Vedibarta Bam � And You Shall Speak of Them: Publicizing the Miracle

"The requirement is to place the Chanukah light by the doorway of one's house, from the outside." (Shabbat 21b)

QUESTION: Rashi writes that this is because of pirsumei nisa - to publicize the miracle. Why on Chanukah is pirsumei nisa emphasized as a prerequisite for proper fulfillment of the mitzvah?

ANSWER: The Syrian-Greeks endeavored to detach the Jews from Torah study. However, they did not suffice with this evil plan, but also demanded that the Jews write on the horn of the ox that they were denouncing their share in the G-d of Israel (Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit 2:4).

They made the strange request that the Jewish people use the horn of the ox because in those days it was customary to travel on wagons and chariots which were driven by oxen. The oxen would span the roads and go from place to place, and the horn is the most prominent and visible part of the ox. Therefore, they demanded that their denial in Hashem be written on the ox's horn so that it would receive the widest publicity possible.

To counteract this, our Sages required that when we fulfill the mitzvah of lighting the Menorah, which commemorates the miracle Hashem did because of our allegiance to Him, it is to be done so as to attract the most public attention possible.

"Until the Tarmodians have vanished from the market." (Shabbat 21b)

QUESTION: The Chanukah Menorah is kindled on the outside of one's home because of Pirsumei Nisa - the requirement to publicize the miracle. This same concept is also found in regard to drinking four cups of wine on Pesach (Maggid Mishnah, Chanukah 4:12), and also a reason for folding the Megillah to resemble a written letter when it is read on Purim (Rambam, Megillah 2:12).

Why in those instances is the miracle publicized on the inside - among our Jewish brethren - while on Chanukah it is publicized to the non-Jewish world?

ANSWER: Whenever a Jew is thankful about his physical survival, he does not have to communicate it to non-Jews, since physical self-survival is a common instinct among all humans and animals, and it is understood that Jews will fight for their physical survival. This type of miracle does not require publicizing among non-Jews. Thus, Purim and Pesach, which commemorate our rescue for physical annihilation and slavery, need not be shared with non-Jews since they are well cognizant that Jews like any other human beings will fight ferociously for their physical survival.

On Chanukah, however, the Jews' spiritual survival and not their physical survival was at stake. The message which we wish to convey to non-Jews is that Jews are willing and able to fight for their spiritual survival as well as their physical well-being, and that the Jews returned from the brink of total assimilation and adopted the Torah, and reestablished their unique relationship with G-d.

The message of Chanukah is more of a sensation to non-Jews than is the message of Purim and Pesach, and thus, the pirsumei nissa conveyed by the Chanukah lights is directed at non-Jews as well.

"One must be very careful in the lighting of Chanukah candles, even a poor person who is supported by charity must borrow or sell his garment and purchase oil to kindle." (Orach Chaim 671:1)

QUESTION: A person is required to spend all his resources only to avoid violating a negative command of the Torah, but not for the fulfillment of a positive command (see Orach Chaim 656). So why for the Chanukah kindling is an indigent person required to borrow money in order to fulfill the mitzvah?

ANSWER: The Gemara (Berachot 6a) says that if a person contemplated fulfilling a mitzvah and was unavoidably prevented from performing it, Scripture credits him as if he had fulfilled it. This applies to all mitzvot that are done for Hashem. However, since the purpose of kindling Chanukah lights is pirsumei nisa - publicizing the miracle of Chanukah - one who was unable to perform the mitzvah due to reasons beyond his control (poverty) cannot be considered as having fulfilled the mitzvah when the miracle was not actually publicized in any way by him.