What are we supposed to gain from our observance of Chanukah? To answer this question, I would like to look at Halacha. Even though we have general rules, every area has its nuances that can provide a deeper understanding. For the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukiah, there seems to be one central theme that runs throughout its laws that can teach us a profound lesson.
The mitzvah of lighting the Chanukiah is unique from other mitzvos in several ways. One way is that it is a mitzvah that we observe very openly and publicly. The Gemara, in Shabbos 21b, tells us that the Chanukiah should be placed outside the entrance of one’s home or at the entrance of the courtyard in front of one’s home. Even if a person lives up high, the Gemara still says to place the Chanukiah in a window facing the street. Rarely do we find personal mitzvos that are meant to be performed in such a public manner.
Generally speaking, if a person is unable to do a mitzvah because of an extenuating circumstance, we say they are entirely exempt from that mitzvah. For example, there is an obligation to eat in the Sukkah and the Gemara, in Sukkah 25b, tells us that if sitting in the Sukkah will cause suffering, then one is exempt (e.g., when it is frigidly cold or oppressively hot). Exempt from the Sukkah means totally exempt and instead one eats inside. But on Chanukah, the exemption of lighting outside or lighting publicly does not mean fully exempt. In a time of sakanah (danger), the Gemara Shabbos says to light inside on one’s table. This seems to break the rule that being exempt from a mitzvah means totally exempt. It is another tip about the unique lesson that we can learn from lighting the Chanukiah.
Another unique aspect of lighting the Chanukiah is how we light it (at least how the Ashkenazim light it). The mitzvah of lighting the Chanukiah, as the Gemara states, is “Ner Ish U’Beiso”—that every home lights a candle for Chanukah. Typically when there is a mitzvah for the household, one person performs the Mitzvah on behalf of others. The Shabbos candles that we light on Friday afternoon are on behalf of the home and one person lights them on behalf of everyone.
However, in Gemara Shabbos it says that even though the obligation of the Chanukiah could be one candle lit by one person on behalf of the entire household, instead we do more than that. We do, as the Gemara states, Mehadrin min HaMehadrin—in the most beautiful way possible. According to the Rema OC 671:2, Mehadrin min HaMehadrin means that every member of the household lights a Chanukiah with the number of candles in it corresponding to the night of Chanukah, which is different from what we typically find for a household mitzvah.
Finally, there is generally a limit to how much a person is expected to spend on a mitzvah. The Rema OC 656:1 says that a person is only required to spend up to a fifth of his assets in order to fulfill a positive mitzvah. Yet in order to light the Chanukiah the Rambam says that a person must sell the shirt off his back. In Hilchos Chanukah 4:12, he says that this mitzvah is so precious that even a person who only has money to eat from the tzedakah they receive is expected to sell their clothing in order to buy oil and wicks for Chanukah. This is one of the most extreme differences about this mitzvah and also one of the most telling.
So what is the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukiah teaching us? What unique lesson can we learn from it? It teaches us that in defense of our Torah, we do not compromise. The Chanukah story is about how we battled the Greeks who did not try to simply destroy us but to defile our religion. As we say in the paragraph of Al Hanissim, “when the evil Greek kingdom rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget Your Torah and to turn them away from the statutes of Your will.” Not only did we fight to beat them, but we worked to totally eradicate the damage they did. The miracle of the jug of oil came about as the Jews worked to restore the Beis HaMikdash and everything in it back to its totally pure state.
The Chanukiah we light represents both the victory as well as those efforts that they made. Therefore, we go out of our way to do extra for this mitzvah. We make sure to light the Chanukiah openly and publicly. At times when that is not an option, we nevertheless continue to light privately, even though for other mitzvos we would totally stop doing them. For people lighting, we make sure to do it the most optimal way, Mehadrin min HaMehadrin. Even if we have to sell everything we have, we make sure this mitzvah is fulfilled. We show our unwavering commitment to Hashem’s Torah by going above and beyond.
As we admire the glow of our own Chanukah candles, we should reflect on the ways we can find this in our own lives, how we go above and beyond in defense of our Torah and its values, push ourselves to take that extra step to guard and preserve its sanctity and appreciate how those efforts illuminate ourselves, our families and the community around us.
Rabbi Noah Whittenburg is the Assistant Rabbi of Congregation Ahavas Achim in Highland Park, NJ and teaches Torah Sheba’al Peh at Bruriah High School for Girls in Elizabeth. Previously he served as the assistant rabbi at Beth Jacob Congregation in San Diego, CA and as a rebbe at the Southern California Yeshiva High School. He was a Kollel Fellow in the Torah Mitzion Kollel at Yeshiva University, a Middle School Rebbe at the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva in Edison, and a rabbinic intern at Congregation Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park in West Hempstead and the Roslyn Synagogue in Roslyn.
