The Midrash (Bereishis Rabba 65:22) writes that when the Romans were about to enter the Beis HaMikdash, they wanted a Jewish person to go in first. They chose Yosef MiShisa, a great rasha. They offered to let him keep whatever he took out. He went in and came out with the menorah. The goyim told him that the menorah was too precious to keep for himself. "It is fit for a king, not a regular person. Go in again, and this time, whatever you take, you can keep." Yosef MiShisa refused to go in another time. They tortured terribly, but Yosef MiShisa remained firm. He said, "It is bad enough that I angered my G-d once. Should I do so again?" The resha'im took him, placed him into an oil press, and killed him there with terrible yesurim. The entire time, Yosef MiShisa shouted, "Woe to me that I angered my Creator."
We wonder, how did Yosef MiShisa do teshuvah so quickly. He was a great rasha, agreeing to enter the Beis HaMikdash and remove the menorah, but then was moser nefesh not to go in another time. How did this occur?
One answer is that it was due to the immense kedushah of the Beis HaMikdash and the Menorah. A person, so far away from kedushah, entered the Beis HaMikdash and grabbed onto the menorah. This turned him around, and he became a brand-new, holy person. Even when they gave him terrible, unimaginable yesurim, he didn't break. His only distress at that time was that he had angered Hashem. The Chanukah lecht have the kedushah of the Beis HaMikdash. So, with this mitzvah, one can turn around entirely and rise to the highest levels.
