Our Gemara on Amud Beis describes the requirement that the Menorah in the Temple must have a measure of oil so that it will burn from evening until morning. 

Everyone is familiar with the famous question of the Beis Yosef (O.C. 670) regarding the miracle of Chanuka. Why do we light for eight days to commemorate a miracle that lasted eight days, when if there was enough oil for only one day, the miracle would actually be seven days? One of the answers that the Beis Yosef gives is that they took the eight days of oil, and divided it by eight. There was a miracle, even for the first night as the smaller portion they placed lasted the entire night. 


Toldos Yaakov Yosef (Miketz) asks a “bomb kashe” on this answer based on our Gemara. How could they have put in only 1/8 of the amount on the first night, it violated the requirement to put in enough oil to burn the entire night? (Indeed, in the practical Halacha, if one is in a situation where he has only enough oil for one lamp, it is better to light one lamp instead of all the lights for that particular night - divided in smaller amounts that do not reach the proper amount of oil. (See Magen Avraham 671.1)


I would like to suggest that, according to this answer given by the Beis Yosef, the requirement of putting in oil to last the entire night is a separate distinct requirement from the general mitzvah of lighting the Menorah. Therefore, when faced with a potential shortage of oil, the Chashmonaim opted to put in only one eighth of the amount in order to ration the oil and fulfill the mitzvah of lighting partially every day until they were able to replenish the supply of oil. In other words, they believed that they were still fulfilling the mitzvah of lighting the menorah, though not fulfilling a secondary requirement of having the correct amount to last the entire night.


If I am correct, this speaks to another halachic quandary. When faced with the possibility of doing one mitzvah in its totality and completeness, but sacrificing many future other mitzvos, what did you choose to do? For example, in the case I described above, do you use up all the oil on the first night and fulfill the mitzvah in its entirety, but then sacrifice the remaining seven days, or do you fulfill the mitzvah in an incomplete manner but are able to do many more? 


Conceptually, one part of the question pivots on whether it is better to grab the mitzvah in front of you and fulfill it in an incomplete or lesser manner, or do you make calculations and ration your performance in such a way that you may be able to perform more mitzvos later? If we look at it as dependent upon that conceptualization, there are a number of famous questions that operates similarly:


  1. If a person is in jail and given a furlough for one day in an entire year, should he choose to go to Minyan on the first day available, or should he wait until Yom Kippur? (See Shu”t Radbaz IV:1087)


  1. If one is unwell, physically, but the doctors say that he can only fulfill one fast Day, does he fast on Tzom Gedaliah, necessitating eating on Yom Kippur? Or is he strategic, and eats on Tzom Gedaliah, so that he is strong enough to fast on Yom Kippur which is a holier and more important fast day? This might be dependent on what is more important, the mitzvah that is in front of you right now (even if the requirement in front of you is rabbinic vs. Biblical) or you play the long game and plan on doing the superior mitzvah later? (See Sedei Chemed, Yom Kippur 1:10.)


  1. Or for example, since it is a hiddur to bless the new moon on Motzai Shabbos, if one sees a new moon on Thursday do you pass up the opportunity for the blessing now in order to fulfill it in a more elevated manner later? Or do you not pass over and delay the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah now? ( See Bach O.C. 426, and Maaseh Rav Gr”a 159.)

While each of these cases have unique distinctions, there is a conceptual similarity in one aspect: Do we give priority to the mitzvah in front of you no matter what the other long-term strategic considerations are, or do we evaluate and consider other variables such as the relative importance of the mitzvah? 


Since the Bais Yosef offered a number of answers, it doesn’t even indicate what he held this halachically but, at the very least he held that it was possible that the Chashmonaim calculated in such a manner. When they had a shortage of oil, they thought it was better to fulfill an aspect of the mitzvah for eight nights instead of putting all the oil in the first night. 


In everyday life, there are decisions that we must make that also require us to evaluate whether we go for the immediate action, or hold back and take a risk for a later perhaps superior action. We must be aware when trying to make these calculations and decisions and bring a minimum of bias. If one tends toward procrastination, he should be careful that he is not overthinking and delaying. If one tends toward insecurity and impulsiveness, he should wonder if he is acting too soon out of a fear? Thid requires constant self analysis and honesty.