In a poll of “The top 8 practices most commonly associated with Chanukah,” Hallel would likely rank behind the chanukiah, latkes, dreidel, sufganiyot, gelt, Maoz Tzur and Al HaNisim, and perhaps even sfenj (Moroccan doughnuts). However, Rambam linked Hallel and Chanukah closely; in his Mishneh Torah code of law, Rambam began the laws of Chanukah by describing Hallel first, even before addressing lighting the chanukiah. Why did Rambam prioritize the connection between Chanukah and Hallel?1

 The Original Celebration

First, it is worth noting that the chanukiah may appear after Hallel simply because it was not part of the original Chanukah celebration. As noted by Rabbi Yitzchak Yehudah Trunk (Chasdei Avot 17:17) and Rabbi Betzalel Zolty (Mishnat Yaavetz 73:1), among others, the Talmud’s description of the history of Chanukah omits the chanukiah entirely: 

שכשנכנסו יוונים להיכל טמאו כל השמנים שבהיכל, וכשגברה מלכות בית חשמונאי ונצחום בדקו ולא מצאו אלא פך אחד של שמן שהיה מונח בחותמו של כהן גדול, ולא היה בו אלא להדליק יום אחד. נעשה בו נס והדליקו ממנו שמונה ימים. לשנה אחרת, קבעום ועשאום ימים טובים בהלל והודאה:

For when the Greeks entered the Sanctuary, they contaminated all of the oil in the Sanctuary, and when the monarchy of the house of the Chashmonaim mustered their strength and defeated them, [the Chashmonaim] searched and found only one jug of oil marked with the seal of the Kohen Gadol. There was only enough to kindle for one day, but a miracle occurred, and they kindled from it for eight days. The next year, they established them and made them Yamim Tovim, with Hallel and thanks. 

Shabbat 21b 

Similarly, the Rambam’s code of law seems to mention the chanukiah only as a secondary commemoration of the miracle:

ומפני זה התקינו חכמים שבאותו הדור שיהיו שמונת הימים האלו שתחלתן מליל חמשה ועשרים בכסלו ימי שמחה והלל, ומדליקין בהן הנרות בערב על פתחי הבתים בכל לילה ולילה משמונת הלילות להראות ולגלות הנס, וימים אלו הן הנקראין חנוכה והן אסורין בהספד ותענית כימי הפורים, והדלקת הנרות בהן מצוה מדברי סופרים כקריאת המגילה.

Because of this, the sages of that generation enacted that these eight days, from the night of the 25th of Kislev, should be days of joy and Hallel, and they light lamps in the evening at the entrances of houses on each night of the eight nights, to demonstrate and reveal the miracle. And these days are called “Chanukah,” and one may neither eulogize nor fast on them, like the days of Purim. And lighting lamps on them is a rabbinic mitzvah, like reading the Megilah.

Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Megillah v'Chanukah 3:3

Further, our tefillah of Al haNisim does say that after the military victory, “they lit lamps in the courtyards of Your sanctum,” but commentators have long explained that this is likely not a reference to an institution of the chanukiah. Rather, it may refer to lighting the Menorah of the Beit haMikdash,2 or lighting lamps in joy and celebration.3

These three sources, among others, have led some authorities to suggest that our lighting of the chanukiah was instituted only later, to continue the light of the Menorah in the Beit haMikdash and thereby commemorate the victory of the Chashmonaim. But even without this revision of the chanukiah’s history, the point behind it is indisputable: the explicit emphasis of our sages’ description of Chanukah, in the Talmud, Al haNisim and beyond, has been upon Hallel. This emphasis is one reason to include Hallel in the Laws of Chanukah. Looking deeper into the nature of Hallel, though, we may find a stronger connection.

Processing the Miracle

In discussing the Hallel of Pesach, Rabbi Aharon Kotler4 explained that there are two types of Hallel: The ritual of a formal festival, and the reaction to a miracle. 

In context, Rabbi Kotler used this analysis to explain why the Talmud and Rabbi Yosef Karo give separate reasons for the lack of a full Hallel in the latter part of Pesach. The Talmud5 says it’s because the latter days of Pesach do not have a unique korban, and so their festival aspect is reduced. Rabbi Karo6 says it’s because the Egyptians drowned on the seventh day of Pesach, diminishing the joy of the miracle. Each explanation addresses a different element of Hallel.

Unlike Pesach, Chanukah does not warrant Hallel as the ritual of a festival; as a post-biblical celebration, it has no korban. Instead, as noted in the Talmud itself,7 the Hallel of Chanukah is purely of the second variety — a response to a miracle. But this Hallel does more than just express gratitude; it is how we process and decipher the miracle, causing us to appreciate its wonder and to fully experience the joy. As Rabbi Kotler wrote:

אף מה שהאדם רואה בעיניו, מהצורך לבאר לעצמו מה שהוא רואה ולקבוע בהכרתו.

Even regarding that which a person sees with his own eyes — he needs to interpret for himself that which he sees, and to establish it in his mind.

The Jews of the second century BCE knew no prophet; no message from G-d interpreted the military victory and the miracle of the oil. Perhaps there were those in that generation who, given time, could have explained away their military success and the longevity of the oil. But we preempted that mistake by creating “Yamim Tovim, with Hallel and thanks.”

We arrived at the conclusion that this was a miracle on our own, via Hallel. That Chanukah celebration acknowledging G-d was a true fulfillment of the mission of Hallel, the Jewish nation spontaneously recognizing what Hashem had done for us. And so Rambam placed its laws properly, at the front and center of the Chanukah celebration that Hallel itself catalyzed — and this act of Hallel should remain the essence of our Chanukah celebration today.

May we soon witness the completion of our redemption, and may we comprehend the Divine Hand in the miracle and so sing Hallel as a nation once again. 

Endnotes 

1. It is also worth noting that Rambam places the laws of Hallel not in Hilchot Tefillah, but in Hilchot Chanukah, strengthening the connection to Chanukah.

2. See Reshimot Shiurim of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik to Succah 51a.

3. See Avudraham Chanukah, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson cited at https://chabadlibrary.org/books/admur/tm/5726-1/310/index.htm.

4. Mishnat Rebbe Aharon, Pesach pg. 3.

5. Arachin 10a-b.

6. Beit Yosef Orach Chaim 490, based on Megilah 10b.

7. Arachin 10b.