During the festival of Chanukah, we insert a special declaration of thanks to Hashem into the Shemoneh Esrei. The main emphasis of this prayer, the “al hanisim,“ is the expression of gratitude for the Maccabees’ miraculous military victory over their Syrian-Greek foes.
Careful analysis of the text of the prayer reveals phrases that require further elaboration. The text states “You in Your great mercy stood up for them in their time of distress. You took up their grievance, judged their claim, and avenged their wrong. You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, the wanton into the hands of those who study Your Torah...“ The miracle of delivering the strong into the hands of the weak and the many into the hands of the few is self-evident. What is the miracle regarding delivering the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton into the hands of those who study Torah?
In Tehillim it states “Tashes choshech vihi layla, bo tirmos kol chayso ya’ar“ – ”You make darkness and it is night in which every forest beast stirs.“ The Talmud explains that ”the forest beast“ referred to in the verse alludes to the forces of evil in this world. Hashem allows forces of evil to maintain a stronghold in the world during a time of darkness, i.e., a time devoid of spirituality. During such a time, the scale of good and evil is tipped overwhelmingly in favor of evil.
In the description of Creation, the verse relates that the Earth was “tohu vavohu,“ astonishingly empty, “vechoshech al pnei tehom,“ with darkness upon the surface of the deep. The Midrash comments that the Torah is alluding to the four exiles to which Bnei Yisroel were subjected. “Tohu“ refers to the exile in Bavel, “vohu“ refers to the exile in Madai, ”choshech“ refers to the exile in Yavan (Greece), and ”tehom“ refers to the exile of Edom. The Greeks, who illuminated the world with new sciences and philosophies, are characterized as “choshech,“ ”darkness,“ for all of their advancements were bereft of spirituality and were used in an attempt to eradicate the last vestiges of spirituality from Bnei Yisroel.
It was at this time of darkness that the forces of evil and those who represent them were at their strongest. Therefore, we express our gratitude for the miracle that the pure and righteous were able overcome the representatives of evil, the impure and wicked, who were imbued with the overwhelming strength that should have made their defeat an impossibility. It is only due to the grace of Hashem that those who should have been vanquished were able to rise up and prevail.
RABBI YISSOCHER FRAND
RABBI YOCHANAN ZWEIG
