Chanukah Candles: Publicizing Historical Truth And Appreciating Truth in its Own Right

On May 15, 2023, seventy-five years after the State of Israel declared its independence, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, gave a speech at the United Nations commemorating the “Nakba.” Among many inflammatory statements he made in this speech, he made a claim that Israeli archaeologists had been digging under Al-Aqsa for thirty years and found “nothing.” He claims that he is not making this up but heard this directly from archaeologists. While Abbas’s claims are entirely baseless and refutable, these claims are useful for a narrative that wishes to paint Jews and Zionists as colonialists in the Land of Israel.

To be sure, this denial of Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount is not new, but it takes on extra urgency in the present moment. After all, the attack that took place on October 7 was not about settlements, colonization, or occupation. It was barely even about the Zionist movement. Because they named the attack the “Al-Aqsa Flood.” Just Google “Al-Aqsa and conflict,” and you will see stories that point to it as a “flashpoint” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including this one. Inherent in some (not all) of the rhetoric around Al-Aqsa is the denial of there being any Jewish roots on Har HaBayit. There was no Beit HaMikdash in their telling. I do not deny in the slightest that the site of Har HaBayit has religious significance to Muslims, but for people like Mahmoud Abbas to deny Jewish ties to and the religious significance of this site for Jews is obviously as incorrect as it is insulting, with fateful implications.

This is precisely why the holiday of Chanukah is so important in our day and age.

What is the purpose of lighting Chanukah candles? Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik (see Batei Yosef, ed. R. Michael Taubes, Siman 670) delineates two particular facets of this mitzvah: “zecher l’Mikdash,” emulating and commemorating what took place in the Beit HaMikdash at that time, and “pirsumei nisa,” publicizing the miracles Hashem performed. These two aspects of lighting candles both have their imprint on the halachic requirements and principles when it comes to lighting candles. Each aspect comes with different implications for halachic practice. For example, while the Gemara in Ketubot (50b) informs us that one should not spend more than a fifth of their income on a mitzvah, a poor person is required to do everything possible to acquire Chanukah candles, even if it means collecting extra tzedakah or selling one’s clothes. Why is that?

Rav Soloveitchik explains that when it comes to publicizing a miracle, in which one is fulfilling the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem, sanctifying Hashem’s name, the regular principle does not apply. Just like one must give up their life to avoid desecrating Hashem’s name, so too one must be willing to spend as necessary to fulfill the Kiddush Hashem of publicizing the miracle of Chanukah by lighting candles. Meanwhile, the singular nature of the mitzvah of Chanukah candles is also illustrated through Rambam’s description of this mitzvah as being a mitzvah chaviva, a beloved mitzvah. This is not a matter of pirsumei nisa because Megillah and the Four Cups at the Seder are also matters of pirsumei nisa, yet Rambam does not describe them as a mitzvah chaviva. Rather, the preciousness of lighting candles is reflective of the fact that the Menorah in the Beit HaMikdash serves as testimony that the Shechina resides among the Jewish people, and that is precisely what the Greeks wanted to disrupt. They thought they could sever the connection between HaKadosh Baruch Hu and the Jewish people by uprooting the Menorah and everything it stands for. In this sense, our lighting a Menorah is a zecher l’Mikdash, a reminder of the unique relationship between Hashem and the Jewish people, even in the absence of the Beit HaMikdash.

Another illustration of these two elements plays out in the location of lighting the Menorah. The preference for lighting candles at the entrance of the home, or even by the window, speaks to the effort of pirsumei nisa. But even when it is too dangerous to light publicly, one should still light candles on a table in their home, even if there will be nobody else to witness the candles. Why should that be? Rav Soloveitchik explains that lighting in that case is not about pirsumei nisa but about zecher l’Mikdash (Siman 671).

Finally, one of the most striking features of the Chanukah candles is the practice of lighting mehadrin min hamehadrin, in the super-choicest method of lighting candles. What is the significance of this requirement? If the mitzvah of lighting candles is zecher l’Mikdash, then some form of mehadrin can be compared to other forms of hiddur mitzvah. But if the mitzvah is for pirsumei nisa, then mehadrin, especially mehadrin min hamehadrin, takes on new significance. While Tosafot hold that mehadrin min hamehadrin requires that one person light the number of candles corresponding to the nights of the holiday, Rambam and Rama (in slightly different methods) require that candles are lit for each member of the household corresponding to the night of the holiday. What is their point of contention? Rav Soloveitchik explains that for Tosafot, one is able to identify which night of Chanukah it is by seeing one set of candles lit, which helps this person appreciate the magnitude of the growth of the miracle. However, for Rama and Rambam, either the number of people lighting or the sheer existence of many candles adds greater praise and publicity for the mitzvah. Either way, mehadrin min hamehadrin is a reflection of pirsumei nisa.

While these two aspects of lighting, zecher l’Mikdash and pirsumei nisa, have their unique properties and goals, in light of the ongoing war, we can appreciate the fusion of these two principles. Part of the importance of Chanukah is publicizing to the world that there was, in fact, a Beit HaMikdash, and Hashem performed a miracle for us on that site. The Menorah in the Mikdash is indicative of Hashem’s presence. To perform pirsumei nisa is to also make a zecher l’Mikdash, to state a truth of history and to proudly proclaim that it is from the Mikdash that the values of the Torah shine upon the entire world. And it is in the Mikdash that we reach the height of our connection to G-d.

In Ashkenazi households, each individual lights candles. This reminds us that each and every Jew is an ambassador of Hashem and the Torah, and each and every Jew as an individual has a responsibility in proclaiming these messages. For Sefardi Jews as well, while one person lights for the entire household, the message still is that each Jewish home is responsible for representing our history and our values to the world. Likewise, the custom to light the Menorah in shul is indicative of a communal obligation to rise to the occasion, to model the Mikdash and proclaim its truths as well to the community. We should note that it is not just non-Jews who need to be reminded of the veracity of our tradition but even some Jews who deny the historical and religious connection we have to Eretz Yisrael and Yerushalayim.

The stakes of this mitzvah are not merely about a love for Chanukah or pride in one’s Judaism but about proclaiming the truth of the miracles our people have seen and the truth of our tradition that emanates from the site of the Beit HaMikdash, may it be built speedily in our days.