Home for Chanuka

On Chanuka we celebrate the victory of the Jewish army lead by the heroic Chashmona’im over the Greek invaders. This military victory was accompanied by a religious revival marked by the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. We mark these two miracles by publicly lighting the Chanuka menora and celebrating for eight days. In Judaism military prowess and power is not an end to itself but must lead to a spiritual, religious and moral uplifting of the People.

Notwithstanding these momentous and miraculous achievements hidden in the laws of Chanuka is the celebration of another aspect of Jewish survival which can be best understood by a close reading of Maimonides’s fourth chapter of the Laws of Megila and Chanuka. The chapter reveals a surprising recurring theme, the motif of bayit, house or household. This theme presents itself already in the opening line: “It is a mitzva that each house and house (i.e., each and every house) should light a single candle” (4:1). Why does Maimonides repeat the word “house” if not to emphasize the centrality of the household in the observance of the mitzva?

There are also a number of surprising legal ramifications of the centrality of the house in the mitzva of lighting candles:

1. Following the Talmud in Shabbat (21b), Maimonides defines the mitzva as an obligation on the household, rather than the individual. This is somewhat unique, as most mitzvot are the obligation either of the individual or the community; there are very few mitzvot where the primary obligation falls on the household. The mitzvot of mezuza and building a fence around a roof also fall in that category, but in those instances the obligation on the household is readily understandable, as the mitzva is related to the physical structure of the house. What is the connection between the lighting of Chanuka candles and the household?
2. The Talmud(Shabbat 23a) rules that a guest of the household is also obligated in the mitzva of lighting the candles. Why did the Talmud need to inform us of this law? Would anyone think that a guest is not obligated to eat matza at the seder or make Kiddush at the Shabbat meal? Apparently, the Talmud felt that a guest who is not part of the household might not be obligated – again demonstrating the centrality of the household to the mitzva. The Talmud continues that a guest is not automatically obligated; he or she needs to contribute a small amount of money to the expenses in order to be considered part of the household.
3. The Talmud(Shabbat 21b) rules: The mitzva is to place the Chanuka candles at the entrance to one’s house, outside. If one lives upstairs, he should place them in a window facing the public thoroughfare. And in time of danger, he should place them on his table inside, and that suffices. The Talmud continues that the candles should be placed within a tefach (approximately 8 cm) of the door, in order to make it clear that the menora was placed there by the occupants of the home. Although the Talmud appears to be discussing the optimal place for the lighting of the candles, some Rabbis  infer from this discussion that candles may only be lit in close proximity to a house; without a house, there is no obligation to light.
4. The Talmud(Shabbat 21b) rules that one may light Chanuka candles until there are no longer any passersby in the marketplace. The simple understanding of this law is that there must be people in the street to see the lit candles. One ancient commentator slightly alters the meaning of the gemara in his citation of the discussion, such that it reads that one may light until “everyone returns home” – emphasizing not that there are no longer people in the street, but rather that all of the people are in their homes. Why is there such an intrinsic connection between the mitzva of lighting and the house? A careful reading of Maimonides may provide us with an answer. He writes

In [the era of] the Second Temple, the Greek kingdom issued decrees against the Jewish People, [attempting to] nullify their faith and refusing to allow them to observe the Torah and its commandments. They extended their hands against their property and their daughters; they entered the Sanctuary, wrought havoc within, and made the sacraments impure. (Hilkhot Megilla Ve-Chanuka 3:1)

What decree against the daughters of Israel is Maimonides referring to? It may be the midrashic tradition that any Jewish girl prior to her wedding had to stay the night first with the Greek ruler, until Yehudit the daughter of Yochanan the High Priest used the occasion to slay the ruler, inspiring the Chashmona’im to rebel. This decree of the Greeks was a direct attack against the purity of the Jewish home. According to this interpretation, not only was the Temple defiled by the Greeks, but also the Jewish home. This explains why the mitzva of lighting is intimately connected with the home.

Accordingly, the final law of Hilkhot Chanuka is readily understandable. Maimonides writes:

If [a person has the opportunity to fulfill only one of two mitzvot,] lighting a lamp for one’s home [i.e., Sabbath candles] or lighting a Chanuka lamp – or, alternatively, lighting a lamp for one’s home or reciting Kiddush – the lamp for one’s home receives priority, since it generates peace within the home, and even God’s name can be erased to create peace between a husband and his wife. Peace is great, for the entire Torah was given to bring about peace within the world, as the verse states (Mishlei 3:17): “Its ways are pleasant ways and all its paths are peace.” (Hilkhot Megilla Ve-Chanuka 4:14)

Rashi understands that the reason for the preference of the Shabbat candles is simply that people need light in their house on Shabbat. But Maimonides explains it on the basis that attaining peace between a husband and wife, as symbolized by the Shabbat candles, overrides the lighting of the Chanuka candles. According to Rashi, there is a conflict between the candles of Shabbat and the lighting of the menora, and we decide in the favor of the Shabbat candles. According to Maimonides, there is no conflict between the two mitzvot; it is self-evident that the Shabbat candles have primacy, because the message of the Chanuka menora is the centrality and holiness of the Jewish home, which is best symbolized by the Shabbat candles.

Chanuka not only celebrates a military victory and a religious revival but is a testimony to the enduring power of the Jewish Home. We must continue to light our chanuka candles until everyone is home. As we approach the end of chanuka we must remember all the homes that are not celebrating because not everyone has returned home yet. There is no better holiday to remind us of the centrality of being home than the Festival of Lights and that remembrance creates an obligation on all of us to do everything in our power to bring our hostages home. Let us pray together on this last day of Chanuka for peace and tranquility in Israel and a safe return of all the hostages to their homes.

Addendum 

We previously mentioned the redundancy of the word “bayit” in the opening of the fourth chapter of Hilkhot Chanuka, which we explained emphasizes the centrality of bayit in these halakhot. But maybe there is another reason as well. The word bayit appears in these two chapters 25 times, perhaps alluding to the primary importance from both a halakhic and theologic perspective of the bayit to the holiday, which begins on the 25th day of Kislev. The redundancy is necessary to reach the number of 25.