Chanukah 5783: The “Beloved” Mitzvah of Ner Chanukah

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Artwork: DALL-E's response to the prompt, "photograph of a lit menorah on a platform against a dark backdrop. camera is far away. center candle is taller than the other candles."

Chanukah 5783: The “Beloved” Mitzvah of Ner Chanukah

Rambam provides an unusual description of Ner Chanukah in Hilchos Megilah v’Chanukah 4:12:

The mitzvah of the Ner Chanukah is an exceedingly beloved mitzvah (mitzvah chavivah hee ad me’od), and a person must be careful with it in order to convey knowledge of the miracle and to increase the praise of God and thanksgiving to Him for the miracles He did. Even if a person is dependent on tzedakah for food, he must [nevertheless] beg [for money] or sell his clothing to buy oil and candles [so he can] kindle [the Ner Chanukah].

The Rav (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Mipninei ha’Rav pp. 187-188) asks: What makes Ner Chanukah more “beloved” than other mitzvos? If this is because of pirsumei nisa (publicizing the miracle), then Rambam’s characterization should extend to the other mitzvos of pirsumei nisa, such as the reading of Megilas Esther on Purim and the arbah kosos (four cups) and heseivah (reclining) on Pesach – yet, only Ner Chanukah is described by him as “beloved.”

The Rav answers based on a Gemara (Shabbos 22b) about the original miracle of the oil – not the miracle that occurred during Bayis Sheini which we commemorate on Chanukah, but the one that transpired on a more regular basis during Bayis Rishon and early Bayis Sheini. The Gemara begins with a rhetorical question: "Does [God] need the light [of the Menorah]?! Didn't the Children of Israel walk exclusively by His light for the entire forty years in the Wilderness?" The Gemara answers: "Rather, [the Menorah] is a testimony to mankind that the shechinah (divine presence) rests among Israel." The Gemara goes on to describe the miracle of the Ner Maaravi (western lamp of the Menorah). The Kohen would put an equal measure of oil into all the lamps of the Menorah, but whereas the other six would burn out at night, the Ner Maaravi would miraculously remain lit, allowing the Kohen to kindle from it again each evening. This miracle was not guaranteed. Rather, as Rashi (ibid.) explains, “as long as Israel was beloved (chaviv) [before Hashem, the Ner Maaravi] would be lit all day long, and that was its testimony.”  

In other words, the miracle of the Menorah's Ner Maaravi reflected Israel’s status as the Chosen Nation, and it was this selfsame “chosenness” that was imperiled by Greek Hellenism during the era of the Chashmonaim. Not only did Hashem save us from that threat, but He testified through the eight-day miracle of the oil that the shechinah continued to dwell in Israel. This, according to the Rav, is the meaning of Rambam’s characterization of Ner Chanukah as a “beloved” mitzvah: because Ner Chanukah is emblematic of our belovedness before Hashem.

But there remains one question which must be answered to fully appreciate the Rav’s idea: What do we mean by “shechinah”? Hashem is not physical and cannot “dwell” in any location, as Shlomo ha’Melech expressed in his tefilah at the dedication of Bayis Rishon: "Does God truly dwell on earth? Behold, the heavens and the highest heavens do not contain You, and surely not this Temple that I have built!" (I Melachim 8:27).

In his commentary on the pasuk: “I shall place My indwelling (mishkani) in your midst” (Vayikra 26:11), R’ Dovid Tzvi Hoffman (1843-1921) defines “shechinah” as “the manifest divine providence that determines the fate of Israel” (ha’hashgachah ha’elohis ha’geluyah she’kovaas es goral Yisrael). Although Israel’s fate is always under hashgachas Hashem (God’s providence), that hashgachah is not always manifest. But when we experience a miracle – whether an open miracle involving a suspension of the laws of nature, like the Ner Maaravi, or a hidden miracle, like our military victory over the Greeks – we refer to such a phenomenon as shechinah.

In light of this understanding of “shechinah,” we can appreciate a nuance in the Rav’s explanation of the Rambam. Ner Chanukah is “beloved” not only because it symbolizes shechinah, but also because it exemplifies shechinah. As Rabbi Yonatan Goldschmidt so eloquently expressed: “the miracle is not only that the light lasted eight days but that these [Chanukah] lights have lasted more than 2000 years.” The continued observance of Ner Chanukah by the Jewish people, despite everything that has happened, is the greatest manifestation of hashgachas Hashem.

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