Why We Needed an Open Miracle on Chanukah

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http://www.beyondbt.com/2015/11/30/why-we-needed-an-open-miracle-on-chanukah/

Why We Needed an Open Miracle on Chanukah
Posted on November 30, 2015 by Mark Frankel   — 1 Comment ↓
Chanukah Brings Forth the Light of Man’s Connection to G-d through Torah

In Derech Hashem, the Ramchal states:

“The significance of Chanukah and Purim is to bring forth the particular light that shone at the time of their original miracles as a result of the rectification they accomplished.

On Chanukah, the Kohanim prevailed over the wicked Hellenists, who wanted to disuade Israel from serving G-d. These Kohanim overcame them, and thus brought all Israel back to devotion to G-d. This especially involved the concept of the Menorah, since the Accusers were against what it stood for. The Kohanim, however, were able to restore everything to its rightful state.”

The Greeks Wanted to Eliminate the Spiritual Realm

Man relates in four ascending realms, the physical, the emotional, the intellectual and the spiritual. The Greeks advanced the intellectual realm but they did not recognize a spiritual realm beyond that. They tried to eliminate all spiritual practices involving G-d, because they contradicted their man-centered orientation. The Greeks sought natural explanations for everything in an attempt to explain away G-d. Although the Greeks recognized the Torah as a great work of wisdom, and even had it translated into Greek, they wanted to sever the Torah from its source, G-d.

The Macabees Restored Our Connection to Torah to Its Full Light

The Macabees clearly understood that the Jewish people (and the world) could not exist without man connecting to G-d through the Torah. The Macabbes defeated the great Greek army even though they were greatly outnumbered. They subsequently rededicated the temple and lit the Menorah which symbolizes man’s connection to G-d through Torah. The miracle of the oil burning for eight days occurred in the course of this rededication.

The War Was Also a Miracle

The Maharal of Prague teaches: “The main reason that the days of Chanukah were instituted was to celebrate the victory over the Greeks. However, so that it would not seem that the victory was due only to might and heroism, rather than to Divine Providence, the miracle was denoted by the lighting of the Menorah, to show that it was all by a miracle, the war as well …”

Nature, Hidden Miracles and Revealed Miracles

According to the Ramban and others, the essential difference between nature and miracle is that natural events occur frequently while miracles are unexpected. Miracles can be divided into two categories: those where Divine control is openly revealed; and those where Divine control is hidden and the miracle is made to appear as a natural occurrence. But, clearly, Hashem is behind nature, hidden miracles and open miracles.

If we know that everything emanates from G-d, what is the significance of the Maharal’s explanation of the re-categorizing the Macabee victory as a hidden miracle as opposed to a natural event?

The Need for Intellectual and Emotional Integration

Although we know that everything is from G-d, if that knowledge remains solely in the intellectual realm, it doesn’t transform who we are. The regularity of nature can obscure the fact that G-d’s hand is behind everything. To affect who we are, intellectual knowledge has to been transformed into emotional intelligence, because the heart/emotion controls our actions and the actions of man are integral to defining him. The integrated person uses his intellect to focus his emotions to perform appropriate actions.

Necessity of the Miracle

Seeing G-d’s hand in the open miracle of the oil and the hidden miracle of the military victory enables us to effect the spiritual changes necessary to reconnect to G-d through the Torah. This clear spiritual signal enables us to transform our intellectual knowledge of G-d to the emotional and, subsequently, to action in the service of G-d. After the Greeks had tried to disconnect the intellectual from the spiritual, G-d’s spiritual signal enabled us to re-integrate all four realms of man.

Miracles Lead to Praise and Thanks

In the normal Modim prayer of Shomoneh Esrai, we thank G-d every day for the miracles in nature that He performs as He sustains us each day. When G-d performs a greater miracle, a hidden miracle, greater praise and thanks is required. When we reclassify the miracle of the victory as a hidden miracle, we are obligated to praise and thank Hashem in a more recognizable fashion and thus we have the Al HaNissim addition to Modim on Chanukah as well as the recital of Hallel. This praise and thanks should be on a higher emotional level than normal and should prompt us to focus our actions more acutely on Torah and mitzvos.

In Summary

– Man has four ascending realms: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual
– The Greeks wanted to eliminate the spiritual realm and it’s accessibility through Torah
– The Macabees realized the impossibility of a world with Torah
– They won the war and G-d performed an open miracle of the oil burning
– The open miracle clarified that the military victory was a hidden miracle and not a natural act
– Although we know nature is also G-d directed, its regularity can obscure G-d’s presence
– Intellectual knowledge must affect the heart so that it can direct the actions of man
– The open miracle revealed the hidden miracle enabling us to reconnect the spiritual leading to action
– Miracles require higher levels of thanks and praises which is why we have the extra Tefillos of Hallel and Hodaah on Chanukah

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I will add to the Maharal and say that the oil miracle shows G-d's pleasure with our desire to restore full observance of the Torah to the Jewish people in general and the Temple Service in particular under great bravery and self-sacrifice.
In the Biblical book of II Kings chapter 4 as translated by http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/15910/jewish/Chapter-4.htm we learn of a bigger oil miracle than the oil miracle of Chanuka.

1 Now a woman, of the wives of the disciples of the prophets, cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant, my husband, has died, and you know that your servant did fear the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children for himself as slaves."       

2 And Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me what you have in the house." And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing at all in the house except a jug of oil."   

3 And he said, "Borrow vessels for yourself from outside, from all your neighbors; do not borrow only a few empty vessels.
4 And you shall come and close the door about yourself and about your sons, and you shall pour upon all these vessels; and the full one you shall carry away."
5 And she went away from him and closed the door about herself and about her sons; they were bringing [vessels] to her and she was pouring.

6 And it was when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel," and he said to her, "There is no other vessel." And the oil stopped.   

7 And she came and told the man of God: and he said, "Go sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons will live with the remainder."

We do not make a major holiday out of the day of that oil miracle because it brought about no major change in the status of the Jewish people or in their relationship towards G-d.
The oil miracle on Chanuka in contrast was connected to major spiritual and political changes for the Jewish people. That is why in that miracle was elevated to Holiday status.

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Some people use miracles to reinforce their belief that G-d is with us and is helping us to do his commandments and retain our Jewish identity.

Others, unfortunately use miracles as an excuse to be lazy. They say for example, if G-d wants us to rebuild the Temple he will bring it down from heaven by a miracle and in the meantime let's not anger the Muslims by looking for natural ways to restore the Temple service.
To avoid this attitude of the lazy Jews, I believe some good Jews are tempted to downplay the oil miracle.

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Other good Jews see the oil miracle as a just a small detail of a much larger miracle of the restoration of Jewish Independence.
Just as in modern time some Jews downplay some of the individual miracles that did in fact take place during Israel's fight for independence in favoring of stressing the greater miracle of the restoration of Jewish Independence against great odds after many years, so too, some historical accounts of the Maccabees' period downplay some of the small miraculous details of the wars of that period because they are more "awed" by the greater miracle of the restoration of Jewish Independence against great odds.