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Hanukah Shiur
Shiur by
by Rabbi
Rabbi Joseph
Joseph B.
B. Soloveitchik,
Soloveitchik, delivered
A Hanukah
delivered at
Moriah Synagogue,
Synagogue,
at Moriah
-t'+,
circa-t150.
iria-"950
mL^
m-t*.
'irr Talmud
-r contains
.ii"rLuci
The
cirtartts an'entire
ar elrtlfe LracLaLe
LrcLaLe devoted
cievcieci to
to Purim,
Purim, Megillah,
luiegiiiah, but
but scarcely
scarcely
two and
and aa half
half daf
two
daf for
for Hanukah;
merely aa beraita,
Hanukah; merely
beraita, Mai
Mai Hanukah,
Hanukah, some
some discussion
discussion
you light
about how
you may
about
how you
light the
lights, that
that you
may not
not benefit
the lights,
benefit from
from them,
them, how
how long
long
they are
are to
they
lit, and
and that
that is
is all.
all. Why?
to remain
remain lit,
Vfhy?InInKitvei
Kitve HaKodesh,
HaKodesh, too,
too, we
we have
have
an
an entire
entire Megillah
MegiLlah for
we have
have none
for Purim,
Purim, and
and we
none for
for Hanukah.
Hanukah. Even
Even Megilat
Megilat
Hashmonaim is
part of
is not
HaKodesh, although
Hashmonaim
not considered
considered part
of Kitvei
Kitvei HaKodesh,
it" was
was written
writ-ten by
although it
a. contemporary.
contem,porar!/. It
a
gi.ren any
irnportence by
It is
is not
not given
any importance
by our
our Sages.
Sages. Why?
I"Jhy?

suggest the
purposely hid
II suggest
the Gemarah
hid the
Gemarah purposely
the miracle
mlracle of
Hanukah, covering
of Hanukah,
it up,
covering it
up, and
and
tol-d us
us only
only certain
certain things
told
but not
not everything
everything about
about it.
it. For
things but
For there
there are
are two
two
worlds, alma
worlds,
alma deiskasya
deiskasya vealma
veal-ma deisgalya,
deisgalya. the
the apparent
apparent world,
world, and
and the
the world
beneath the
t.he surface.
beneath
s:rrface. Man
Man sees
sees the
the nigle,
nigle, the
the apparent,
apparent, but
but often
often overlooks
overl-ooks the
the
nistar, the
nistar,
the hidden
hidden world.
world. And
Andbecause
becauseof
of this
this limited
limited vision,
vision, much
much distortion
distortion
ensues. Infnconsequence,
consequence, only
nigle, the
ensues.
onlythe
thenigle,
the superficial,
superficial, is
is usually
usually celebrated
celebrated
on Hanukah,
Hanukah, and
on
ard this
this causes
causes us
us to
to overlook
overlook the
the real
real miracle
miracle of
of the
the holiday.
holiday.
Itlhat do
What
do we
of Hanukah?
Hanukah? The
we see
The obvious
see in
in the
the account of
obvious story;
story; slavery,
slavery,
revolt,
revoJ-t, military
military victory.
part of
victory. Even
Even the
the miracle
miracle of
of the
the cruse
cruse of
of oil
oil is
is part
of the
the
alma
miracle. It
afma deisgalya
deisgalya of
It is
is important
important to
perceive the
of the
the Hanukah mirac}e.
to perceive
the alma
alma
deiskasya,
lies beneath
cieiskasya, that
ihe surface,
that which lies
beneaththe
surface, as
as well.
well.

go into
!{hy go
Why
into it?
it? Because
Beeauseif
if only
onlyaccording
accordingto
to the
the alma
we would
would no
no
alma deisgalya,
deisgalya, we
greater military
longer have
have aa Hanukah.
longer
Hanukah.WeV{ehad
hadmore,
more,and
andgreater
military triumphs
triunphs since
since then;
then;
David
etc. We
David Hamelech,
Hamelech, Yanai
Wedo
not celebrate
Yanai Hamelech, etc.
do not
celebrate them,
them, for
for we
coflrmemorate only
only those
whi.ch have
t-hrough the
commemorate
t'hose events
events which
have consequences
consequences through
until
the ages,
ages, until
l.

nra

part of
The
Rambam declares
The Rambam
declares that
that the
the part
of Israel
Israel conquered
conquered by
by Joshua
Joshua is
is sanctified
sanctified
only
only as
as long
long as
1and, but
but that
t.hat kedushah
kedushah was
was removed
reroved as
as soon
as we
we remained
remai-ned on
the land,
soon
on the
as
was a
a kedushah of
of kibush.
kibush. According
we were
were exiled,
as we
exiled, since
According to
this, we
slnce it
it was
to this,
would
would not
not be
victory of
of Hanukah
Hanukah today
we had
had been
be able
able to
to celebrate
celebrate the
lhe victory
today since
since we
driven
driven from
from Eretz
Eretz Yisrael.
Yisrael.
which daily
Our
Our sages
sages tell
were ten
ten miracles
miracles which
used to
tc happen
happen to
to our
our
tell us
us that
that there
there were
dai-y used
forefathers
forefathers in
in the
of them
them is
is exactly
exactl-y like
miracle of
of the
the
the Temple,
TempLe, and
and one
one of
like the
the miracle
while it
enough
cruse
cruse of
of oil.
oil. The
Thener
fox24
24hours
hours while
it contained
contained only
only enough
nertamid
tamidburned
burnedfor
place every
oil
for half
half that
that time.
time. That
oil in
in its
its reservoir
reservoir to
to burn for
That took
took place
every day
day
during
during the
the centuries
centuries the
t-he Temple
stood. YeL
Yet- the
the miracle
miracle in
in the
the Bet
Bet haMikdash
halvlikdash is
is
Temple stood.
not
rot celebrated
ceiebrateci because
we today
have neither
neiher the
ihe Bet
Bet haMikdash
hal{i kciash nor
nor the
the ner
because we
ioday have
tamid.
lights. There
tamid. This
Thisshould
to the
the miracle
miracle of
of the
the Hanukah tights.
There is
1s
shouldalso
ai-soapply
apply to
no
miracle that
that no
no longer
longer exists.
exists. So
reason to
reason for
no reason
So the
the only
only reason
for
to celebrate
cefebrate aa miacle
celebrating
the alma
al,ma deiskasya
deiskasya of
hcliday.
celebrating Hanukah
Hanukah today
today depends
depends on
on the
of this
this holiday.
Zarim,
described in
in the
the
Zarim, strangers,
strangers, entered
Bet Hamikdash
Hamikdash twice.
twice. Once,
Once, as
as described
entered the
the Bet
t,he time
bereita
the tractat*e
tractate Shai:'h'at
Shabbat in
Ic.shPnichnPe-n
bereita. in
in the
in the
tir.e of
of the
the Hashmonaim;
Hashnonairn,'Keshenichnesu
haYevanim baHeychal...,
whenthe
baHeychal. . . , and
timewhen
the Roman
Roman General
General- Titus
Titus entered
entered
andaasecond
secondtime
the
the Holy
Holy of
Holies.
of Holies.
There
There is
is aa difference
Tit.us entered
the Holy
Ho-y of
of
difference between
belween these
these two
two events.
evenLs. Titus
entered the
passage
Holies,
the Bet haMikdash..
haMikdash.. This
Holies, and
lhis is
is expressed
in the
the passage
and destroyed
destroyed the
expressed in
"

describing how
how Natal
Natal Titus
Titus sayif,
describing
vekara et
haparochet, But
et haparochet,
sayif, vekara
didn't
But the
Greeks didn't
the Greeks
cesLroy; they
ihey defiled.
destroy;
kai hashemanim.
Tim u kal
hasnemanam.
cief iieci. Tim'u
The consequence
consequence of
produced tum'a.
The
entry was hurban.
hurban. The
of Rome's entry
TheGreek
Greek entry
tumta.
entry produced
Vhy?And
Andwhy
whydidn't
Why?
Heychal?
dj-dn't the
Greeks destroy
the Greeks
destroy the
the Heychal?

the Talmud,
rn the
Talmud, Moed
r:avHuna,
In
Moed Katan,
Katan, we
we find:
find: Amar
Amarrav
Huna, haroeh
haroeh sefer
sefer Torah
Torah
shenisra.f, hayav
shenisraf,
hal'1. likroa
fikroa shtei
keriot,- ahas
ahas al
shtei keriot;
hagevif veachas
aJ_ hagevil
veachas al
hakeLav,
a_ haketav,
(when the
sheneemar (when
the King
Yehoyakim burned
sheneemar
burned Yirmiyahu's
King Yehoyakim
Yirrniyahu's megillah),
megillah), ahar
serof
ahar serof
hamelech et
hamelech
hagevilim veet
et hagevilim
veet hadevarim.
hadevari-m.
glance this
At first
first glance
is contradicted
At
this is
the episode
contradicted by
by the
episode recounted
recounted in
in the
Talmud,
the Talmud,
Avoda
Zara,
Besha'a shesarfu
Hananya ben
Rabban Hananya
Tradyon, shaaluhu
Avoda Zara, Besha'a
shesarfu Rabban
ben Tradyon,
shaaluhu talmidav,
talmidav,
qevllim nisrafim
Rebbi, ma
Rebbi,
ma ata
roeh.... He
ata roeh....
He answered,
porchot=. So
we see
nisrafim veotiyot
veotivot porchot.
answered, gevilim
see
So we
you burn
that when
when you
that
you can
can only
only burn
burn the
the parchment
parchment!
burn aa Sefer
Sefer Torah you
why did
Then why
I Then
did
Rav Huna
Huna who
you can't
who was
Rav
letters?
kriyot, if
was aa later
two kriyot,
if you
fater sage,
demand two
sage, demand
can't burn
the.l-etters?
burn the
The answer
answer is,
is. that
The
depends on
on who burns
burns the
the Sefer
Sefer Torah.
Torah. If
that it
it depends
is burned
it is
Tf it
burned by
Gentil-es, as
as when
when Rabban
Tradyon was
ben Tradyon
Gentiles,
was martyred,
Rabban Hanania
Hanania ben
martyre,c, then
the
only the
then only
parchment burns.
power over
guf the
lurns. AAGentile
gevilirn. The
parchment
the gut,
has power
over the
only has
Genl,ile only
the gevilim.
otiyoc, the
ietters, remain
otiyot,
whole. They
the letters,
heavenward, but
Theyfly,
remain whole.
not heavenward,
fly, not
t.he
into the
but into
gevil-im are
hearts of
hearts
of the
the students....
morethe
Themore
students. . . . The
thegevilim
are burned,
burned, the
mghtier the
the mightier
the
otiyot.
otiyot.

But when
when Jews,
Jewsr themselves,
But
sefarim, Vayehi
Vayehi kisrof
burn sefarim,
to burn
klsrof hamelech
themselves, begin
begin to
hamelech et
et
harnegillah, then
guf, but
hamegillah,
also destroyed.
the otiyot
are also
then the
destroyed. For
For not
otiyot are
not only
the guf,
afso
but also
cnly the
-,---, also
^-!-^-,
T--,. can
c^+i
aclrnrr
i c destroyed.
naqhmh
l.ha
-e::e neshamah,
^-1='
.errqiG,
the
iis
Gentiles
only
destroy.
A Jew
uvLiuJu.
uulLu 1^- can
uirry
^-udr
\u!uy.
ugw
uglIIe
df lj(J defile.
udf
Gevilim
Gevilim nisrafim,
nisrafim, veotiyot
nitma'im.
veotiyot. nitma'im.
Mizmor leAsaf,
leAsaf, Elokim,
Mizmor
bau goyim
goyim lenahalatecha.
lenahalatecha. Said
Said our
our Sages,
Sages, Mizmor?
Mizmor? Kina
Elokim, bau
Kina
mibaya?Ela
El-asheshafchu
veal haavanim.
sheshafchu hamatam
hamatam al
haetzim veal
haavanim. Hasam
mibaya?
al haetzim
HasamSofer
says,
Sofer says,
Mizmor leAsaf,
your nahala
leAsaf, why?
Mizmor
into your
onlyGoyim
why?Because
cameinto
not Jews.
Becauseonly
Goyimcame
Jews.
nahala and
and not
haavanim.
Therefore, shafchu
veal haavanim.
Therefore,
haetzim veal
al haetzim
shafchu hamatam
hamatam al
!hen the
Romans came
When
the Romans
haMikdash, there
Bet haMikdash,
came into
the Bet
were no
helping them,
into the
Jews helping
them, so
there were
no Jews
j-t was
gevilim nisrafim,
was only
only gevilim
it
because bau
bau goyim
goyim benahalatecha.
benahalatecha. But
nisrafim, because
the case
in the
But in
Hanukah, it
of Hanukah,
gezerot
of
was not
not only
only Greeks
Greeks who
who entered
entered the
the Heychal.
Heychal. The
it was
The gezerot
hashemad began
began not
hashemad
in Yerushalayim,
with the
not with
Goyim, but
rather in
the Goyim,
Yerushalayim, and
buL rather
first who
the first
and the
it were
began it
were Jews.
began
Jews.

tierrew of
Tre nephew
The
of Yosi
Tzerecia was
was Yehoyakim ben ahos
ahos YostYosi Ish
ish Tzereda.
Tzereda. He
Ish Tzereda
Yosi Ish
was
He was
group of
the one
who revealed
the
one who
revealed the
there were
that there
were aa group
would not
secret that
who would
the secret
not
of Jews
Jews who
defend
themselves on
defend themselves
him are
to him
attributed the
the
and to
are attributed
of the
Shabbat, and
murder of
on Shabbat,
the murder
thousands
Lhousands in
the cave
that Shabbat...
in the
on that
cave on
Shabbat. . .

problem of
The problem
was not
defilement, tum'a;.
The
destruction, but
but defilement,
Hanukah was
not destruction,
of Hanukah
kal_
tum'a;. tim'u
tirn'u kal
lhut Yavan?
hashemanim,
hashemanm, Kesheamad
Lohi, ela
hamityavnim...
Ya\.an? Lohi,
ela kesheamdu ha:ni'Lyavnim..
Keshearnad ma
malhut
Put our
. But
ou::
possible because
rabbis sought
sought to
as possible
rabbis
hide this
neklya.
much as
dibru belashon
to hide
as much
this as
belashon nekiya.
because dibru
Alma deisgalya
deisgalya was
was the
Alma
war against
against the
the Greeks.
Greeks. Alma
war
was the
the war
deiskasya was
Alma deiskasya
the war
the Hellenists.
against
against the
Hellenists.

do, but
why don't
Vfedo,
So why
wemust
since
So
in Lhe
the texts?
texts? We
but we
don't we
1lft the
cover, since
must lift
we see
the cover,
this in
see this
our sages
our
sages did
wicked ones,
not want
the wicked
about the
did not
ones,
Jews, even
evil about
about the
want to
the Jews,
ever about
speak evil
to speak
and
so they
and so
t.he lines.
hid the
they hid
real story
beLween the
lines.
story between
the real

particularly apparent
The whole
The
whole story
is particularly
This is
from
euphemised. This
apparent from
was euphemised.
story of
of Hanukah
Hanukah was
prayer, Biyemey
the
Matityanu... The
very
Theexcessive
the prayer,
Biyemey Matityanu...
it very
repetition expresses
excessive repetition
expressea it
j-n the
great mercy,
well.
the time
stood by
by them
their distress;
well-. "You,
in Your
of their
them in
time of
mercy, stood
Your great
distress;
"yeu, in
t'danta et
you fought
ravta
More explicitly,
ravta et
et rivam
dinam -explicitly, "danta
et dinam
their battle".
battle". More
rivam -- you
fought their
judged their
you judged
you want
you
be even
more explicit?
to be
even more
Do you
del-ivered
us to
want us
explicit? "You
thej-r case."
case.'r Do
"You delivered
the
weak". Even
more explicitly?
into the
the strong
Even more
hands of
into the
strong into
many into
explicitly? "The
the hands
the weak".
the
of the
"The many
pure into
hands
hands of
into the
few". Still
hands of
Stitl not
the few".
notsatisfied?
the hands
of the
the
satisfied? "The
of the
'rThe pure
you, then,
impure". Do
impure".
Very well,
explicit statement?"
Do you,
more explicit
even more
demand an
we}l, but
but
statement?tt Very
an even
then, demand
we say
we
it sadly
say it
reshaim beyad
vezeidim beyad
beyad tzadikim,
tzadikim, vezeidim
reuctantly, reshaim
very reluctantly,
sadly and
and very
oskei Toratecha"
oskei
Toratecha" ..
From
Heychal, the
war against
From the
the war
time the
mityavnim was
the time
the Heychal,
the mityavnim
re-entered the
Jews re-entered
the Jews
against the
virtually ron,.
virtually
won,. and
nevermore in
in the
the majority.
majority. So
is an
this is
and mityavnim were nevermore
an
So this
eternal
miracle. That
whywe
it. . . .
cefebrate it....
eternal miracle.
Thatis
westill
still celebrate
is why