Why Do We Make Such A Big Deal About Oil - Rabbi Moshe Taragin

chanukah from the gush this is moshe tarrigan a lot of drama about the oil not enough pure oil all sorts of solutions to find pure oil divide up the pure oil that they did find what's the big deal just use impure oil halacha allows for employing impure materials or even by impure people if you have no choice if everything is taming then nothing is tamai this is referred to when halacha is why did they employ that solution pineal sure responds they had a sense that they were inaugurating the new era of the base of mikdash and when you inaugurate or launch a new era you don't want to rely on loopholes rely on leniencies you want to be perfect well they couldn't have known that they were also launching a new period in history and the dedication they demonstrated in hanukkah would assist the jewish people in surviving that very harsh and challenging period in history see greece was a juncture for a junction between the ancient world of paganism and grotesque gods and cannibalism and savagery the new world of science politics democracy monotheism christianity is about 200 years away from the hanukkah story many of the greeks became christians because they started to think in more abstract terms about their gods it wasn't the gods who were in trees or the ground there was more theoretical gods and [Music] there'd be a new period of monotheism but it'd also be a period that would challenge jewish history in the ancient world there wasn't that much anti-semitism to speak of the jews were nation amongst other nations but somehow greece and then christianity and then ultimately islam introduced the 2000 year period of harsh rabid venomous anti-semitism how would we survive that well one of the ways we survived it was our masiras nephesh our willingness to dial kirish hashem and to defend hashem's presence even with our lives that monsieur's nephesh was showcased on hanukkah was programmed into our hearts on chanukah there is no robin biadd miata you don't destroy or defeat the greek armies if you're not willing to die for your cause [Music] behind me you could see a little bit in the distance i don't know if you can see it as the community of el azar el lazar in negros is a community named after al-azhar hamakabi a lot of the battles took place right behind me al-azhar macabee speared a greek elephant the jews are terrified of these rampaging elephants how do you kill an elephant you know how you kill an elephant you spirit in the belly but of course you die by spearing it and he sacrificed his life to lift the spirits of his jewish comrades and let them know they can overcome they can vanquish these inconquerable elephants so hanukkah created a image in the jewish mind a conviction in the jewish heart that we will defend hashem's presence in this world with our lives they could have found loopholes mila rashodas you're allowed these are not yehari veliavo you can find ways to accede to the greek decrees but they realize that if judaism will stand in this world and hashem will be presented and reflected in this world it is only if we are willing to die for our beliefs and that's why robin miyatim succeeded so hanukkah started the period of the second base of mikdashi the second period of the second base to make the second half that's why they didn't want to take any loopholes but it also started a new period in jewish history and the masirus nephesh of dedicating themselves even though they may not have been forced to halachically now we're at the end of history back in our land so much mysterious nephesh over the last 2000 years we still have to show some of that dedication hashem should give us the strength the spirit of hanukkah to bring history to its conclusion from the gosh