Why Chanuka and Purim are Different

BY Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

The Bach (Orach Chaim 670:4) asks, why are Chanuka and Purim celebrated differently? Both are yamim tovim d’Rabanan that mark miracles, and yet on Chanuka, the miracle is marked by saying Hallel and additional praises to Hashem. On Purim, Hallel is not recited, and we are obligated to hold a festive seuda. On Chanuka, no seuda is required. Why?

The Bach explains that all the details of Purim, from the sin of the Jews (benefiting from the feast of Achashverosh) to the evil decree and the teshuva, all focus on the Jews’ physical existence. They ate at the seuda of the king and therefore had to fast for three days to do teshuva. The decree was against the physical survival of the Jews, and the celebration is also done in a physical way – with a festive meal. By contrast, the sin of the Jews at the time of Chanuka was their slackening in avodas Hashem. Therefore, the gentile decrees were against avodas Hashem, and when the Jews acted with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) for the avoda of the Beis Hamikdash, the miracle took place and the avoda was restored. Therefore, Chanuka is celebrated in a spiritual way – by adding the mitzva of lighting Chanuka candles and saying Hallel – and not with a festive meal.

Rav Aharon Yehuda Leib Steinman notes that whenever Jews slacken in their avodas Hashem, the way to correct this is through mesirus nefesh for avodas Hashem. It’s not enough to simply resume serving Hashem as if nothing happened – redoubled efforts in avoda are required, as was done by the Chashmonaim, who fought against the entire Greek army, even though they were only a handful of kohanim unskilled in warfare. They understood that losing the avoda in the Beis Mikdash was a result of slackening in avoda, and that only mesirus nefesh could restore it.

This idea is reflected in Pirkei Avos (4:10), that if one desists from the Torah, there are many forces at work in the world ready to make him desist even more. Since he was lax, he now has to show that he really want avodas Hashem and is willing to sacrifice for it. Hashem puts difficulties in his way as opportunities for him to prove how important avodas Hashem is to him.

Bereishis Rabba (49:27) states that that the Chashmonaim derived their strength of mesirus nefesh from the Bnei Levi. It was the Bnei Levi who resisted the sin of the Golden Calf, when the rest of the nation was lax in this. When Moshe called out, “Who is for Hashem, come to me!” (Shemos 32:26) only the Bnei Levi came in their entirety, and were ready to punish any sinners, no matter who they were. This demonstration of mesirus nefesh to do the will of Hashem was the basis for that of the Chashmonaim.

In our own lives, if we find ourselves slackening in our avodas Hashem, the way out is though mesirus nefesh; without this it won’t work. However, we should realize that this mesirus nefesh brings us great reward and spiritual growth. The Chashmonaim’s mesirus nefesh gained them the miracles of Chanuka, and then the yom tov of Chanuka. The Bnei Levi’s mesirus nefesh at the time of the Golden Calf merited them a role in the avoda of the Beis Hamikdash (as stated in Yechezkel 44:16), and they became poskim and morei horaah (Devarim 33:10). Look what mesirus nefesh for avodas Hashem can accomplish!

If we sense a slackening in avodas Hashem around us – perhaps people are not careful to maximize their time in learning, or they are not careful in shemiras halashon, or people come late to minyan – this is a chance for us to show mesirus nefesh and fight back against this negative trend. To the extent that we do so, we will surely receive great reward.

Ironically, on Chanukah itself, there seems to be this trend of slackening in avoda. Instead of being a time of mesirus nefesh for learning, people take vacations or throw parties, and the brief break for candlelighting sometimes stops an entire afternoon seder! We surely should do what we can to strengthen our learning during Chanukah, and not the opposite.

There are other times when slackening is all but built into the calendar, such as bein hazemanim, or bein hasedarim, when some of us need to take a break. However, there are those among us who don’t need a break at all, or a smaller break. These are prime opportunities to push ourselves to go against the flow and make use of these times, and one who does so can expect great reward, as the Steipler once told a bachur, that he observed over the years that bachurim who learned during bein hasedarim became gedolei Torah.

Harav Reuven Bengis completed the Shas many times, but on only two occasions did he celebrate a siyum Hashas with a seuda. One was when he completed the Shas for the hundredth time. However, soon afterwards, he surprised people by making another siyum Hashas, also with a seuda.

When asked about this, he explained that the second siyum was for the Shas that he had learned over the years at odd times, such as when he was at a bris or a wedding and waiting for it to start, or waiting for a bus. When the use of these odd times added up to a siyum Hashas, he felt that this particular siyum, done at times when Torah is usually not being studied, had merited him a special greatness, and therefore deserved to be celebrated with a seuda.

May we be zoche to show mesirus nefesh for Torah!