The interior meaning of Chanukah
What is the inner meaning of Hanukkah?
What is the central point of the Festival of Lights and what lessons we can and should learn from it?
Some people think that the most important Hanukkah is the military side. The victory over the enemy; and release the Holy Land from the Greek tyranny. While the military is the most important thing, without which there were no other developments that determined the Chanukah. So we thank G-d for "and for the miracles" of victory. But all this was only a necessary first step to achieving the ultimate goal was purification of the Temple, and lighting the Menorah, symbolizing the continued existence of independent spiritual life of Israel.
Coveted goal of the Maccabean fighters was to eliminate the Greek idolatry imposed on Jews by force, and instead spread the light of Torah and mitzvot, the light of holiness and purity.
This explains the apparent oddity, why the sages mention the military victory as by the way, while emphasizing great emphasis on the miracle of the oil?
Most of the miracle was that they found a small cruse of oil which lay with the seal of the High Priest, and he had, instead of a day, for eight days, until they could prepare new, pure oil for the Menorah.
This is also why the main thing is the commandment to light the Hanukkah candles every evening.
When a nation in thrall to another nation, it is natural that she wants to break free from the yoke of foreign and re-establish an independent life in her country liberated. However, what matters are, it's not that political freedom was achieved, but what nation does with freedom and independence, to what she uses them? To us Jews, true freedom and true independence means the possibility to live a Jewish lifestyle in our special, which is through Torah and mitzvot.
The miracle of Chanukah was not complete, until the menorah has been lit again pure purity remains in the temple of Greek idolatry.
There are two fundamental differences between the Chanukah candles we light today and the menorah was in the Temple:
1. Temple Menorah was inside, while the menorah we light shed out.
2. The menorah in the temple was lit in the day while we light the menorah after sunset.
The light symbolizes the holy Torah and commandments, as it is written: "commandment is a candle and Torah is light". However darkness is the absence of the light of Torah.
By the same token, 'internal', is the inner, inner spiritual world. While the external symbol of the outer, the material world outside.
From this we learn that we must spread the light of Torah out. The Jewish way of life; there every day of the year, at any moment, anytime and anywhere. Torah and the commandments are part of our lives day to day, so we put sacred even public places. We must radiate light of our inner lives out, to the material world, outside, every step of the way our lives are lit by the light of Torah and mitzvot and good deeds.
Redundant than that, we do the work of spreading the light of Torah way it adds and goes, like the Chanukah candles. Like the first day one candle is lit, and on the second day - two candles and so on.
When each of us will fill his job; can we expect with confidence that G-d's promise inviolate, "and the night will shine like day" (Psalm 139). Then be the end of our exile and the light of Messiah shine and illuminate the darkness of the nations. Then build the Third Temple will be the lighting pure Menorah, which no longer turns off. Amen!
