why 8 days? | Imamother

octopus

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 9:14 pm

This has been really bothering me.

Chanukah is m'derabanan and I know the story with the oil lasting for eight days. But why don't we just light a menorah for one day that has eight lights? Purim is only one day. Why isn't chanukah one day, too? The miracle that we celebrate is winning the war. So why the 8 days?

If anyone has a good answer, please, please, tell me!

octopus

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 9:50 pm

bump.

shanie5

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 9:56 pm

we are celebrating the fact that the oil-which was enuf for only one day, actually lasted 8 days.

the question is y not 7 days-after all, there was enuf oil for one day-right?

The answers I learned were: 1-that we found oil is one miracle-1 day, and the extra 7 days it lasted is the rest of the days.

2-the oil was divided into 8 parts that each should have lasted only a part of each day. the fact that it stayed lit the whole day-8 times-makes it 8 days of miracles

winning the war is not the (only) reason for chanukah.

octopus

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 10:02 pm

shani5, thank you for responding, but, my question is- why did the rabbanim institute b'dafka 8 days? technically we can celebrate chanuka in one day and just light the whole menorah!

I'm not really looking for a p'shat answer here. I went to frum jewish schools and learned about the miracle of chanuka in depth.

if someone has a deeper answer, I would really appreciate it.

poemmom

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 11:03 pm

One explanation is that the number 8 represents Jewish history transcending natural human history. Seven is the number of days in which Hashem created the physical world; eight, the step above seven, is the infinite. So a brit milah is on the 8th day, because the boy is taking on the role of Jew--serving Hashem is a step beyond the normal human role. Similarly, the seven days of Sukkot were a time in which offerings were made on behalf of all the nations, but Shemini Atzeret was for Jews only to have a special relationship with Hashem. On Channukah, we celebrate the triumph of Jewish monotheism over Greek humanism -- a victory not only representative of, but also achieved by, transcending the natural laws of history.

shanie5

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 11:13 pm

ok, found this one....

Chanukah - Why Eight Days?

by Rabbi Yehudah Prero

In the last post, we discussed the background history of Chanukah. We mentioned that only one flask of pure oil which still bore the unbroken seal of the High Priest was found in the Temple. Hashem performed a miracle, and this flask of oil which should only have lasted for one day was able to be used to light the Menorah in the Temple for eight days, until which time no additional pure oil was available.

Therefore, we celebrate eight days of Chanukah. The Bais Yosef, a commentator on the Tur Shulchan Aruch, asks (in Orech Chayim 670) a question that has been termed by many as "The Bais Yosef's Question" on Chanukah, due to the popularity of the question which emerged becuase of the seeming simplicity of the question, the large number of answers offered to resolve the question and the discussion surrounding these answers. He asks why Chanukah is eight days long. If there was enough oil in the flask that was found to last one day, then the miracle of the oil lasting for was really only a miracle for the latter seven of the eight days. Yet, we know that we celebrate Chanukah for eight days! What is the reason behind the eight day celebration that we have?

The Bais Yosef himself offers three approaches:

1. Those who were preparing the Menorah for lighting knew that it would take eight days until new oil could be obtained. They therefore divided the flask into eight parts, so that at least the Menorah would be lit every day, albeit not for the entire day. A miracle occurred and the small amount of oil that was placed in the Menorah each day lasted an entire day. Hence, there was a miracle on the first day as well.
2. On the first night, the contents of the flask were emptied into the Menorah. This would enable the Menorah to be lit for one entire day. However, after filling the Menorah, it was discovered that the flask miraculously was still full. This miracle repeatedly occurred for each of the days. Hence, there was a miracle on each of the eight days.
3. On the first night, the entire contents of the flak were emptied into the Menorah. This would enable the Menorah to be lit for an entire day. When the Menorah was checked on in the morning, it was discovered that none of the oil burned up, and the Menorah was still full, although the flame was lit. This miracle occurred for each of the days. Hence, the first day when the oil did not burn up was miraculous as well.

Many other answers have been proposed. The P'ri Chodosh writes that we do cot celebrate the first day of Chanukah because of the miracle of the oil. We celebrate the first day in commemoration of the miraculous victory by the Jews in the wars waged against Antiochus and his troops. The Aruch HaShulchan mentions a number of reasons. He writes that the Mitzvah of Bris Milah (circumcision) was forbidden under the reign of Antiochus, and after the military victory, the Jews were once again able to openly perform this commandment. In order to commemorate the fact that we were able to resume performing this commandment which occurs on the eighth day of a baby boy's life, we have eight days of Chanukah.

Another reason he gives is that the Medrash tells us that the construction of the Mishkan (The Tabernacle, which was the equivalent of the Temple, and built while the Jews were in the desert after leaving Egypt) was completed on the 25th day of Kislev. However, the Mishkan was not "dedicated" until the month of Nissan, the month in which our forefathers were born. Hashem, in order to "make up" the loss of a holiday to the month of Kislev, caused the miracle of Chanukah and the rededication of the Temple occur in Kislev. As the dedication of the Mishkan and the beginning of the service lasted eight days, we too celebrate for eight days. In fact, the name "Chanukah" means "dedication," to allude to this aspect of the celebration. (As an aside, the name Chanukah can also be read as a combination of the two words "Chanu k'h" which means "they rested on the 25th" - an allusion to the "resting" that occurred after the Jews were victorious in their battles.)

and here is the link:

http://www.torah.org/learning/......html

octopus

Sun, Dec 21 2008, 11:39 pm

thank you!

I am truly grateful shani5 and poemmom!

drumjj

Mon, Dec 22 2008, 3:20 am

I heard a great shiur on shabbos that the greeks tried to stop us keeping the essence/ faith of judaism by doing 3 things. not letting boys have mila, keeping shabbos and observing rosh chodesh and one of the reasons we have eight days of chanukah is to correspond with the eight days of mila which the greeks tried to stop us doing

poemmom

Tue, Dec 23 2008, 1:39 pm

Cool -- I just read something else that relates to my answer:
It says in the Talmud that the lyres (a musical instrument) in the Beit HaMikdash had 7 strings, but in the time of the 3rd Beit Ha Mikdash they will have 8 strings.

EsaEinai

Tue, Dec 23 2008, 1:49 pm

I was readint he book of our heritage tonight and there was a whole section that answered this question. I dont have the time or energy to type it all up, but if you have access to the book, you should check it out.

Hashem_Yaazor

Tue, Dec 23 2008, 2:16 pm

To expound on what poemmom said:
We are showing the yevanim that their entire philosophy was wrong.
Eight is l'maala min hateva -- EVERYTHING is a nes, teva is even "l'maala min ha'teva".
The Yevanim were trying to discount Hashem's presence in this world. They were into the science, the "natural" explanation.
We take each day -- even if it is in the realm of "natural' and we thank Hashem that even the natural is a gift He gives us and he's mechadesh b'chol yom maasei b'reishis.
We have to work our way up through each day to prove that teva is really something that we need to give ho'daah to HKB"H for just like the 8th day which would be more obvious as a symbol for being a nes, and "supernatural".