Chanukah: Hallel and/vs. Hoda’ah

Hi, good morning Rabbosai. I hope everyone is well. The Braisa in Megillas Taanis that the Gemara in Shabbos quotes says that Chazal were mesaken Chanukah, they instituted the yemei Chanukah עשום ימים טובים בהלל והודאה, that the defining mitzvos and motifs of Chanukah, hallel vehodaah. What do those two terms refer to? Rashi says hallel, again k'shuto, that we say hallel on the eight days of Chanukah, and hodaah Rashi says refers to the recitation of Al Hanissim. Maybe we'll have occasion to go into a little bit of the p'ratim of this. The Rav zichrono livracha reconstructed from the Rambam that the Rambam understood that again hallel k'shuto and that hodaah refers to ner Chanukah, which is a non-verbal instrument of hodaah. And the fact that we say Al Hanissim is not a takkana, is not part of the takkana of ner Chanukah, it's because there's a general din in Hilchos Tefillah. The Gemara in Brachos says

ברוך ה' יום יום. וכי ביום מברכים ובלילה אין מברכים?

But rather to teach us that בכל יום ויום תן לו מעין ברכתו that the tefillah reflects the character of the day. If it's Rosh Chodesh, it should be reflected in tefillah. If it's Shabbos, it should be reflected in tefillah. If it's Yom Tov, it should be reflected in tefillah. So mimeila, once there's a Yom Tov of Chanukah, if it's Chanukah, that should be reflected in tefillah as well. So Chanukah, Al Hanissim wasn't a separate takkana, it was just mimeila once there's a takkana of Chanukah you say Al Hanissim. That's what the Rav pointed out, that the Rambam quotes the din of saying Al Hanissim not in Hilchos Chanukah but in Hilchos Tefillah. Fine. So for Rashi, hodaah in that definition of the takkana of Chanukah עשום ימים טובים בהלל והודאה, so for Rashi, hodaah refers to Al Hanissim. For the Rambam, it refers to ner Chanukah. The Sfas Emes, elaborating on a very terse comment that he heard from his grandfather, Chiddushei HaRim, suggests as follows. Again, the hallel is straightforward. We say hallel on the nes of Chanukah, on the hatzalah from the Syrian Greeks. Hodaah, as in hodaas baal din, or for that matter as in viduy al hachet, right, is also והודה חטאתו אשר חטא. Hodaah is acknowledgment. So what's the acknowledgment? And what's more, an acknowledgment of something which hitherto had not been acknowledged. And yitachen had not been acknowledged because it hadn't even been recognized. So he suggests that again this is what he thinks the Chiddushei HaRim meant. The Sfas Emes suggests beautifully, he says the p'shat is as follows. That the takkana of Chanukah is to recognize that not only to give Hakadosh Baruch Hu hallel on the yeshuos v'nechamos, but to acknowledge that the tzaros, to recognize and thereby acknowledge, and then subsequently acknowledge, that the tzaros were all a vehicle for tovah as well. And that's what it means behallel, but not only hallel, but even higher than hallel, hodaah. That there should be a recognition which allows for an acknowledgment that the choshech of Galus Yavan itself was something which was l'tovah. I think the Sfas Emes there goes on to say that maybe they quote a similar idea from the Chasam Sofer already also. Maybe the Siddur Hamiforash has from the Chasam Sofer like this, I'm not sure. Check. On the pasuk in hallel אודך ה' כי עניתני or ארוממך ה' כי דליתני. So ארוממך ה' כי דליתני, so lichora the pshuto shel mikra is to raise, to raise up, right? כי דלה דלה לנו, right? If you the word for drawing water up and out of the well is to be doleh, right? כי דלה דלה לנו וישק את הצאן. The Yisro’s daughters describe how Moshe Rabbeinu had helped them out. And that’s how metaphorically Eliezer is described and ובן משק ביתי הוא דמשק אליעזר, he was דולה ומשקה מתורת רבו. Again, he drew up. So ארוממך ה' כי דליתני, so I exalt You Hakadosh Baruch Hu because You raised me up. So I think some say peshat, no, ארוממך ה' כי דליתני, lashon dal. ודל לא תהדר בריבו. So what’s dal? Dal is someone who’s lowly, right? Don’t think that in Beis Din you should favor the poor, the downtrodden. No, you have to pasken what’s emes in Beis Din. You do tzedakah in a different venue, but in Beis Din you have to pasken what’s emes. ודל לא תהדר בריבו. So ארוממך ה' כי דליתני, that Dovid Hamelech is intentionally using this word which has a double entendre of both meaning dal and in terms of a ודל לא תהדר בריבו, as well as כי דלה דלה לנו. And similarly אודך ה' כי עניתני. Anisani, answered me, right? Or anisani maybe with different nekudos, different vocalization, inisani, that You afflicted me. Recognizing that the gratitude for Hakadosh Baruch Hu is not only for the relief, for the respite, in the case of Chanukah for the yeshuah, but recognizing that the whole process was intended and designed and did in fact yield positive and generate positive. It’s an avodah of Chanukah in terms of understanding what transpired in Golus Yavan and the neis of Chanukah. And it’s also an avodah for each one of us in our own lives. Everyone encounters turbulence and adversity and has problems. And usually we only recognize the yad Hashem in the when we’re able to prevail, when that adversity dissipates. But the avodah is to recognize that the adversity itself is designed to elicit from us, is designed to be a catalyst. And that’s what it means Chanukah, the Sfas Emes says based on the Chiddushei Harim, hallel, but not only hallel on the neis and the hatzalah but a hoda’ah, a recognition and an acknowledgment that the golus itself, by challenging us, by engendering our reaction, was itself also letova. Okay, so bli neder im yirtzeh Hashem we’ll resume around 12:00. Everyone should have a good, productive morning, im yirtzeh Hashem, a lichtigen Chanukah, be well, be safe, and be’hatzlacha.