Our Gemara on Amud Beis reports on the way in which the Temple was desecrated by the Greeks prior to the Chashmonaim rebellion, victory, and miracles of Chanukah:
They desecrated the stones by using them for idol worship.
This indicates that Temple vessels that were used in idolatrous worship can no longer be used and must be sequestered.
The Maharal (Ner Mitzvah II:8) reflects on the miracles of Chanukah. In reality, the true miracle was the military victory. It’s not that we shouldn’t be grateful that we could perform mitzvos in the Temple, but in a way that is God’s concern. We should be more concerned about safety and political autonomy. Why then is the celebration about the consecration of the Temple and the miracle of the oil?
Maharal says that the Greeks were interested in destroying our religion; literally and figuratively, they wanted to use the stones of the Temple for idolatry and contaminate them. Indeed, the Gematria of Heichal (Temple) is 65, but Yavan (Greece) is 66, indicating that they had a certain power over us. However, that is only in the manifest physical world, which is their sphere of dominance. But in the spiritual world, the area of the hidden, the Jewish people have the upper hand.
This is precisely why the miracle had to happen with the light of the Menorah, which is enabled by the Cohanim, and why the military victory was through a family of Cohanim warriors (the Chashmonaim). The Jewish power is in the hidden spiritual world. In the word Heichal there is a hidden letter yud, through the vocalization of the “ey” (tzerei) vowel. Heichal then goes from a Gematria of 65 to 75; likewise, the Gematria for the Hebrew word “Cohen” is 75. The survival of the Jewish people was about a reemergence of our spiritual powers, as manifested by the relighting of the Menorah and finding the pure oil.
Chanukah significantly is celebrated over eight days, just as the Bris is celebrated after eight days. The number seven in Jewish mystical numerology represents the physical world. God created the world in seven days; that implies that seven manifests and encompasses the various necessary physical forces. However, the number eight is one step beyond. The number eight is the spiritual dimension. A Bris happens on day eight because the Jewish person is consciously taking the physical body and elevating it one step above. So too, Chanukah is the emergence of the additional spiritual dimension and power within the Jewish people that is beyond the physical.
This is why the celebration was regarding the lighting, purification, and consecration. Even though technically they were not material benefits, for the Jewish people the spiritual power and emanations created their physical safety.
We will see more about the difference between the Greek outlook and the Jewish outlook regarding man’s role in physical and spiritual matters in our upcoming Psychology of the Daf blogpost, Avodah Zarah 54.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation
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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com