The Lesson of the Miracle of the Oil
Harav Chaim Stein zt"l, Rosh Yeshiva of Telze Yeshiva, said that after the great and terrible destruction that was wrought by World War II, when entire towns and families were lost and wiped out, and the survivors was “one from a city, two from a(n extended) family”, they felt that the greatest miracle of all the miracles was what remained of the survivors, to restore and rebuild the ruins.
This is the miracle of finding a jug of pure oil, for in every destruction there is always pure oil, as it is written (Leviticus 26:44), "And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them."
This explains the question of the Bais Yosef as to why we light for eight days, since the miracle was only for seven days, but it is clear that the great miracle is the reality of the pure after all the destruction.
Harav Chaim Stein zt"l, Rosh Yeshiva of Telze Yeshiva, said that after the great and terrible destruction that was wrought by World War II, when entire towns and families were lost and wiped out, and the survivors was “one from a city, two from a(n extended) family”, they felt that the greatest miracle of all the miracles was what remained of the survivors, to restore and rebuild the ruins.
This is the miracle of finding a jug of pure oil, for in every destruction there is always pure oil, as it is written (Leviticus 26:44), "And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them."
This explains the question of the Bais Yosef as to why we light for eight days, since the miracle was only for seven days, but it is clear that the great miracle is the reality of the pure after all the destruction.