PIRSUMEI NISA: PUBLICIZING THE CHANUKAH MIRACLE
We find in the other mitzvot of publicizing the nes, miracle, such as the reading of the Megillah on Purim, as well as the mitzva of four cups on Pesach, that the obligation is upon every man and woman, because they too were part of the same miracle. Why, on Chanukah, which is also because of publicizing the miracle, the mitzva was enacted only on "one candle for a man and his household," that only one person lights one candle, and all the members of the household fulfill the mitzvah with it. Even if one of the members of the household is not at home at the time of the lighting, he fulfills the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah candles through the lighting of the head of the house, wherever he may be. It is difficult to understand why they did not impose on each and every person a requirement to fulfil the mitzvah. as they did on Purim and Pesach?
The answer is that the decree of Haman on Purim was to destroy, kill, and destroy men, women and children, and likewise in Mitzrayim the decree was to enslave every Jewish man and woman, and the bitterness of enslavement was also on the women. The children also had to endure the harsh decree, for Pharaoh bathed himself in their blood. Therefore, it is incumbent upon each and every individual to publicize and reveal the miracles.
On Chanukah, however, the decree of the Greeks was not on individuals, but on Klal Yisrael, on the house of Klal Yisrael, that they wanted to uproot the connection of the houses, which is the connection of the parents to their children. They wanted to destroy the Jewish home and stop the tradition of holiness of Klal Yisrael, so that they would live a life of corporeality and lust like the Greeks. For this reason, the mitzva of the Chanukah candle is on the house, and to publicize the miracle of victory, which was the miracle of the return of the "House of Israel," so that we can once again continue to hold on to the connection of fathers to their sons, to continue the tradition of the entire house of Israel.
For this reason, it is customary in Klal Yisrael to have a "Hanukkah party" in which the "Zaydas and the Babas" unite with their sons and grandchildren. Because through this, the connection of the house is established, and to strengthen the tradition of the house of Israel, and not to be drawn after the course of the Greeks, whose main goal is to uproot the tradition of the house of Israel, by breaking the house.
To strengthen the "house of Israel," we must increase the labor of the Torah within the home, to show that it is the essence of life. And this is how we defeat the darkness of Greece.
They said in the name of the Chafetz Chaim zt’l that darkness cannot be removed by the sword and spear, but by light. And the light of Torah study illuminates the darkness. Even though the main study of Torah is in the Beis Hamedrash, a place for Torah study must also be established within the home, for by this the house of Israel is strengthened and the darkness of Greece is repelled by the light of the Torah.
Source: Harav Shmuel Berenbaum zt'l in Tiferes Shmuel
The answer is that the decree of Haman on Purim was to destroy, kill, and destroy men, women and children, and likewise in Mitzrayim the decree was to enslave every Jewish man and woman, and the bitterness of enslavement was also on the women. The children also had to endure the harsh decree, for Pharaoh bathed himself in their blood. Therefore, it is incumbent upon each and every individual to publicize and reveal the miracles.
On Chanukah, however, the decree of the Greeks was not on individuals, but on Klal Yisrael, on the house of Klal Yisrael, that they wanted to uproot the connection of the houses, which is the connection of the parents to their children. They wanted to destroy the Jewish home and stop the tradition of holiness of Klal Yisrael, so that they would live a life of corporeality and lust like the Greeks. For this reason, the mitzva of the Chanukah candle is on the house, and to publicize the miracle of victory, which was the miracle of the return of the "House of Israel," so that we can once again continue to hold on to the connection of fathers to their sons, to continue the tradition of the entire house of Israel.
For this reason, it is customary in Klal Yisrael to have a "Hanukkah party" in which the "Zaydas and the Babas" unite with their sons and grandchildren. Because through this, the connection of the house is established, and to strengthen the tradition of the house of Israel, and not to be drawn after the course of the Greeks, whose main goal is to uproot the tradition of the house of Israel, by breaking the house.
To strengthen the "house of Israel," we must increase the labor of the Torah within the home, to show that it is the essence of life. And this is how we defeat the darkness of Greece.
They said in the name of the Chafetz Chaim zt’l that darkness cannot be removed by the sword and spear, but by light. And the light of Torah study illuminates the darkness. Even though the main study of Torah is in the Beis Hamedrash, a place for Torah study must also be established within the home, for by this the house of Israel is strengthened and the darkness of Greece is repelled by the light of the Torah.
Source: Harav Shmuel Berenbaum zt'l in Tiferes Shmuel
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