Why commemorate the miracle of the cruse of oil?
As is mentioned in the Mishneh; “Ten miracles constantly occurred in the Beis Hamikdosh ......” And so, we are forced to say that the reason why we commemorate the miracle of the cruse of oil is because the cruse of oil is [itself] very much connected to the victory won over the Greeks in the war.
The explanation is:
Ovos 5.4. Ten wonders were wrought for our ancestors in the Temple: [1] no woman miscarried from the odour of the sacred flesh; [2] the sacred flesh never became putrid; [3] no fly was ever seen in the slaughterhouse; [4] no emission occurred to the high priest on the Day of Atonement; [5] the rains did not extinguish the fire of the woodpile; [6] the wind did not prevail against the column of smoke; [7] no defect was found in the omer, or in the two loaves, or in the showbread; [8] the people stood pressed together, yet bowed down and had room enough; [9] never did a serpent or a scorpion harm anyone in Jerusalem; [10] and no man said to his fellow: the place is too congested for me to lodge overnight in Jerusalem. And there is no Yom Tov declared for any of these miracles. So why is there a Yom Tov that they found the oil or that it burned for eight days?
The big Chanukah miracle is about winning the war against the Klipah which are the evil forces in this world. How do you celebrate winning a war against a spiritual evil? By lighting Chanukah lamps.
Deeper Explanation
In Torah Ohr Miketz page 33 end of column two some of what the Alter Rebbe explains that the two verses of “For a commandment is a lamp” and “The lamp of Hashem is the Neshomoh soul of man” are in face two different lights. One is an illuminating looking glass and one is a non-illuminating looking glass. Because in a lamp there is the oil the wick and two colours of flame. The black flame on the wick and the white flame. The light which is the primary aspect of the lamp is holding on to the wick. But the oil cannot hold on to the flame except via the wick and nevertheless the oil is being consumed by the fire via the wick. And the wick is consuming a lot of oil. Similarly is the act of performing Mitzvohs in this world are the oil as the Zohar writes..... the oil is Hashem’s Chochma and Hashem’s will but when they descend down into this world the only way in which Hashem’s infinite light can hold on to them is via the wick which is the G-dly soul which performs the Mitzvohs. And then one is able to draw down a revelation of the infinite light of Hashem as the Possuk states “that a person shall do them” that a person does the Mitzvohs and draws down the infinite light of Hashem. In contrast to the kindness that is shown to the nations. And this explains the verse that the Torah puts into Yisroel. In other words, as a result of a Jew’s inert willingness to self-sacrifice in one’s soul at the time when he recites the word Echod proclaiming Hashem’s oneness in Shema that one is self-abnegated to Hashem’s infinite light. Just as the parable of the wick which holds onto the flame. In other words as a result of the self-abnegation .... Whereas with the oil because the soul is spiritual and has this self-abnegation. Whereas one cannot say the same with regards to the physical performance of Mitzvohs themselves. And this is why the flame specifically holds on to the wick but through it and as a result of it a revelation of Hashems infinite light is revealed in the performance of Mitzvohs that are done with physical objects just as the oil which gets consumed for the flame. And via the wick a lot of oil is consumed which means through one Neshomoh soul a lot of Mitzvohs are performed without a limit through a person’s life...........
