While Chanukah is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, it is one of the most well-known Jewish holidays due to its proximity to Christmas on the calendar. The main ritual of Chanukah is lighting a nine-branched candelabrum called the menorah. Jews light the menorah to commemorate the miracle. The four letters on the dreidel, a four-sided top commonly played during Chanukah are an acronym to spell out the phrase "a miracle happened there" (נס גדול היה שם). What exactly is the miracle celebrated during Chanukah?
One possible answer is given from a prayer recited during Chanukah. The prayer Al Ha Nisim (על הנסים; "Concerning the Miracles") waxes poetic about the military victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks. The prayer mentions the dedication of the Temple, which makes sense because the word Chanukah (חנכה) comes from the root חנך, which means "dedication."
Another has to do with the menorah. While there was a military victory against the Greeks, that was not the miracle that the Talmudic Rabbis emphasized. If you look at Tractate Shabbat (21a-24b), the Rabbis only make scant mention of the military victory. The focus is on the miracle of the oil. After the military victory, the Maccabees wanted to rededicate the Temple. There was enough oil in a single cistern for one night. However, that oil miraculously lasted for eight nights. This would explain why the festival of Chanukah lasts for eight nights. Also, one of the alternative names of Chanukah in Hebrew is "Festival of Lights (חג האורים).
So which miracle is more important: the military victory or a jar of oil that lasted longer than it should have? At first glance, I would say the military victory. The Maccabees were outnumbered more than 3:1, not to mention they were poorly trained and equipped. The Maccabees won at similar odds to the fledgling modern state of Israel that was surrounded by hostile nation Arabs in 1947 shortly before Israel gained its independence. This miracle could be conceived as a salvation of the Jewish people.
On the other hand, should it be a bragging point that the Jewish people can win a war once in a blue moon? Plus, if the military victory were so great, why would G-d need to have performed the second miracle with the oil at all? Maybe the miracle is the long-lasting oil. It would be similar to a smartphone battery on 10 percent miraculously lasting eight days. After all, the long-lasting oil is the answer that the Talmud (Shabbat 21b) gives. Conversely, the Maccabees could have used impure oil because, as the Talmud (Yoma 6b) states, "service to the congregation [Temple] supersedes laws of purity."
Here is an alternative response to the question. The answer of which miracle is more important could come down to how one perceives the concept of a miracle. In Hebrew, the word most commonly used for "miracle" is nes (נס). The word literally means "banner," which would suggest that the occurrence is extraordinary, elevated, and something that can clearly be seen. Seventeenth-century Rabbi Tzvi Ashkenazi said that what we refer to "nature is actually miraculous and "unnatural." The only reason we see something as "natural" (e.g., gravity) is because we have become accustomed to it. As a result, we take them for granted. In a time when wars happened all the time, winning a war seemed "natural" and not out of the ordinary. The fact that a military victory was "expected" and a jar of oil lasting longer was "unexpected" could change our perspective.
As I wrote a decade ago, Chanukah is a holiday that has a heavy focus on gratitude. Gratitude is a matter of perspective, much like R. Ashkenazi brings up with what constitutes as a miracle. If we view such events such as oil burning or a military victory as "natural," then they are to be expected. To quote the Talmud (Niddah, 31a), "The one to whom the miracle is happening, does not recognize the miracle." Alternatively, G-d could have woven them into nature, as Maimonides opined (Guide for the Perplexed, II, xxix). Or perhaps G-d it stepping in and breaking the laws of nature to make a point (Lubavitcher Rebbe).
If we view what happened as "business as usual" or as anomalies, then there is nothing impressive beyond defying statistical probability. If we view wonders of the world as miracles, then both the military victory and the long-lasting oil are miracles with their unique characteristics. Maybe what makes a miracle a miracle is how we recognize and appreciate an event. By recognizing the miracles traditionally celebrated during Chanukah, perhaps the main miracle is that we continue to celebrate Chanukah all these centuries later, even in spite of the Jewish people having dealt with oppression, persecution, exile, stigma, and sadly for too many, death. The real miracle could be that we extend the concept of miracle from the Maccabean era to the modern era.
One last thought on "expected versus unexpected." If we only do something because we "expect" it, then it can limit our potential. The oil on the first night of Chanukah was not the miracle because there was at least enough oil for the first night. As I heard from Rabbi Ari Hart, what made the first night a miracle was the Maccabees took that first step forward thinking there was not enough oil. It was that courage to move into the unknown, even more so than they did fighting the military battle against the Greeks. What makes Chanukah miraculous is achieving what we thought was previously impossible. I will conclude today with a quote from Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen:
Chanukah is when we think about the potential stored up in every effort. Nature is begging us to give up, to be realistic, to realize that the task of growing in a way we hoped is far beyond our ability. The response to this is Chanukah. Chanukah says: Nature can be vanquished. What seems to be impossible, isn't.
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