THE MEANING OF
"CHANUKAH" AND ITS RELEVANCE
From Moadim B'Halacha by Rav
Shlomo Yoseif Zevin
What is the meaning of the word
"Chanukah"? The poskim discuss this question at some length, and with
good reason. It does not inherently seem to relate to either miracle - the
battle or the oil - and as such we have to understand why this is the name of our
"festival of lights."
One of the more common answers to this
question is that the word "Chanukah" stands for "Chanu
kaf-hey," namely that the Jews rested on the twenty-fifth day of
Kislev after completing their victory over the Syrian-Greeks. While one would
not expect such a symbolic explanation to have any halachic significance, this
is actually cited by numerous Rishonim and poskim, among them Abudraham, Ran, Kol-Bo, Tur, Pri
Megadim, Chayei
Adam, and Mishne Berura. Nevertheless, we still have to understand if this
resting was a resting from labor (similar to Shabbat and holidays) or if it was
a rest from the war that had occurred. Maharsha
views it as a resting from labor, and thus questions why the Ran cites this as
a reason, since we know that labor is permitted on Chanukah. Bach also adopts the "resting from labor" view,
and justifies by noting the fact that there is a custom to not work while the
candles are lit. He claims that this must be the practice, for if not then it
would be comprehensible what resting from labor there is on Chanukah.
Contrarily, the Levush feels that the resting
is from the battle, as does the Pri Chadash.
The Birchei
Yoseif lashes out at the explanation
of the Bach, noting that it is forced, and that the only custom not to do work
is by women, and it would be unusual for the holiday to be named after a custom
held by only half of the population. Thus, the rest involved must be the rest
from their enemies.
A second explanation for Chanukah is that it
stands for "Chet Neirot V'Halacha K'Beit Hillel" (this works
much better in Hebrew) - the law that we need eight candles and we follow the
view of Beit Hillel that we begin with one candle on the first night and
continue to add one each night. This view is cited by Abudraham as well, in
addition to the Ateret Zekeinim and Pri
Megadim. While it is difficult to suggest that this was the reason for the
name, those who invoke it are likely using it as some form of sign or hint
towards an actual halachic ruling. Nevertheless, this idea is actually used to
answer halachic questions. The Mor V'Ohalot states that Chanukah could not be
eight days, since if that were to be the case then there would be one night
when it would be impossible to determine if the halacha followed Beit Hillel or
Beit Shammai (who claim that we begin with eight candles and decrease one each
day). How is this so? If there were only seven days, then according to either
opinion we would light four candles on the fourth night. However, based on this
explanation of the name Chanukah, we have to have it obvious every night that
the law is like Beit Hillel, and thus Chanukah had to be eight nights (editor's
note: or at least an even number - I presume that seven was a starting point
due to it being the length of other holidays, and thus we go up from there; this
is not random - there are intrinsic connections between Succot and Chanukah
that space unfortunately prevents me from including here). Similarly, this is
why there is no ninth day of Chanukah due to the s'feika d'yoma that we
have by other holidays when we add a day outside of Israel. Again, if that were
to be the case, then there would be no way of telling whose opinion we were
following on the fifth night.
The third reason for the name, given by
Maharsha, seems to be the simplest. He claims that "Chanukah" refers
to the "Chanukat HaMizbe'ach," the (re)dedication of the altar
in the Temple after the Chashmonaim had defeated their enemies. This view is
also brought down by the Or Zarua,
and is found in the Second Book of Maccabees (an apocryphal text). However, we
should note that the Knaf Renana notes that since the original sanctification
of the altar was eternal, the dedication by Chanukah was somewhat unnecessary
and halachically irrelevant.
Rav Yitzchak Eizik of Slonim expands this
latter view somewhat, claiming that the celebration was not only of the
dedication of the altar, but of all of the holy vessels in the Temple. He bases
this view on a gemara in Avodah Zara 52b, which states that when non-Jews
entered the Temple they defiled the vessels to the point that they became
profane (in the sense of non-holy) and ownerless. At that point, the non-Jews
acquired them and made them forbidden by using them for idolatry. The Ba'al HaMaor says that this applied only to the stones of the
altar, while Ramban applies this to all of the vessels. Thus, a new dedication
was required for everything.
Rav Yaakov Emden offers a fifth option. He
states that the rededication referred to is that which occurred during the days
of the prophet Chaggai, whose book specifically gives us the date of the
twenty-fifth day of Kislev (see Chaggai 2:18; Rav Yoel Bin-Nun has a
fascinating article on this issue in Megadim 12, p. 49. It is way beyond the
scope of this Chabura, but I encourage those who are able to check it out to do
so).
Finally, there is the connection to the
Mishkan in the desert. What connection is there? The first level of connection
is that the Mishkan was completed on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev, but its
actual erection was delayed until the first of Nissan for various possible
reasons. Beyond that, Ramban in
B'ha'alotcha notes that the recounting of the dedication ("chanuka")
done by the leaders of the tribes (which we read from in the Torah on Chanukah)
is followed by the commandment to Aharon to light the menorah in the Mishkan.
He claims that Aharon felt bad when he saw that his tribe, Levi, did not participate
in the dedication ceremonies with the other tribes. Thus, Hashem reassured him
that there would in the future be a dedication that would be done solely by the
tribe of Levi, namely that represented by the Menorah - the dedication done by
Chanukah. The Knaf Renana tightens this connection, claiming that this is why
the holiday is called Chanukah - even though the altar did not need to be
dedicated by the Chashmonaim, nevertheless it served as a completion of the
original "Chanukah," that done in the desert.
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