A Chanukah Sicha

The Rebbe says:

1. Chanukah celebrates the rededication of the Beis Hamikdash (the Holy Temple) after the successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy (the Greeks). The Talmud tells us that the victorious Jews found only enough ritually pure olive oil to light the Menorah for one day, but the supply miraculously lasted eight days until a new supply could be obtained. As a remembrance to this miracle, we light a Menorah (Chanukiah/Hanukiah) on Chanukah.

2. The Rebbe now asks three questions:

Question one: If the Chanukah Menorah we light today is a remembrance for the Menorah that we had in the Beis Hamikdash, why do we light eight candles? The Menorah in the Beis Hamikdash only had seven candles!

Question two: The time of lighting the Menorah in the Beis Hamikdash was specifically during the day when it was still light outside. Now, if the Chanukah Menorah we light today is a remembrance for the Menorah that we had in the Beis Hamikdash, why do we light our candles specifically after the sun goes down when it is dark?

Question three: Furthermore, the Menorah was only lit inside the Beis Hamikdash. If so, why do we light the Chanukah Menorah “at our doorpost, towards the outside”?

3. The Rebbe now sets the groundwork for the answers:

The number seven resembles the regular nature of how things work. Our physical world is limited to time and space and the number seven resembles these limits. As we see, there are seven days to a week; a week is a complete unit of time (the next week you start counting again from one).

The number eight resembles higher then nature. The number eight is the number that comes after you break the barrier of number seven- nature.

4. With this abovementioned introduction the Rebbe can now answer the questions:

The Menorah that was lit in the Beis Hamikdash was lit in a place of revealed Godliness; there were ten miracles that happened every day in the Beis Hamikdash which all physical eyes could clearly behold (for example, rain never extinguished the fire of the Altar).

Therefore, since the Menorah in the Beis Hamikdash was lit in a place where G-dliness was revealed, it did not need the extra special power of eight, the strength of seven (normal energy) was enough. Moreover, when the Greeks intruded into the Beis Hamikdash and violated it, the Menorah did not have the strength to handle this impurity and was unable to be used until the Jewish people restored it to purity because the Menorah could only function when it was in a place of revealed G-dliness.

However the Menorah that we have today is lit even in a time of exile where G-dliness is not seen and is specifically lit when it gets dark. This is because our Menorah today has the extra special strength of eight (candles), the strength of higher then regular order. Our Menorah now can never be nullified. Even in times of horrible darkness our Menorah shines bright turning darkness into light.

Translated and adapted by Rabbi Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos volume three, first Sicha.