DG's Divrei Torah

Chanukah is a holiday of spirituality. Miraculous events occurred during the times of the Chasmanayim (Macabees). We all know about the famous miracle, when the oil, only one day’s supply, lasted eight days. That was truly miraculous, however, the miracle I want to focus on, was the miracle of the triumphant win over the Yevanim (Greeks). In order to explain why Hashem performed this miracle for us, I will relate a mashal (parable), I had heard from my Rebbe.

There was once a group of insects that fell into a pale of milk. Immediately, they began to frantically tread the milk. Among those insects, there were three groups. After treading for a short while, the first group decided there was no point to go on, so they gave up, sank, and drowned. A little while later, the second group was tired of treading and decided there was no point as well, so they too gave up, sank, and drowned. The last group was determined to live, so they began to jump up and down with a mighty force, trying to exit the pale. As we all know, if you churn milk, it turns into butter. Eventually, the milk became thick enough that they were able to make a hill of butter to escape the pale.

During the period of time when the events of Chanukah took place, the Yidden were under tremendous distress, inflicted upon them by the Yevanim. Many Yidden (the first group) gave in to the pressures of the Yevanim, and sacrificed their Yiddishkeit, in order to save their lives. Another large group of Yidden (the second group) fought long and hard. However, they too gave in to the pressures of the Yevanim. Of all the Yidden, only the Chashmanayim remained. They were just a small group of thirteen men, and they were challenging the entire Greek army. They fought long and hard, they never gave in, and because of this, they merited redemption.
The Yevanim didn’t want to eliminate us in the physical; no, they wanted something much more precious, they wanted to eliminate our very essence, our neshamas, our spiritual existence. They came dangerously close to accomplishing their vicious plan. However, because of the Chashmanayim, as they battled the enemy purely L’shem Shamayim (for the name of the heavens), Hashem redeemed us from our golus.

After we see how a small group of men can merit redemption, imagine what we, Klal Yisrael, can accomplish. We must strengthen our Emuna, and Bitachon; we must continue to battle our enemies, never allowing them to take our faith away. Yes, at times it may seem tough, like a bottomless pit with no way out. But through our Tefillos, we can accomplish miraculous things. Let’s take a page out of our Ancestors book; let’s celebrate Chanukah with a spiritual joy, and we too will be redeemed from (our current) golus. May we all be Bisimcha, and merit to see Moshiach, Bimheira V’yameinu, Amen.