“”LaMnatzeach al ayeles haShachar (Tehillim 22:1)” Lamah nimshela Esther leShachar? Lomar lecha, mah shachar sof haLailah, af Esther sof kol haNissim. Vehah ikah Chanukah? Nitnah lichtov kah amrinan” (Gemara, Yuma 29b)
The end of a special relationship, the end of the unity of Nes Teva; the natural miraculous existence when we were Melumad BeNissim so that like Hagar we were not surprised to meet a savior angel in the dessert.
The era of Asara Nissim Naasu L’Avoseinu in the Beis HaMikdash blurred the demarcation line between Nes and Teva. Everyone understood the response of Rabi Chanina Ben Dosa to his distraught daughter “Mi SheAmar L’Shemen SheYadlik VeAmar L’Chometz SheYadlik” (Gemara, Taanis 22a).
The lesson thus taught was to affirm that when we put a match to a wick on the menorah it bursts into flame because Mi SheAmar VeHaya HaOlam Amar LeShemen SheYadlik Natural law is also a divine command!
The miracle of the Chanukah oil was but a blip on the screen on human history to remind us of what we proclaim thrice daily Nissim SheBeChol Yom Imanu VeNifleosecha VeTovosecha SheBeChol Eis.
On Chanukah the veil of nature was lifted momentarily to allow us to give homage to HaShem who ordained natural laws. We celebrate the Nes Pach Shemen to remind us to be “observant” Jews and discover the hand of HaShem in all our affairs. Rarely will HaShem reveal his presence with a Yad Chazaka UZeroah Netuyah, rather we must perceive the slight movement of the window curtain to become aware of the One who is Mashgiach Min HaChalonos Meitzitz Min HaCharakim.
Lo Nitna Lichtov, no need to record the miracle of the oil in writing. Torah SheBeal Peh is fully adequate to keep the memory alive. What our sages did ordain, to be recited thrice daily Masarta Gibborim BeYad Chalashim, Rabim BeYad Meatim, Temeiim BeYad Tehorim UReshaiim BeYad Tzadikim.
It is too easy to rationalize the miracle of the military victory of the Chashmonaim. Recall the miracle of the victory in the Six Day War. How soon the Nes becomes Godless Teva! No miracle! The expertise of the Israeli pilots who practiced low-level bombing; the Egyptian air force happened to be massed wing-tip to wing-tip waiting to be destroyed, and nature took its course. Only we kept the miracle of Mashgiach Min HaChalonos alive by blurring the boundary line of Nes and Teva declaring the miracle of victory.
This is the ongoing challenge. How to teach a new generation the lesson of Yomar LaShemen SheYadlik! In this age of secularism we must discern the Yad HaShem as he peeks from behind the curtain of Hester Panim.
The Chasam Sofer responds to the age old question why our sages declared eight days of celebration of the miracle of the oil when there was enough oil for one day, reducing the miracle to but seven days. He notes the language chosen by our sages VeHidliku Neiros BeChatzros Kodshecha Indeed there was enough oil for one day – if the Menorah were lit in the Beis HaMikdash. But they kindled the flame outside, BeChatzros Kodshecha where the wind blows fiercely. Not enough oil to burn all night under these conditions.
Never have the winds of secularism and atheism blown more fiercely than they do today. They threaten to extinguish the light of Torah, the only beacon to dispel the darkness that permeates our society.
Neir LaGoyim Nesaticha we are charged with the mission to be a “light unto the nations of the world”.
Our response to the threat is to fill the cup to overflowing with more oil. More Yeshivos, more students, more intensive Torah study, more emphasis on the omnipresence of HaShem in the world controlled by divinely ordained laws of nature.
Surely then we will be rewarded KaAsher Asa Nissim L’Avoseinu YaAseh Lanu BiZman HaZeh.