During the Second Temple period, when Israel was under the Ptolemaic rule, King Ptolemy IV demanded that our Written Law – the Torah – be translated into Greek.
The Talmud relates that Ptolemy took 70 great Sages, separated them, and then ordered them to translate the Torah into Greek. Since quite a few of the words had they been translated literally would have given a wrong impression of the true meaning of the text, the sages altered certain translations of words and concepts. Miraculously, all the sages translated the same way.
Having our Torah translated into Greek was not a good thing. It was the first time our Torah was accessed by the nations of the world, and was now subject to their false interpretations.
This misinformation of Torah infiltrated the Jews as well and many adapted to the debauched Greek culture of self-indulgence and beauty.
The Kohain Godol – High priest – at the time of the translation of the Torah into Greek, was Elazar. He agreed to the Greek authorities to have the translation without consulting the Rabbinical authorities of the Sanhedrin – our supreme court. As a result, Elazar was removed from his position of Kohain Godol.
Eventually, Yochanan the son of Shimon the great Tzaddik assumed the position of Kohain Godol.
The Greeks eventually took over our Temple and instead of destroying it, they turned it into a place of pagan worship. The Greeks were not interested in killing out the Jews, like Haman in the Purim story, rather, they wished to divest the Jews from their connection to G-d and His Torah. They forbade the observances of Shabbos, recognizing that it is the anchor for Jewish continuity. They forbade Rosh Chodesh – which determines the dates of our holidays, and they forbade circumcision, the emblem of a Jew.
The prayer that our Sages composed to be inserted in our Amidah/silent daily prayers and Birchas Hamazon/blessings after eating bread, over the course of Chanukah begins with, “In the days of Matisyahu the son of Yochanan Kohain Godol.”
Matisyahu himself was not a Kohain Godol. He had five sons – called the Macabees/Chashmonaim. Their names were Yehudah, Elozar, Yochanan, Yonoson and Shimon.
Matisyahu was fed up with the Greek persecution and empowered his five sons and an additional eight men to wage war against the massive Greek army, some 180,000 strong.
Due to G-d’s help, they were successful in a miraculous way, and were able to regain the Temple. The Greeks in their extreme abhorrence of anything holy and spiritually connected to G-d, defiled the Temple and its inventory of ritually pure oil. The Chashmonaim were focused on kindling the seven branch Menorah of the Temple and could have opted to use oil that was impure, however, they wished to rededicate the Temple service in the purest fashion. They searched and they finally unearthed a single Pach/flask of oil that still had the stamp of purity intact. The contents had enough to last for one night, however, G-d made a miracle and it lasted eight days – the amount of time it took to obtain more pure oil. Consider, had the Macabbees used any type of oil to light the Menorah we would not have the holiday of Chanukah.
The Talmud relates that the following year our Sages established the Holiday of Chanukah, setting forth the Halachos/laws how it is observed.
A question arises, how are the Sages of the Talmud able to add a law not written in the Torah to our observances? The answer is, that built into the Laws of the Torah, G-d empowered our Sages to enact laws and for us to listen to their directives.
In fact, there are seven Rabbinic Mitzvos that our Sages established. 1. The Megilla on Purim. 2. The lighting of Shabbos candles. 3. Washing one’s hands before eating bread. 4. To erect an Airuv around an area so that one can carry needed items from one domain to another on Shabbos. 5. To recite blessings before eating and performing Mitzvos. 6. To recite the Hallel on holidays. 7. To kindle the Menorah on Chanuka.
As we mentioned, the Greeks forbade the Jews from observing Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh and Bris. Commentators point out that over the course of Chanukah, we observe Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh (Teves) and we have eight days which represent the requisite days for a baby to have a Bris.
We may add, that with the exception of the holiday of Purim, over the course of Chanukah we are able to observe all six of the remaining Rabbinically instituted laws.
Our continuation of the observances of these laws is the greatest testimony that the spirit of the Jews lies within our connectivity and commitment to Hashem and His Torah!
There are 613 Mitzvos given to us in the Torah, and seven Rabbinic laws, bringing the total to 620, which is the Gematria of Keser – Crown. Each Mitzvah is a glistering crown jewel which we proudly bear.
Interestingly, the number of letters in the Torah script of the Ten Commandments, is 620. Commentators explain that each letter of the Ten Commandments represents a Mitzva of the Torah, and the extra seven letters represent the seven Rabbinic laws.
Chanukah was the last Rabbinic law to be instituted. Shem Mishmuel points out that the last letter of the Ten Commandments which represents Chanukah is the letter Chaf. The letter Chaf is spelled Chaf & Peh. These letters when switched around, form the word Pach – which is the Hebrew name for the flask of pure oil of the Chanukah miracle!
Wishing you a most enjoyable and most memorable Chanukah!
