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Chanukah is an eight-day holiday beginning on the Twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev. It celebrates the miraculous victory of the Jews against Greek persecution and religious oppression. This year Chanukah will be celebrated on December Sixteenth through the twenty-third this year.
In addition to being victorious in war, another miracle occurred. When the Maccabees came to rededicate the Temple, they found only one flask of oil with which to light the Menorah. This small flask lasted for eight days. One version of the reason for lighting the Menorah, each day for eight days, is in celebration for this miracle, but there are many answers offered to resolve the question and the discussion surrounding these answers. If there was enough oil in the flask that was found to last one day, then the miracle of the oil lasting for was really only a miracle for the latter seven of the eight days. Yet, we know that we celebrate Chanukah for eight days! What is the reason behind the eight day celebration that we have?
The Bais Yosef himself offers three explanations to the Chanukah celebration lasting eight days. The ones preparing the Menorah for lighting knew it would take eight days for more oil to be gotten, so they divided the flask into eight parts, so the Menorah could be lit every day. They never expected them to remain lit for the entire eight days, but the miracle occurred when the small amounts of oil added each day were enough to keep the Menorah lit the entire time.
The traditional lighting has become a celebration of the miraculous victory of the Jews against persecution and religious oppression, by the Greeks, as well as a celebration of a miracle. A miracle that allowed the Menorah to continue to burn for eight days on only enough oil for one day.
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