Chanukah - 000 Light of Emunah

(Adapted From Introduction To Sefer Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh on Chanukah)

Chanukah was essentially a war between the chochmah\wisdom of the holy Torah (which is called “Torah Ohr”, the Torah of light) vs. the wisdom of the Greeks. However, it was a different kind of war than the other wars fought.

It wasn’t just about defeating and getting rid of our enemies. It was about taking their evil and sanctifying it.

The Greek nation (Yavan) descended from Yefes, the son of Noach. Yefes was blessed by his father that he would receive beauty; our Sages said that “the beauty of Yefes should join the tents of Shem”,[1] and the Sages also said that “Believe that there is wisdom found among the nations”,[2] and this is referring in particular to the wisdom of the Greeks, for they are the root of all secular wisdoms.

The depth of the above statement of Chazal is that when we “believe” that the Greeks contain wisdom, this is how we sanctify the Greek essence; in other words, we are supposed to believe that the secular nations contain wisdom, but we must not go and actually learn their wisdom. The fact that the Sages said that “Wisdom is found among the nations” does not mean, chas v’shalom, that we can are permitted to study their wisdom. We can believe that they have wisdom, but that does not permit us to go and study their wisdoms. Thus, the Sages were careful to say only that we can believe that there is wisdom among the nations; they did not tell us to learn of their secular wisdom.[3]

The spiritual light of chochmah\wisdom has fallen [into the Side of Evil], and that is why the secular nations possess [a degree of] Chochmah\wisdom. The way we rectify this fallen light is through using our power of emunah, to “believe” – in this case, to believe that they have wisdom, precisely without engaging in the study of their wisdom.

This is how we bring light into the “Greek darkness” [and thus rectify it], for the Greeks are referred to as “darkness”. [4]

It is written, “Your faith at nights.”[5] Darkness is precisely the time in which we are meant to bring in the light of Emunah\faith in Hashem.

This is the inner reason behind why the Menorah is lit only after it is dark. The light of the Menorah is a different kind of light – it does not resemble sunlight; rather, it represents the light of Hashem which is present with us even as we are in darkness. As it is written, “As I sit in darkness, Hashem is a light unto me.”[6] The “light of Hashem” is when we he have emunah\faith in Him; this is also known as the “light of emunah.”

It was the spiritual light of the holy Torah that defeated the Greeks, and that light was essentially being empowered by the light of emunah.

The eight lights of the Menorah symbolize the level that is above [the normal] seven [dimensions]. Chochmah\Wisdom is in the dimension of seven, while emunah is the dimension that is higher than Chochmah\wisdom, for emunah is really the source that all chochmah\wisdom is drawn from; as it is written, “Wisdom is found in ayin (nothingness)” [and ayin refers to emunah].

The halachah is that the Menorah is lit outside and not inside, because the Menorah is an “Ohr Makif” (a “surrounding spiritual light”), as opposed to being an Ohr Penimi (“internal spiritual light”), because the lights of the Menorah represent the light of emunah, and emunah is not just a light that radiates inwardly; it shines outward.

For this reason, there are some opinions in our Sages that Chanukah will not cease in the future, based on the concept that “The purpose of knowledge is to know that we do not know” – in other words, emunah is the purpose of all Chochmah\wisdom. This is also known as the “light of the redemption”: the light of emunah. The other festivals, by contrast, are all within the dimension of Chochmah\wisdom, therefore they will all cease in the future [because in the future there will be no need for Chochmah]; whereas Chanukah and Purim are the festivals that are within the higher dimension, emunah – which is above all Chochmah – and that is why these two festivals will not cease in the future.