Until the Foot Ceases from the Marketplace: Uprooting “My Strength”

1“Its mitzvah is from sunset until the foot ceases from the marketplace … And until when is that? Rabbah bar bar Chanah said in the name of R' Yochanan: until the feet of the Tarmodians are gone.”¹ Why did Chazal measure the time for lighting by “until the foot ceases from the marketplace” and “the feet of the Tarmodians”? Elsewhere they set their limits in hours, which makes the time clearer to everyone.

2Let us first cite what Chazal said: “It is forbidden lehartzos money by the light of the Chanukah lamp.”² Rashi explains that lehartzos means “to count.” Why, then, did Chazal choose the word lehartzos and not the plain word for counting, limnos?

3We can explain this as follows. Chazal said that the kingdom of Greece would tell Israel, “Write for yourselves on the horn of the ox that you have no portion in the God of Israel.”³ The sefarim ask what the point was of making them write it on the horn of an ox, of all places. The holy sefarim, among them the Bnei Yissaschar, explain that the Greeks' way was to put false beliefs into the hearts of Israel. In everything a person accomplishes, he was to think, “My strength and the might of my hand,” and deny the Creator's providence.⁴ The ox, and especially its horn, stands for strength, and that is why they told Israel to write on the horn of the ox. They wanted to teach that all success in earning a living comes only from one's own strength, Heaven forbid, like the ox and its horn, and not from the Creator's providence. This is what the Greeks wanted to put into the minds of Israel.

4The Chashmona'im, the Hasmoneans, rose up and fought the Greeks on this very point, to rid Israel of these corrupt beliefs. As is well known, the name Maccabi is formed from the first letters of Mi chamocha ba'eilim Hashem, “Who is like You among the mighty, Hashem?”⁵ For this was their way: to plant in the hearts of Israel a pure faith that everything comes from Hashem's power. They rooted the Creator's providence in the people's hearts, the opposite of the Greeks' corrupt outlook.

5This is the heart of the mitzvah of Chanukah: to root a simple faith in Klal Yisrael in every generation. Whatever a person attains through his efforts comes entirely from Hashem's power. Everything happens by the providence of the Creator, the Cause of all causes, Who feeds and sustains all His creatures.

6aThis lets us explain properly Chazal's words, “Its mitzvah is until the foot ceases … the feet of the Tarmodians.” We will follow a teaching of my holy ancestor, zt"l, in his sefer Toldos Adam.⁶ He explained what is written about Avraham Avinu, “Let a little water be taken, please, and wash your feet,” on which Rashi comments: “He thought they were Arabs, who bow down to the dust of their feet.”⁷ At first glance this is hard to understand. How could it enter anyone's mind to bow down to the dust of his own feet and worship it? The answer lies in a basic principle. Israel must know with certainty that whatever a person attains through his efforts comes entirely from Hashem's power, for He feeds and sustains all. One who imagines otherwise and says in his heart, “My strength and the might of my hand …,” is like an idol worshipper, for he denies this fundamental of faith.

6bThe nations of the world always say, “My strength and the might of my hand,” and do not recognize the power of the Creator's providence. That is what Rashi means by “He thought they were Arabs, who bow down to the dust of their feet.” They imagine that the running of their feet, all their busy doing and toil, is what earns them money. So Avraham Avinu told them, “and wash your feet”: wash yourselves clean of these thoughts of denial. Those are his holy words. This is the meaning of “Its mitzvah is until the foot ceases from the marketplace.” The mitzvah of the Chanukah lamp is meant to make a certain thought cease: the thought that the foot going around the marketplace for a living is what brings a person his livelihood. The same holds for “until the feet of the Tarmodians are gone.” The mitzvah of the Chanukah lamp comes to root in us the knowledge that everything happens by the Creator's providence. It comes to end and uproot the outlook of the nations of the world, [the Tarmodians,] who always say, as we saw, “My strength and the might of my hand.”

7We can now explain Chazal's word in “It is forbidden lehartzos money” as coming from ratzon, will and desire: it is forbidden to want and crave money. We do need money, of course, but a person must take care not to fall, Heaven forbid, into a craving for it. That craving is the opposite of what the Chanukah lamp teaches us: that everything is done by Hashem's power and does not depend on much toil.

8[This lets us explain the verse “You gave those who fear You a nes to be raised high.”⁸ The word nes means a banner and also a miracle, and the holy sefarim explain that the verse refers to Chanukah.⁹ Why does it say “those who fear You,” of all people? Was the miracle not done for all Israel? The explanation is that the miracle of Chanukah was done precisely for “those who fear You”: those who believe that everything comes from Hashem's power, even what seems to happen through nature. Through this faith they come to recognize the miracle. This is “You gave those who fear You a nes to be raised high,” and this is what the mitzvah of Chanukah comes to teach us.]

9So in these days we must strengthen ourselves to recognize the Creator's providence. We must know with certainty that “my strength and the might of my hand,” Heaven forbid, counts for nothing at all, and believe with complete faith that He feeds and sustains all. Through this we will bring the redemption near. Amen, may it be His will.