Chanukah (Hanukkah)

The mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah menorah derives from the menorah in the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple). After the Hasmoneans overcame our enemies, they could not find pure oil for the menorah, except for a “small flask of pure oil sealed with the seal ...

The Victories of the Heroic Chashmonaim The brightness of the first Chanukah lights had dwindled down. But the holy fires on the altar burnt again in the Bet Hamikdash, from morning to morning, as prescribed by the Law. The priests were again busily offic...

In this Sicha, the Rebbe explains the Mitzvah of the Chanukah lights, and concentrates on two of their features, that they are to be placed by the door of one’s house that is adjacent to the street, or the public domain, and that they must be placed on th...

During their occupation of the Holy Land, the Greeks entered the Temple and defiled all the vessels of olive oil they found. After their defeat, the Maccabees were able to find only one cruse of oil with the seal of the High Priest intact. Though it conta...

Things weren’t so bad for the Jews when the Greeks first entered Eretz Yisrael. The Greeks were not a primitive nation of warriors; they did not want to destroy the Jewish people or their land. In fact, they were wise people, who liked to think, paint, an...

The Greatness of Peace At the conclusion of his discussion of the laws of Chanukah, the Rambam writes:Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Chanukah 4:14. If [a person has the means to perform only one of two mitzvos,] lighting a lamp for one’s home [i.e., the Shabbos c...

"מאי חנוכה? בכ"ה בכסלו..." “What is Chanukah? On the 25th of Kislev...” (Shabbat 21b) QUESTION: Why did the miracle of Chanukah take place on the 25th of Kislev? ANSWER: In the wilderness, the construction of the Mishkan was completed on the 25th of Kisle...