Chanukah- Neis Niglah and Neis Nistar
On Chanukah we thank Hashem for the miracles He has done for us. Rav Shlomo Zalman zt”l explains in Halichos Shlomo (perek 16, halacha 9)that the main purpose behind the mitzvah of lighting Chanukah candles is to thank Hashem for the miracles of the militaryvictory of Chanukah. Rav Shlomo Zalman writes (note 19) that when we say the bracha of she'asah nissim we should have in mind the miracles of the military victory, notspecifically the miracle of the finding of the pach shemen. This fits with our davening. In the davening, in the al hanissim tefillah, our main focus is the military victory. The miracle of the pach shemen is barely mentioned at all.[i]
This is an important idea. If Am Yisroel wins a military victory, we have to recognize it comes from Hashem. It is a miracle; Hashem was helping us. If that is true and that is a main focus of Chanukah, then what role does the neis of the pach shemen play? The Maharalexplains[ii]as follows. Military victories are normally not overt miracles, they are miracles that occur working within the rules of nature. Aperson who is skeptical or cynical can explain a military victory without saying or admitting it is from Hashem. Therefore,Hashem gave us the neis of the pach shemen, which was a completely supernatural miracle going against all ordinary laws of nature. The neis pach shemen was clearly miraculous, no question about it. TheMaharalexplains that from the neis pach shemen,which was clearly miraculous, we appreciated that we were living in miraculous times. The neis pach shemen opened up our eyes to recognize that the military victory was also a neis from Hashem[iii]. Therefore, based on this Maharal,one of the themes of Chanukah is that when one experiences a supernatural miracle one is supposed to absorb the lesson and recognize that events that appear to be natural-like military victories-are really from Hashem and they are miraculous as well.
We find this exact theme in another context of Chanukah as well. The most famous question regarding Chanukah is- why is Chanukah eight days long? There was enough oil for one day, and therefore there were only seven days of miracles. The Beis Yosef(Siman 670) asks, that therefore Chanukah should be seven days, not eight days. There are many answers to this question. Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l quotes an answer from Rav Simcha Zissel miKelm[iv].
The fact that oil burns is a law of nature. But the truth is, the laws of nature are miraculous themselves. Why is it that oil has this quality that it burns? That is only because Hashem put that quality into it. At any moment, Hashem could change the laws of natures and oil would not burn. The sun rises and sets everyday. But, if Hashem decides the sun should not set so fast, it wouldn't.It happened in the days of Yehoshua-Hashem delayed the sunset. So, since Hashem controls all the laws of nature at all times, then when nature runs "naturally", that itself is a miracle. That is Hashem directing nature to run in its natural course. We donot appreciate thisbecause it happens all the time;it seems "normal" to us, so we take it as a given. But in actuality, we have to thank Hashem and appreciate the fact that nature is running its course. When does a person open his eyes and recognize that tevah, nature, is really a miracle from Hashem? When a neis nigleh happens, when a supernatural event happens, and when Hashem gets involved in a more overt way and changes the laws of nature, that opens our eyes. And we then say to ourselves,
‘Just like Hashem changes the laws of nature, so too, when the laws of nature run normally, that is also from Hashem. That means when the laws of nature run ‘normally’, that is only because Hashem decided not to change them.’
Therefore, Rav Simcha Zissel says, after experiencing seven days of neis nigleh we recognize that even the first day, even the "natural day" is a miracle from Hashem. That is why we celebrate eight days of Chanukah. Seven days of celebrating the neis nigleh, and then the one day to thank Hashem for the "natural" miracle of tevah[v]. This idea of Rav Simcha Zissel dovetails perfectly with the yesod of the Maharalwhich we saw above.
This is one of the themesof Chanukah. When a person experiences an overt miracle, he has to open his eyes to recognize that even the "natural" events are really directed miracles from Hashem. From the neis of the pach shemen we appreciate that even the first day of the oil burning is a neis from Hashem; and so too, from the neis of the pach shemen,we appreciate that the military victory is really a miracle from Hashem.
Rav Shmuel Rozovsky[vi]zt”l said a beautiful vort building on this approach of Rav Simcha Zissel. In Maoz Tzur we say “bnei vinah yimei shmonah,”‘men of insight’ established eight days of Chanukah. Why are the Chashmonaim specifically referred to as “bnei vinah,” ‘men of insight’? Also, why is the description of bnei vinah mentioned specifically at this point, immediately prior to yimei shmonah?
The meforshim say that binah means “ha’meivin davar mitoch davar,” one who understands or derives one thing from another. Based on this, Rav Rozovsky explains as follows. As we explained above, it requires thought to make the connection between the seven days of the neis niglah of the oil and the ‘natural’ miracle, neis nistar, of the first day. One has to use his binah ability and understand that if Hashem can change nature, that means Hashem controls nature. If Hashem controls nature, that means that when nature runs “naturally” it is coming from Hashem. Therefore, I have to thank Hashem for the ‘natural’ day as well. Therefore, the only reason we were able to celebrate eight days of Chanukah is because we derived and understood that from the seven days of neisnigleh, even the first day, the “natural” day, was a miracle as well. This is the p’shat in Maoz Tzur. The Chashmonaim were bnei vinah, and this connects to yimei shmonah. The reason why it was yimeishemoneh is because they were bnei vinah.
This is a very, very deep insight and a beautiful p’shat of Rav Shmuel Rozovsky based on the answer of Rav Simcha Zissel miKelm.
We can apply this yesod inthe following way. In the tefillah of modim, we thank Hashem for all of the daily things He does for us- v’al nisecha she’bchol yom imanu. We use the term nisecha. We are not zocheh to supernatural miracles on a daily basis. Therefore, it is clear that this term refers to the hidden miracles within the world of tevah. On Chanukah, we should focus on thanking Hashem for the ‘natural’ things he does for us.According to this approach, one major avodah of Chanukah is that we should have more kavanahduring modim.This is one of the challenges of Chanukah.
Chanukah Sameach,
B. Ginsburg
[i]In the al hanissim prayer we find the language of "v’hidliku neiros b’chatzros kadshecha" "and they lit candles in the courtyard of the Beis HaMikdash". There is a discussion in the meforshim whether that refers to the lighting of the menorah. Normally, the menorah was not lit in the courtyards, but rather inside the heichal itself. So either the neis of the pach shemen is not mentioned at all or it is referred to in that phrase. But either way, certainly the main focus of al hanissim is the military victory.
[ii]Chidushei Aggados (Shabbos 21)
[iii]This is how the Hegyonei Halacha explains the Maharal. Others explain the Maharal slightly differently (see Artscroll Chanukah).
[iv]Dorosh Moshe p.264. This approach of Rav Simcha Zissel is based on the famous Ramban in Parshas Bo.
[v]The gematriyaof hateveh, 86, equals the gematriya of Elokim. (Remember, the kuf should be a heh in the gematriya.)
[vi] Quoted in the Kuntres on Chanukah of Rav Karelenstein zt”l, p.27.