that you don't find in most of the other Yomim Tovim. As it says in the ירושלמי תענית, אם כל המועדים יהיו בטלים, חנוכה ופורים לא נבטלו, that even if other Yomim Tovim will be בטל, Chanukah and Purim will not be בטל. So we see that Chanukah is one of those Yomim Tovim that we are assured that will not be בטל. And it says in the Ramban in the beginning of Parashat Beha'alotcha, when Hashem told Aharon that he shouldn't feel bad that even though the נשיאים they all brought קרבנות for חנוכת המזבח and he didn't, so Hashem said to him don't feel bad because you have the special mitzvah of lighting the מנורה, ושלך גדולה משלהם, and yours is greater than theirs. And the Ramban asks the kashya, why did Hashem דוקא comfort him with the mitzvah of lighting the candles? There are many things that the כהנים do in the Beit Hamikdash, that Aharon did in the Beit Hamikdash, that the נשיאים didn't do. He could have told him that you bring the קטורת or other things. Why did he mention the mitzvah of נרות המנורה? And the Ramban answers that the hint here is to the mitzvah of נרות חנוכה. That when he comforted Aharon that his is greater than theirs, he didn't mean davka the mitzvah of lighting the menorah in the Beit Hamikdash, but he meant the mitzvah that came out, that came as a result of lighting the menorah in the Beit Hamikdash, and this is the mitzvah of נרות חנוכה. And as the Ramban says that the mitzvah of נרות חנוכה, אינם בטלים לעולם, they will never become בטל. And he says that נוהג הוא אף לאחר חורבן בגלותינו. This mitzvah goes on even after the חורבן בית המקדש when we are in galus. Not like the neiros of the מקדש, where he says that כשאין בית המקדש קיים, when we don't have a בית המקדש, אף הנרות בטלות, so too is the mitzvah of lighting the מנורה בטל, but the mitzvah of נרות חנוכה, they will continue forever. They go through even in the time when we have no בית המקדש, even in the time of galus. Even though the נרות המנורה, so to speak, are an extension of the mitzvah of נרות המקדש, because the reason we have the mitzvah of lighting the candles of the נרות חנוכה is because of the nes that happened with the נרות המקדש. Nevertheless, we see that there is a maalah in the נרות של חנוכה even over the mitzvah of lighting the menorah in the בית המקדש. One of the reasons for that is, being that the mitzvah of נרות חנוכה is a מצוה מדרבנן, and we know as the Chazal say, that Hashem says, חמורים עלי דברי סופרים, that to me the words of the Rabbanan are even stricter than the words of the de'Oraysa, and עריבים עלי דברי סופרים, the words of the sofrim, which means the מצוות מדרבנן are more beloved to me than the מצוות מדאורייתא, as this inyan is explained in many sefarim, so therefore the mitzvah of נרות חנוכה has a certain maalah over the mitzvah of נרות המקדש and over other Yomim Tovim, because this is a מצוה מדרבנן. But in addition to that, there is more that we see in the mitzvah of נרות חנוכה, because we see another interesting thing in the mitzvah of נרות חנוכה.

The Yom Tov of Chanukah lasts for eight days. We light eight candles. We start with one, and then we continue to two, three, four, till finally we come to the climax, which is eight candles. The nerot of the בית המקדש were only seven candles. The fact that the נרות חנוכה were eight candles shows on a great maalah and a great significance in the mitzvah of lighting the נרות חנוכה. Because we find in sefarim that the number eight has a very special significance. As it says in the Kli Yakar on the פסוק ויהי ביום השמיני, which refers to the eighth day of the מלואים. First there were שבעת ימי המלואים, there were seven days when they put up the Mishkan every morning, and they took it apart every day, and there were certain korbanot they brought during the day, and those seven days were called the שבעת ימי המלואים. But then it says ויהי ביום השמיני, it was the eighth day of the מלואים, that's when they put up the Mishkan permanently, and that's when it says that the fire came down min hashamayim and the Shechinah rested in the Mishkan. So the Kli Yakar asks, why does the Torah refer to this day as the eighth day? When we say this is the eighth, it seems that if it's a המשך, it's one continuation of the previous seven days. Now the previous days were שבעת ימי המלואים, and we know the מלואים only lasted for seven days, as the pasuk says שבעת ימים ימלא את ידכם, seven days he will fill your hands, which means there are only seven days of מלואים. The eighth day was really not the eighth day of מלואים, but it was a day after the seven days of מלואים. So why does the pasuk refer to it as יום השמיני? And he answers, because the Torah wants to tell us the specialty of that day, and that is because it was the eighth day. Since on that day the pasuk says כי היום השם נראה אליכם, because today Hashem will be seen to you. So you want to say why was it on that day? He says because this was the eighth day. And he explains that the number eight shows on a special madregah, and he says כל מספר שבע חול ומספר שמיני קודש. The number seven is chol, and the number eight is holy. This is similar to what it says in the שאלות ותשובות הרשב״א חלק א׳ סימן ט׳. He says that seven is a היקף, and the eighth is a madregah which is higher than the היקף, which is the שומר ההיקף. And in simple terms it means that we see that a lot of things are divided in seven. There are seven days a week, there are seven years to a שמיטה, there are seven שמיטות to a יובל, there are seven heavens. So we see a lot of times that seven shows on a complete cycle. The number eight, that shows on a level which is higher than the regular cycle, using the terms the way it's explained in Chassidishe sefarim, that seven shows on a regular מדרגה of סדר השתלשלות, and eight shows on a מדרגה of the למעלה מסדר השתלשלות. That's why we find in the Gemara that the כינור, the harp that they had in the Beis Hamikdash was made of שבעה נימין, of seven strings, but the כינור של ימות המשיח, the harp that will be in the time of Mashiach, will be של שמונה נימין, will be of eight strings, as the Gemara says in ערכין דף י״ג עמוד ב׳. This also shows that in the time of Mashiach we will have such a high מדרגה, so much kedushah will be in the world, and that is hinted in the number eight. That's why we also find in the Gemara that there are שמונה נסיכי אדם, seven special people which are called נסיכים, and the eighth one is Mashiach. So we see that the number eight has a special significance.

We also find that the mitzvah of milah is to be done on the eighth day, and the reason is כדי שיעבור עליו שבת אחת, in order that one Shabbos should pass. Because when you have eight days, automatically you have every day of the week plus you are over that, so if you're going to do the bris milah on the eighth day, automatically, whichever day the child was born, you had a Shabbos. But it says in sefarim that the peshat here is not only that you should have a Shabbos pass, but יעבור עליו שבת אחת means that this goes עובר, this goes past, this goes higher than the מדרגה of Shabbos. Shabbos is the seventh day, the seven shows for the completion of the היקף of the cycle, so it's the highest מדרגה of the cycle and therefore Shabbos is the highest מדרגה of the creation. But nevertheless Shabbos in itself is also, so to speak, part of the creation, as the Chazal say מה היה העולם חסר? מנוחה. What was the world missing when שבת came? Menuchah, rest. בא שבת בא מנוחה. When Shabbos came, rest came. So this is the last thing that was needed for the creation. So it comes out that Shabbos, even though this is the שלמות הבריאה, this is the completion of the briyah, this is the highest madreigah of the briyah, nevertheless this ended and finished the briyah itself, the creation itself. The number eight represents a madreigah which is higher than the briyah, which is higher than the היקף, higher than the regular cycle of seven. And that is the meaning that milah has to be done ביום השמיני, on the eighth day, כדי שיעבור עליו שבת אחת, it means that the madreigah of milah represents a madreigah even higher than the madreigah of Shabbos. The connection that a Yid gets to Hashem through the mitzvah of milah is a deeper and stronger connection than a person gets even through the mitzvah of Shabbos. And as we actually see it, that the connection a Yid gets to Hashem through the mitzvah of milah becomes actually part of the person's body. Other mitzvot, which also make a connection between the Yid and Hashem, is a connection through an action that the Yid does. But that connection, which means that mitzvah, is not part of his body. It is done through the body, but not that is part of the body. In other words, the body is the thing that fulfills the mitzvah, but the body is not the cheftza of the mitzvah, it is not the object of the mitzvah. But the mitzvah of milah is that the body becomes actually the object of the mitzvah itself. And this brit remains with the person forever. So the connection a Yid gets with the brit milah is a higher madreigah even than the madreigah of Shabbos, and therefore it says it has to be כדי שיעבור עליו שבת אחת, it should be higher than Shabbos, and therefore it is on the eighth day. And that's what the Kli Yakar says, that that's why when the pasuk says that the Shechinah came down, it came down ביום השמיני to show that that madregah has a connection to the madregah of שמיני. And this shows that the mitzvah of nerot Chanukah represents such a high level of kedushah that Hashem brings down into this world, such a great level that is represented in the number eight, and that is why the mitzvah of Chanukah is eight days. And because of that it is even greater than the mitzvah that was in the Beit HaMikdash to light the nerot hamenorah. The nerot hamenorah were mamshich, brought down a light into this world, kedushah into this world, in such a way as the Gemara says that עדות היא לבאי עולם שהשכינה שרויה בישראל, that the light of the menorah was the עדות, the witness, the testimony to the world that the Shechinah is amongst the Yidden. That means that the light of the menorah brought the Shechinah into the world. It connected the Yidden to the Shechinah. It connected Klal Yisrael to the Shechinah. But the connection that Klal Yisrael gets to the Shechinah through the mitzvah of nerot Chanukah is even a deeper connection. And that is the reason why we say that the mitzvah of nerot Chanukah will last forever, because this is such a deep connection, such an essential connection, such a great level of light that comes into the world, greater even than the nerot hamikdash, and therefore they will last forever. When the light is not so strong, so to speak, when the level that comes down is not so great, when the connection is not so deep, then certain times it's there, certain times it's not there. So when the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, we don't have the mitzvah of nerot hamikdash anymore. But the level of nerot Chanukah being that it's so great, even in the time of the churban, as the Ramban says, in the time of galut, when we are on a very low madregah, nevertheless, this is such a strong light that could even penetrate, so to speak, even through the galut, through the darkness of galut, and it exists then, also.

That's why it says that the mitzvah of נרות חנוכה is to put it על פתח ביתו מבחוץ. You should put it by the door of your house outside. And when do you have to light the candles? משתשקע החמה, when the sun sets. And the Gemara says it has to go on עד דכליא רגלא דתרמודאי, till the feet of the תרמודים will stop, which means that there were people called תרמודים who used to stay out late in the street. They were the last ones to leave the street, so it says you have to light the Chanukah candles from when the sun sets till the time when the תרמודים leave the street. And that's where we get the shiur of how long the Chanukah candles have to burn. The candles of the Beit Hamikdash were lit during the day. The candles of the Beit Hamikdash were lit inside, but the candles of Chanukah are lit על פתח ביתו מבחוץ, by the door of the house, on the outside, and it is done in a time when תשקע חמה, when the sun sets. This is all connected with what he said before. The level of kedushah that comes down through the נרות המקדש is a level that could come at a time when it's light, which means when there is a spiritual light, so then this is a greater light that brings more light into the world. But to penetrate into the darkness, that even in the darkness of galut that we should still be able to bring down the light of Hashem, that is only done with the נרות של חנוכה. And therefore the mitzvah itself was told to be done in such a way which represents and hints to this inyan, that you have to light the נרות חנוכה משתשקע החמה, when the sun sets, when it's dark, because this level of light could penetrate even the darkness. And where do you light it? על פתח ביתו, by the door of the house, מבחוץ, on the outside. The purpose is to bring the light even into the outside. The outside means the רשות הרבים. Inside is the רשות היחיד, the private domain, and the outside is the רשות הרבים, the public domain. Now this represents the inyan of kedushah and the opposite of kedushah. רשות היחיד, it says in the sefarim, represents the inyan of רשות יחידו של עולם, יחיד, the single One, the private One, that is Hashem. So רשות היחיד represents the reshut of Hashem. רשות הרבים, the reshut, the domain of the many, that represents all other things which are not kedushah, because kedushah is always achdut, is unity. Other things which are not kedushah are not unity, but they are רבים, they are represented in the idea of many. So the רשות הרבים, that represents all other things which are not kedushah, because kedushah is always achdut, is unity. Other things which are not kedushah are not unity, but they are רבים, they are represented in the idea of many. So the רשות הרבים represents the inyan of the opposite of kedushah. The נרות חנוכה have such a koach even to bring the light into the רשות הרבים, so to speak, into the place where there is no kedushah, and nevertheless to bring the light in there. And this is also connected to what the Gemara says, that the time for the נרות חנוכה is עד דכליא רגלא דתרמודאי, till the feet of the תרמודים are finished, this is also a remez to the same inyan. The nerot of Chanukah have the power of bringing kedushah even to a level where there is no kedushah, where there is darkness, where there is no Shechinah, and nevertheless to bring the Shechinah there too. תרמודאי, it says in Tehilat Yaakov, the the Sefer Maleh HaRo'im, so Kohelet Yaakov, in the ערך תרמודאי he explains that תרמודאי, תרמוד are the same otiot, the same letters as מורדות. מורדות comes from the word מורד, which means to revolt. And even in a level which revolts against Hashem, the koach of the nerot of Chanukah is כליא רגלא דתרמודאי. It has the power to stop it, to finish the feet of the תרמודים, to take away this concept of מרידה in Hashem. And this is also mashma from the Gemara Yevamot דף ט״ז עמוד ב׳, that there were the עבדי שלמה, the servants, the slaves of Shlomo, that were מורד, that revolted against Shlomo, they got mixed in among the תרמודים. So we see that even בפשטות, בגשמיות, the תרמודים represent מרידה, represent revolt. And this is the greatness of the mitzvah of נרות חנוכה, that there is such a light that comes down into this world, such a spiritual light that brings the light even into the galut, brings the light even amongst the תרמודים, and it has the power of bringing the Shechinah and the kedushah even in such a level. And that's why it says that when Mashiach will come, even if כל המועדים עתידים לבטל, nevertheless Chanukah will remain, because the pshat as it says, is one of the pshatim, what does it mean that the מועדים, the Yamim Tovim will become בטל when Mashiach will come? It doesn't mean that it actually will become בטל, the Torah will not change. What it means is that whenever we celebrate a Yom Tov and we keep the mitzvot of the Yom Tov, a certain level of kedushah comes into this world. At the time of לעתיד לבוא, there will be so much kedushah in the world, that we will not really feel the significance of the Yom Tov, meaning the significance of that level of kedushah that comes down on the Yom Tov. But the kedushah that comes down during the Yom Tov of Chanukah, through the mitzvah of Chanukah, is such a high level of kedushah, that even in the time of Mashiach, when we will celebrate Chanukah, we will feel it as a special Yom Tov, because this will be a special madregah of light. And then we will actually feel it. Now when we say that through the mitzvah of Chanukah a special light comes into the world, we don't see it, we don't feel it, only great tzadikim probably, they are the ones that see it and feel it, but ordinary people don't. When Mashiach will come, all the people will feel this great level of kedushah that comes into this world, and therefore, even though we will constantly feel a high level of kedushah, when the Yom Tov of Chanukah will come around, we will feel the special level and light of kedushah that will come into this world through the mitzvah of Chanukah, because this light is such a great light, in such a high level, and brings down so much kedushah into this world, that even at that time, this will be something special. And that's one of the peshatim in this מאמר חז״ל that even if all the Yom Tovim will be batal, nevertheless Chanukah, and the same applies to Purim, but that's not important to this shiur, will not be batal, because the level of kedushah that comes down through the mitzvah of Chanukah is so great, that even then, it will be considered a great madregah.