de@moscom.UUCP (Dave Esan) (12/16/84)
#1. Why do we celebrate eight nights of Chanukah? The oil burned eight
days, but it was supposed to burn one, so only seven are miraculous.
(Please don't mail me the answers, post to net. I know there are over
100 answers to this question, I just want to wake people's minds up
as they peruse this at 2am. I will post an answer shortly)
#2. I am interested to learn if anyone else on the net has relatives that
hail from Bessarabia, presently the Moldavian SSR, and from where. My
family is from Soroki, and I'd be interested to know is there are more
Bessarabers out there.
David Esan
(ritcv!moscom!de)teitz@aecom.UUCP (Eliyahu Teitz) (12/18/84)
> > #1. Why do we celebrate eight nights of Chanukah? The oil burned eight > days, but it was supposed to burn one, so only seven are miraculous. > (Please don't mail me the answers, post to net. I know there are over > 100 answers to this question, I just want to wake people's minds up > as they peruse this at 2am. I will post an answer shortly) > > > > David Esan > (ritcv!moscom!de) As you said there are many answers to this question. I will only write one answer but it is a rather long one. ( this way others can post answers too ). The oil that burned in the Temple was pure olive oil. When the Jews liberateed the Temple from the Greeks they found only one flask of oil that had not been defiled. The oil in the flask was enough to last one day. The problem is though, that there is a law that if there is no pure oil then impure oil could have been used ( the concept of tum'ah hutra b'tsibur - if a majority of the people are impure [ or in our case oil ] then the work in the Temple could even be done in impurity ). If so, what was the problem with the oil ? Why not simply go and get impure oil and use it ? To answer this I have to introduce a few ideas. A question is asked: What is the difference between Channuka and Purim? The answer is a simple one. Channuka celebrates our victory over spiritual enemies. The Greeks didn't want to kill us bodily. They wanted us to simple renounce our Judaism. They weren't interested in our death. Haman on the other hand was interested in our physical destruction. He simply wanted to kill us. On Purim we celebrate our victory from bodily harm. Because of this distinction the way we celebrate is also different. On Purim we give gifts of food, eat a meal, and give presents to the poor, all physical celebration. Our bodies rejoice. On Channuka though, the observance of the holiday is by lighting candles, and we aren't even allowed to derive benefit from the light. We are supposed to light flames for the sake of rememberance. The lights remind us of our victory from our spiritual opressors. When it comes to spiritual matters we should always try and do things as best we can. The priests in the Temple could have used non pure oil but that would not have been serving G-D in the best way possible. Therefore they put all the oil in the Menora so it should burn and when it went out, they would be left no choice but to use impure oil. But that was only as a last resort. Now for the answer to the original question of why eight days of Channuka. But first one last question. When the oil was put in the Menora and it burned, did it burn one eighth each day or did it burn to the bottom and then the wick just remained lit without oil. If the oil burned one eighth each day then even on the first day there was a miricle, that it only burned an eighth. Now you'll ask why didn't I just give the simple one line answer. The reason is because I'll show from what I said before that the oil only burned an eighth each day. If all the oil were to burn out on the first day and the rest was just a flame that did not extiguish, then what happened was a miracle flame. There was no oil and the flame just was. This is not the way G-D wanted to be served. And as soon as the priests saw that there was no oil left they could have added impure oil. However, if a miracle was done to the oil, and the flame burned naturally, from the oil in the Menorah, and the oil just burne more slowly, then G-D's will was done to the best extent, a flame lit by oil was burning. If though, the oil burned out on the first day and all that was left was a flame with no oil, then that was not G-D's will just as impure oil is not G-D's will. Therefore, we must say that the oil burned one eighth each day and the first day was as much a miracle as the subsequent days. The lesson we should learn from this is to serve G-D to the best of our abilities. Wishing everyone a joyous Channuka, Eliyahu Teitz.
martillo@csd2.UUCP (Joachim Martillo) (09/18/85)
Rosh haShanah is a two day rosh hodesh. Why is it not the last day of the previous month and the first day of the current month like all other two day ra'shei hodesh? If Ro'sh ha Shanah is really only one day, shouldn't one be able to cook during the first half for the second half?
rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (09/23/85)
> Rosh haShanah is a two day rosh hodesh. Why is it not the last day of > the previous month and the first day of the current month like all > other two day ra'shei hodesh? > > If Ro'sh ha Shanah is really only one day, shouldn't one be able to > cook during the first half for the second half? [MARTILLO] It's the fault of vusvus Asheknazim using Western calendars. Isn't that the answer you wanted? (My understanding is that this IS a custom dealing with the fact that Jews are all over the world, and it is spread out over two days so that the entire first day of Tishrei (as experienced in Israel's time zone) will be celebrated as the "new year" throughout the rest of the world. That is how it was explained to me long ago. But of course, I'm a know nothing vusvus...) -- "Wait a minute. '*WE*' decided??? *MY* best interests????" Rich Rosen ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr