Liturgy for Shabbat 42:13
אמר רב כהנא דרש רב נתן בר מניומי משמיה דרבי תנחום
What is [the reason of] Hanukkah? For our Rabbis taught: On the twenty-fifth of Kislew<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The ninth month of the Jewish year, corresponding to about December. ');"><sup>22</sup></span> [commence] the days of Hanukkah, which are eight on which a lamentation for the dead and fasting are forbidden.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This is an extract of the Megillath Ta'anith, lit., 'the scroll of fasting'. ');"><sup>23</sup></span> For when the Greeks entered the Temple, they defiled all the oils therein, and when the Hasmonean dynasty prevailed against and defeated them, they made search and found only one cruse of oil which lay with the seal of the High Priest,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence untouched and undefiled. ');"><sup>24</sup></span> but which contained sufficient for one day's lighting only; yet a miracle was wrought therein and they lit [the lamp] therewith for eight days. The following year these [days] were appointed a Festival with [the recital of] Hallel<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'Praise', Ps. CXIII-CXVIII, recited on all Festivals; v. Weiss, Dor, I, p. 108, n. 1. ');"><sup>25</sup></span> and thanksgiving.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This lighting took place in 165 B.C.E. Exactly three years before, on the same day, Antiochus Epiphanes had a pagan altar erected in the Temple, upon which sacrifices were offered (I Macc. I, 41-64). Apart from the Talmudic reason stated here, Judas Maccabeus chose 25th of Kislew as the anniversary of the Temple's defilement, and the dedication of the new altar was celebrated with lights for eight days, similarly to the Feast of Tabernacles, which lasted eight days and was celebrated by illuminations (I Macc. IV, 36; II Macc. X, 6; supra a, p. 90, n. 3). Actually the revolt was against the Syrians, of whom Antiochus Epiphanes was king, but the term 'Greeks' is used loosely, because the Seleucid Empire was part of the older Empire founded by Alexander the Great of Macedon, and because it was a reaction against the attempted Hellenization of Judea. The historic data are contained in the First Book of the Maccabees. ');"><sup>26</sup></span> We learnt elsewhere: If a spark which flies from the anvil goes forth and causes damage, he [the smith] is liable. If a camel laden with flax passes through a street, and the flax overflows into a shop, catches fire at the shopkeeper's lamp, and sets the building alight, the camel owner is liable; but if the shopkeeper placed the light outside, the shopkeeper is liable.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the loss of the flax. ');"><sup>27</sup></span> R. Judah said: In the case of a Hanukkah lamp he is exempt.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because, as stated above, it should be placed outside; the onus then lies upon the camel driver. ');"><sup>28</sup></span> Rabina said in Rab's name: This proves that the Hanukkah lamp should [in the first instance] be placed within ten.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Handbreadths from the ground. ');"><sup>29</sup></span> For should you think, above ten, let him say to him, 'You ought to have placed it higher than a camel and his rider.' 'Yet perhaps if he is put to too much trouble, he may refrain from the [observance of the] precept'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Possibly the lamp may be placed at the outset higher, yet the Rabbis did not wish to make the precept too burdensome. ');"><sup>30</sup></span> R. Kahana said, R. Nathan b. Minyomi expounded in R. Tanhum's name: