Page 9 - HaMizrachi #15 2019 Chanuka USA

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Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon Rabbanit Sharon Rimon A MUTUAL

Light up

the World

hanukah is a holiday lamps continually.” The light of the returned to spread the light of the
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celebrating the restoration of Temple cannot spread on its own. Torah.
Cthe kingdom of Israel, a holiday Only in partnership with the people
of tremendous political salvation. So of Israel can the great light burst forth And it is precisely then that the
why not call it “Independence Day”? and impact the world. miracle occurred. Why?
Why the emphasis on the miracle of During this time, the people of Israel
the oil and lighting the Menorah? were in a state of depression, but

The miracle of victory over the Greeks they were trying to find and connect
was the great miracle in Hasmonean with points of light. The people were
times, but the miracle of the cruse of making the effort, but that was not
oil is the miracle we remember today, enough. The impurity was so great. It
every day of Chanukah. would be a long time before the people
could produce pure oil, so to speak, for
The miracle of the cruse did not save they first had to undergo a process of
the people of Israel from distress but it extensive internal cleansing.
did allow the Menorah to be lit anew. However, because the people wanted
The triumph over the Greeks meant to take the first step and return to the
the opportunity of worshipping G-d worship of G-d in the Temple, G-d
openly again, so the purification and helped them to light the Menorah.
re-enactment of Temple service were The miracle was a “glimpse” of G-d
the essence of victory. Therefore the expressing enlightenment, affection,
holiday is not called “Independence and Divine assistance following a
Day,” in memory of a military victory course of human action.
and national liberty, but “Chanukah,”
in memory of the renewal of the The lit Menorah in the Temple
Temple service. miraculously illuminated and allowed
the people to undergo the process of
In other words, Chanukah is about internal cleansing and of re-lighting
cultural and spiritual, rather than their internal light. At the end of this
national, freedom. process, the people would be able to
light the Menorah themselves, and
Lighting the Menorah signifies the once again earn the right to share the
work of the Temple not only because it great light with the world.
was one of the acts of Temple service
but because it has a symbolic meaning: After a spiritual confrontation
the diffusion of light from the Temple between the people of Israel and Greek 1 Shemot 27:20.
outwards. culture – when some of the people
abandoned the Temple and turned
Furthermore, the Menorah was lit to Greek culture – the Temple was
with oil, and the Torah emphasizes darkened, and the Temple service
that the oil was collected and brought ceased. When the people of Israel rose,
to the Temple by the people: “instruct and returned to the Temple, to the Rabbanit Sharon Rimon teaches Tanach
the Israelites to bring you clear oil of spiritual world, the first work upon and is Content Editor for the Tanach website
beaten olives for lighting, for kindling return was to light the Menorah. Israel www.hatanakh.com/en
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