פירוש על שבת 42:10

What is Hanukkah: For which miracle did they establish it?

That was placed with the seal of the High Priest: If they had already decreed (Niddah 34a) upon the gentiles to be [considered] like zavim (those rendered impure by an abnormal genital discharge), we must say that it was placed with a seal into the ground; such that they not lift the vessel (since zavim render something impure when they lift it).

With his seal: Hidden and sealed with his imprint, so he recognized that they had not touched [the oil].

This is [the version] we should teach, "And made them holidays with Hallel and thanksgiving": It is not that work is forbidden on them, as they were only fixed with regard to reciting Hallel and saying, Al HaNissim, in [the blessing of] thanksgiving (in the daily prayers).

What is Channukah, etc.: And the Ran explained, "Meaning to say, they rested on the 25th (chanu be kah), etc." See there. But it is a little difficult - how is resting relevant here? As work is permitted on [Channukah], and they only made it a holiday for Hallel and to thank [God]. And it appears that it can be explained [as follows]: That it is called Channukah, based on the dedication of (channukat) the altar - as we say in the chapter [entitled] Rabbi Yishmael, that the Hasmonean dynasty stored away the stones of the altar that the idolatrous people had defiled. So they needed to build a new altar. And that is why it is called Channukah. But here, "What is Channukah," only [means], for which miracle did they fix it - to light lamps on it. [This approach works] also according to the midrash, Bereishit Rabbah - that the work of [building] the tabernacle] was completed on the 25th of Kislev but they did not dedicate it until Rosh Chodesh Nissan, upon which the forefathers were born. So the Holy One, blessed be He, payed [the 25th of Kislev] back in the days of Matatyahu, etc. This is also like that which I wrote - that He payed it back to be the day of the dedication of the altar, through Matatyahu, since the idolatrous people had defiled the old altar.

They defiled all the oils: And it was impossible to arrange pure oil for eight days, since they were impure from contact with the dead - as the Beit Yosef and the Re'em wrote in his explanations of the Semag. And see there in the Re'em, how the gentiles were rendering [the oil] impure. He also wrote there - that since they were all impure from contact with the dead, how did they light the [Temple] candelabrum, as behold [they would] render the oil impure when they light it? And he answered that they lit it with simple wooden vessels (which do not transmit impurity). To here [are his words]. But this is not sufficient. For even so, since they were all impure from contact with the dead, how did the one lighting enter the Temple when he was impure? Hence it appears that they were not all impure from being in contact with the dead. Rather is was from some [other] reason that they did not have pure oil. And it was, like the Ran wrote, that they had oil at a distance of four days, etc. See there. And with that, that which the Re'em asked - how did they light the candelabrum when impure, etc., see there - is also resolved. As now since they were not all impure from contact with the dead, they were able to make a new candelabrum. And the Re'em wrote according to his approach - that they were all impure from contact with the dead - [that] it can be said (answered) that they made a candelabrum of wood, as it is taught in the chapter [entitled] Kol HaTzlamim, "Rabbi Yose said, 'We may not fashion a candelabrum of wood, in the manner that the Hasmonean dynasty fashioned.'" See there. But I don't know what he fixed with this. As the candelabrum was rendered impure by touching [it] when it was made, even if it is from wood. As behold, the candelabrum had a receptacle (which makes even wood susceptible to impurity). And even Rabbi Yose only said that it was wood because the Hasmonean dynasty was poor then. But it is [still] possible to answer, according to his approach, that the wooden menorah had already been made by someone in another place, and it was not rendered impure there; and they took it with simple wooden vessels and carried it to the Temple. And it must be said that that man who already made it like the form of the candelabrum, [violated] a prohibition when he made it, even [if] it was from wood, according to Rabbi Yose - [according to whom] wood is also forbidden, from the inclusion of a verse. And be precise and you will find it simple.