greeks is to accentuate the number 8. Not only have an eight day holiday, and not only perform the mitzva of the Chanuka lights for eight days, but to increase (or decrease) the number of candles each night so that the number 8 is further emphasized.

Another suggestion is that the Chashmona’im used wicks that were 8 the usual thickness, expecting the lights to burn through the night. The miracle was that the Menora shone brightly as if full-sized wicks were used. That means eight days of miracle too. A possible problem with this theory is that the details of the mitzva included always using wicks of a certain thickness.

Another suggested answer is that our Sages wanted us to recognize the additional seven days that the one-day supply of oil lasted as miraculous, but that there is another kind of miracle called nature, and it is a miracle (albeit more subtle) that a one-day supply of oil lasts for a day. In other words, we should see a miracle in the fact that you can extract oil from olives and it burns so beautifully, providing such an exquisite light. It often takes something out of the ordinary to make us appreciate the miracles of everyday life. But a burning candle, a butterfly, a banana, a raindrop, a snowflake – these are all miracles.

Some take a different direction in trying to determine what happened. Either because of the ritual impurity in the Beit HaMikdash, the Chashmona'im set up a makeshift Menora in the courtyard of the Beit HaMikdash. A one-day supply of oil meant to be used indoors would not last the whole time outdoors. But it did. Miracle. And the wind did not extinguish the lights of the Menora. Miracle. And the light of the Menora in the courtyard of the Beit HaMikdash on that first Chanuka lit up all the courtyards of Yerushalayim. Miracle.

There are other suggestions, but we’ll call it with these. Whatever happened, a Great Miracle Happened Here.

G'matriya Match
When the Jewish people recognize that NES GADOL HAYA PO (a great miracle occurred here), they proclaim, as they did with Eliyahu HaNavi, HASHEM HU HA-ELOKIM; HASHEM HU HA-ELOKIM. These two phrases are G’matriya Twins, @ 258.

The 25th word in the Torah is OHR, light. In addition to the association with Chanuka light beginning on the 25th of Kislev, it was that first LIGHT that dispelled the “Darkness on the face of the depths”. Midrashic sources identify that “Darkness” with the Greek Empire. And so it was the Light of the 25th of Kislev that dispelled the Darkness... again.

Chidushei HaRim says lighting Chanuka candles is a SEGULA for wealth, since the Chanukiya is placed on the left side of the doorway, and it says (Mishlei 3:16): ...BIS’MOLAH OSHER V’CHAVOD, on the left, wealth and wisdom.