The connections between Succos and Chanukah

(47) And made up the sanctuary, and the things that were within the temple, and hallowed the courts.

(48) They made also new holy vessels, and into the temple they brought the candlestick, and the altar of burnt offerings, and of incense, and the table.

(49) And upon the altar they burned incense, and the lamps that were upon the candlestick they lighted, that they might give light in the temple.

(50) Furthermore they set the loaves upon the table, and spread out the veils, and finished all the works which they had begun to make.

(51) Now on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month, which is called the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and eighth year, they rose up betimes in the morning, And offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of burnt offerings, which they had made.

(52) Look, at what time and what day the heathen had profaned it, even in that was it dedicated with songs, and citherns, and harps, and cymbals.

(53) Then all the people fell upon their faces, worshipping and praising the God of heaven, who had given them good success.

(54) And so they kept the dedication of the altar eight days and offered burnt offerings with gladness, and sacrificed the sacrifice of deliverance and praise.

(55) They decked also the forefront of the temple with crowns of gold, and with shields; and the gates and the chambers they renewed, and hanged doors upon them.

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(2) The idolaters compiled many books of worship, defining its principle manner of service, its works and its laws; but the Holy One, blessed be He! charged us not to read those books at all, not to think of idolatry generally nor of aught of its details. Moreover, to look at it is forbidden, as it is said: "Turn ye not unto idols" (Lev. 19.4.); and of thinking on this subject it is said: "And that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their god"? (Ibid.), which is a warning that thou shalt not inquire concerning its manner of practice, though thou art not worshiping it, for this very inquiry causes a turning after it and to imitate their practice, as it is further said: "Even so will I do likewise" (Ibid.).²Shabbat, 149a; Sifra, Lev. 19; Sanhedrin, 100b. C. G.

(1) In the [time of] the second Temple when the evil Antiochuses lived, they made decrees against Israel and [forbade] their holy religion; they did not allow them to be engaged with Torah study and with the commandments; and they placed their hand on their money and on their daughters. And they entered the Temple and opened gaps [in its walls], made the pure things impure, caused pain to Israel and brought great duress upon them. Until the Lord, the God of their forefathers had mercy upon them and delivered them from their hand, and saved them through the holy and pure sons of the Hasmoneans, the High Priests, Mattatyahu and his sons; who fought with Antiochus and were able [to win]. And the victory was not according to nature, as the Hasmoneans [together ] with a band of pious men were very few and Antiochus came against them with a large [group], with many elephants and with chariot and riders. However the Lord, who desires His people, Israel, 'delivered the mighty into the hand of the weak, the many into the hand of the few, the impure into the hand of the pure and the evildoers into the hand of the righteous.' And the renegades from Israel who appended themselves to Antiochus were also killed and delivered into the hand of those engaged in Torah study. And then the name of Heaven was magnified and sanctified in the world, the light of the Torah shone in its true purity and the name of Israel was magnified.

(2) And the end of the miracle was on the 25th of Kislev. And another miracle was shown to them from the Heavens through the 'candle of the commandment and the Torah light.' As we have the text in Shabbat 21b that reads, "What is Chanukkah, that our Sages taught: 'On the 25th of Kislev - the days of Chanukkah, they are eight, not to eulogize on them and not to fast on them?' When the Greeks entered the Temple, they polluted all the oils in the Temple, and when the Hasmonean dynasty overcame and defeated them, they checked and they found but one cruse of oil that was set in place with the seal of the High Priest, but there was in it only [enough] to light a single day. A miracle was done with it, and they lit from it for eight days. The following year [the Sages] fixed those [days], making them holidays for praise and thanksgiving."

(3) The explanation of these words: When they purified the Temple, they were all impure from defilement with corpses from the war. And someone impure from contact with corpses can only become pure after seven days - through the sprinkling [of purifying waters] on the third and seventh day. And [then] one [more] day [was needed] for the preparation of pure oil (Beit Yosef). And also, as the pure oil was at a distance of four days [sojourn], by the time they would go and come back, eight days would pass (Ran on Shabbat 21a). And they did not have what to light in the menorah. [It is true that] they sacrificed all of the daily sacrifices, since a communal sacrifice pushes off [the prohibition of sacrificing when the priests are in a state of] impurity. And therefore, they could have also lit the candles of the menorah for this reason, as it is taught [in a bereita] in Torat Cohanim, Parshat Emor, at the end of Parsha 13, "'He shall arrange the candles in front of Me always' - 'always,' even on Shabbat; 'always' even in [a state of] impurity." However the oil had to be pure, as impurity is only rendered permissible for the community [in this context] with regards to the impurity from contact with corpses; but not other impurities, as is explained in Pesachim 67a. And the oil was made impure with [such] other impurities - though their touch and their being carried. And all of the olives were [similarly] made impure. [This situation lasted] until they attained [olives that were still] attached [to the tree], as they do not absorb impurity, and [so] eight days passed. And therefore, when they found this cruse sealed with the seal of the High Priest - and it had been placed in a deep location such that it was not raised up; as were this not so, it would have become impure through being raised up (Tosefot, Shabbat 21b), and also, had [the Greeks] seen [it], they would have certainly taken it, as it would have appeared that there were precious stones there (Ran, op.cit.) - the Holy One, blessed be He, made a miracle for them. As even though there was only enough [pure] oil for one day - they lit for eight days from it, until they made pure oil. And hence, they 'fixed eight days for praise and thanksgiving.' (And see Beit Chadash, but according to what I have written, it easily comes out fine.)

(4) And even though the miracle was really for seven days - as there was enough in it to light for one day - nonetheless, since only one eighth of the oil was lit, it follows that the miracle was also on the first day (Beit Yosef). And there is someone (Shiltei Hagiburim citing Hagahot Mordechai?) who wrote, "[Eight days are commemorated,] since they [forbade] the commandment of circumcision, which is for eight days." And there is one who wrote, [It is] because they then inaugurated the Temple for the service that the evil Antiochus had [forbidden] (Ibid.).

(5) And [the last reason] is the truth - as in the Midrash, it is found that the work of the tabernacle was finished on the 25th of Kislev, and they did not inaugurate it until the beginning of the month (Rosh Chodesh) of Nissan, when the forefathers had been born. And the Holy One, blessed be He, payed [Israel] back in the time of Mattityahu (this midrash is brought by Maharsha, Shabbat 21b). And hence they made it like the inauguration of the Tabernacle, which was [composed of] the seven days of installation and the eighth day, [which] was the completion of the beginning of the service in the Tabernacle by Aharon and his sons, as is explained in the Torah. And so [too] with King Shlomo, it is written in II Chronicles 7, "And Shlomo made the holiday... seven days, and... on the eighth day was a convocation" - see there. And hence to commemorate [this], they called this holiday Chanukah (inauguration) also, from the expression, chanukat hamizbeach (inauguration of the tabernacle) and chanukat habayit (inauguration of the Temple). And with this, there is also an allusion to the 25th day: chanu (they inaugurated) kah [which is made up of the letters kaf and hey, which together represent the number twenty-five] (Ran, op.cit.). And another reason for this is elucidated in the Book of the Maccabees: Since, as a result of the decrees, they were stopped from bringing the sacrifices of the holiday of the past Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. And hence, to commemorate this, they made the eight days of Channukah. And [it followed] that when from the Heavens they were shown the miracle of the oil - 'They' showed them that 'They' agreed to them making eight days. (And this is [the meaning of] what they wrote in Shabbat, op.cit., "The following year, they fixed, etc.;" meaning to say, after they saw that there was agreement to them from the Heavens to make eight days - through the oil that 'They' showed them [stay] lit for eight days. And in commemoration of this miracle, they fixed that candles be lit on Channukah, as was written by Tur.)

(9) The increasing of the number of meals that we partake in [on Chanukah] are ‘voluntary meals’ [as opposed to meals which are a mitzvah], because [the Sages] did not set [the days of Chanukah] for drinking and rejoicing, as they did on Purim. [This is because] the decree of Haman was on the body, to destroy, kill, and wipe out [all of the Jews] (Esther 3:13), therefore, we need to celebrate with our bodies. But the decree of Antiochus was abolition of Torah learning and mitzvot, and even though this is worse than a decree of physical [annihilation], nevertheless, they were decrees against our souls. Therefore, we need to gladden our souls with Hallel, thanks, melodies, songs and praises, and the body has no connection to these [methods of rejoicing]. (And this also answers the question of the Taz 670:3 [who asked that if it is worse to cause one to sin rather than kill him per Rashi Devarim 23:9, why do we not celebrate this holiday more than, or at least equally to, Purim?]) However, there are those who say [Rama Orach Chaim 670:2, in the name of Rabbi Avraham Kara of Prague] that there is a slight mitzvah to increase the number of meals, first, because celebration of the soul is somewhat dependent on the happiness of the body, as we can sense. Additionally, [we rejoice physically] to remember the dedication of the Mishkan, which was set as [a holiday of] drinking and rejoicing. One should also sing songs and praises at these meals, and then it will certainly be considered a ‘mitzvah meal’. But those who play with cards-their punishment is great, and due to our many sins, this plague of tzara’athas spread through the house of Israel. Woe to us that this has happened in our days, and many types of sins are caused by this activity! And may He, the merciful, forgive sin, and one who has the ability to abolish this [practice], his merit will be very great.

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(9) The whole Hallel⁴²Including Pss. CXV, 1-11 and CXVI, 1-11 (P.B., pp. 220f). is recited during all the eight days of Ḥanukkah. During [the recital of] the first two⁴³So GRA. V, M and H read ‘three’. chapters one may not return greetings, and there is no need to say that one must not give greetings. During [the recital of] the last two chapters one may give greetings out of fear;⁴⁴To a person who can cause harm in his resentment at not having been greeted. during the two middle chapters⁴⁵The reading of GRA. V and M have ‘and return greetings for the sake of peace and out of respect’. H omits the text of V and GRA. [greetings may be given] for the sake of peace or out of respect. The following are the first two chapters: Praise, O ye servants of the Lord⁴⁶Ps. 113. and When Israel went forth.⁴⁷ibid. CXIV. V, M and H adds Ps. 115 as the third. The two middle ones are: Not unto us⁴⁸ibid. CXV; ‘the two middle … us’ is the reading of GRA. and I love.⁴⁹ibid. CXVI. The last two are: O praise the Lord⁵⁰ibid. CXVII. and O give thanks unto the Lord.⁵¹ibid. CXVIII. It is also necessary to say a benediction⁵²‘Blessed art Thou … to read the Hallel’ (P.B., p. 219). before them and read them melodiously. For R. Simeon b. Jehoẓadaḳ said:⁵³So GRA. V, H and M read ‘learnt’ using a term which refers to a Mishnah, whereas the quotation is from the Gemara in Ta‘an. 28b (Sonc. ed., pp. 150f). On eighteen days and one night the individual reads the whole Hallel and they are: the eight days of Ḥanukkah, the eight days of Tabernacles,⁵⁴Omitted by V and M, but added by GRA and H in agreement with Ta‘an. loc. cit. the Festival of Solemn Assembly, the first Festival day of Passover and the night preceding it.⁵⁵[Cf. Pes. V, 7 (Sonc. ed., p. 327) where it is described how the Hallel was recited during the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb on the eve of Passover.] In the Diaspora⁵⁶i.e. all countries outside the land of Israel where two days are observed as holy instead of the first day of Tabernacles, two days for the Festival of Solemn Assembly, and two days each for the first and seventh day of Passover. [the whole Hallel is read on] twenty-one days and two nights. The most proper way of performing the commandment is to read the Hallel psalms on the two nights [of Passover] in the Diaspora in the Synagogue,⁵⁷In addition to reading them at home in the course of the Seder ritual. ‘In the Synagogue’ is inserted by GRA but omitted by V, M and H. to say the benediction over them, and to recite them melodiously to fulfil what is stated, And let us exalt His name together.⁵⁸Ps. 34, 4. When, however, one reads [the Hallel] at home,⁵⁹During the Seder. there is no need to say the benediction because it has already been said in the congregational service.⁶⁰lit. ‘among many’. The Service in Synagogue precedes the Seder in the home.

§ The Gemara asks: What is the reasoning of the one who says that the initial consecration of Eretz Yisrael consecrated it for its time, but did not consecrate it forever? As it is taught in a baraita: It is written with regard to the return from Babylonia: “And all the congregation of those that were coming back out of the captivity made sukkot, and dwelt in sukkot, for since the days of Joshua, son of Nun, unto that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great joy” (Nehemiah 8:17). Now, is it possible that King David came and the Jews in his time and all subsequent generations did not make sukkot, until Ezra came?

Rav Sheshet raised an objection from that which was taught in a baraita. With regard to the Temple candelabrum, it is stated: “Outside the veil of the testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, shall Aaron order it from evening to morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations” (Leviticus 24:3). It must be understood: And does God require its light for illumination at night? Didn’t the children of Israel, all forty years that they walked in the wilderness, walk exclusively by His light, the pillar of fire? Rather, the lighting of the candelabrum is testimony to mankind that the Divine Presence rests among Israel. The Gemara asks: What is this testimony? Rav said: That is the westernmost lamp in the candelabrum in which the measure of oil placed was the same measure of oil as was placed in the other lamps, and nevertheless he would light the others from it each day and with it he would conclude, i.e., the westernmost lamp would continue burning throughout the day after all the others were extinguished. The rest of the lamps burned only at night, and each night he would relight the rest of the lamps from the westernmost lamp. But isn’t it true that here, in the Temple, since the lamps were fixed in the candelabrum, it was impossible to light directly from lamp to lamp? There was no alternative to taking a wood chip and lighting the rest of the lamps from the westernmost lamp. Consequently, it is difficult both according to the one who said that one may not light from lamp to lamp due to contempt for the mitzva and according to the one who said that one may not light from lamp to lamp due to weakening the mitzva.