Darkened Eyes: Faith Restored Through Tzaddikim

35On the question that there was no miracle on the first night, since the cruse held enough to light, see the holy words of my holy father and teacher, zt"l, zy"a [above, at the opening of the Chanukah teachings].¹ The Midrash Rabbah says: “‘And darkness upon the face of the deep’: this is the kingdom of Greece, which darkened the eyes of Israel,” and said to them, “Write on the horn of the ox that you have no portion in the God of Israel.”² It seems that the Greeks truly darkened the eyes of Israel, so that Israel would not see the light “that is bright in the skies.”³ This came through the accursed wisdom of Greece, which they brought into the hearts of Bnei Yisrael: not to believe with simple faith, only to probe with foolish speculations and accursed philosophy. As we say in Al HaNissim, wicked Greece rose against them “to make them forget Your Torah and to make them stray from the chukim of Your will.” Notice the word chukim, the decrees with no stated reason: it went so far that [Israel] denied all the principles and foundations of the faith. When the kingdom of Greece saw that its work had already borne fruit, cutting off, Heaven forbid, the name of Israel and its faith, the Greeks said to Israel, “Write on the horn of the ox that you have no portion in the God of Israel.” Afterward, when the Greeks understood that faith had been lost from Israel, and faith is Israel's whole strength and might, they said, “Now let us rise against them in war and destroy them, for now Hashem will no longer be their support, since they have lost their faith.”

36But Israel was not yet widowed of its God.⁴ At every time, even when Klal Yisrael, Heaven forbid, sins and incurs guilt, there are still tzaddikim within it who truly believe in Hashem, to shield the generation and all of Klal Yisrael. As Chazal expound: “‘I will not reject them …’ ‘nor will I abhor them’: in the days of the Greeks, for I raised up for them Shimon HaTzaddik, and the Chashmonai and his sons, and Matisyahu the Kohen Gadol.”⁵ These truly believed in Hashem and in His salvation. When they rose against the Greeks in war and, with His help, blessed be His Name, won it, the people of Israel, who until then had walked in darkness, saw light.⁶ They saw that Hashem does not forsake His devoted ones, and that “Hashem guards the faithful.”⁷ They began to regret their evil deeds and thoughts until then. They believed in Hashem with complete faith and began to return to Him in complete teshuvah. They gave thanks to Hashem, for He is good, for the great miracles He had done for them to keep them alive, delivering the many into the hands of the few. Once they had done complete teshuvah, they understood well how much they had blemished, against Whom they had sinned, and how they could draw near to Him and appease Him for it all. And they put their lives at risk, for the rescue of the body is not the main thing; the rescue of the soul is the main thing, to light it with the light of His face and to save it from going down to the pit.⁸