Concerning the Yom Tov of Chanukah, we know that this is in connection to two things: in connection to the ניצחון המלחמה, to the fact that the Yidden came out victorious with the war against the Yevanim, and also concerning the nes of the פך השמן, that they weren't able to find oil that was not tamei to light the menorah, and a miracle happened, they found one jar of oil that could only last for one day, and Hashem made a miracle and it lasted for eight days. And this is the lashon of the Rambam in the beginning of Hilchot Chanukah: בבית שני, the second בית המקדש, כשמלכי יוון, when יוון reigned, גזרו גזרות על ישראל, so they made גזרות, decrees on the אידן, וביטלו דתם, and they were מבטל, they destroyed their religion, ולא הניחו אותם לעסוק בתורה ובמצוות, and it didn't allow them to learn תורה ומצוות, ופשטו ידם, and they spread out their hands בממונם, in their money, meaning in the money of the אידן, ובבנותיהם, in their daughters, ונכנסו להיכל, and they went into the היכל, ופרצו בו פרצות, and they broke different breakings, וטמאו הטהרות, and they made all the טהרות טמא, וצר להם לישראל מאד מפניהם, and the אידן had a lot of צרות from them, ולחצום לחץ גדול, and they made a big לחץ against the אידן. And then, he continues: עד שריחם עליהם אלהי אבותינו, till the God of their fathers had רחמנות on them, והושיעם מידם, and helped them from them, והצילם, and saved them, וגברו בני חשמונאי הכהנים הגדולים, and the children of חשמונאי, the כהנים הגדולים, were stronger, והרגום, and they killed them, והושיעו ישראל מידם, and they helped the Yidden from them. And then he continues with the miracle of the oil that they found oil that could only last for one day, and there was a miracle that it lasted for eight days. So we see from the Rambam clearly that the Yom Tov of Chanukah is also connected to the fact that the Yidden won the war. There is a machloket in the Rishonim exactly which day they won the war. The Rambam holds that they won the war on 25 Kislev, on the 25th day of Kislev, which is the first day of Chanukah, as the Rambam says there, וכשגברו ישראל על אויביהם ואבדום, that when the Yidden overpowered their enemies and destroyed them, בחמישה ועשרים בחודש כסלו היה, it was the 25th day of Kislev. So we see the Rambam holds that they won the war on the 25th day of Kislev, and that's how the Pri Chadash in Orach Chaim, in the beginning of סימן תרע''א, learns pshat in the Rambam, and from the Rambam we see clearly that the ניצחון המלחמה took place on the 25th day of Kislev. But on the other hand, the Meiri in מסכת שבת דף כ''א עמוד ב' says that התגבורת הזה היה בכסלו בכ''ד בו, this winning of the war took place on the 24th day of Kislev. And that's how we find in other sefarim also, according to other shitot, that it was on the 24th day of Kislev, as both opinions are brought down in the Hashlamah to the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, written by the Divrei Nechemiah in סימן תרע''א סעיף ג'. But according to whatever opinion it is, we celebrate Chanukah also in connection to the winning of the war. Now, in הנרות הללו that we say when we light the Chanukah candles, we mention that the winning of the war, the תשועות, ניסים ונפלאות, the help and the miracles and the wonders that took place at that time, which was when they won the war, took place על ידי כהניך הקדושים, through your holy kohanim. So we stress the fact that this took place through the kohanim, that they are the ones that won the war. And the Rambam himself, as we mentioned before, is medayek that when Hashem had rachmanut on the Yidden and He saved them, he says, וגברו בני חשמונאי הכהנים הגדולים, that the children of the Chashmonai, the kohanim gedolim, they are the ones that won the war. Ul'chorah,

we have to understand, why is it important to mention in הנרות הללו that the war was won על ידי כהניך הקדושים, through your holy kohanim? And also the Rambam stresses that it came through the בני חשמונאי הכהנים הגדולים. What difference does it make who were the ones that won the war? And we know that every tefillah that was established by the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah or other great people is meduyak, is exact. There are no extra words. And details which are not important to the עצם ענין are not mentioned in the tefillos, because if we would want to mention all the details, then the tefillos would be unlimited. So therefore, when they made the lashon of the tefillos, they put in only those important points that bring out the essence of what we're trying to say. So lechora, why is it important to mention that this took place על ידי כהניך הקדושים? And the same is with the Rambam. Every word in the Rambam is exact. The Rambam only mentions the important points, so why does the Rambam have to mention that they were helped through the בני חשמונאי, which were כהנים גדולים? But to understand this, we have to bring in the halachah that the Rambam says in the beginning of the fifth perek of Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, that like this the din is, that by the three aveiros is יהרג ואל יעבור. There are three three major aveiros where the din is that a person should sacrifice his life for. Like this, for most of the dinim of the Torah we know that פיקוח נפש דוחה כל התורה כולה, that when it comes to a question of a person's life, it pushes away the whole Torah. And therefore, if a person is forced to do an aveirah, if not he will be killed, he should do the aveirah and not be killed, יעבור ואל יהרג, except the main three aveiros which are: עבודה זרה, worshipping idols; גילוי עריות, adultery; and שפיכות דמים, and murder. Now, what happens if somebody wants to be machmir and be moser nefesh, give up his life, even for other aveiros which is not one of the three? So here we have a machlokes of the Rishonim. According to the Rambam in הלכות יסודי התורה, פרק ה׳ הלכה ד׳, you are not allowed. The Rambam says כל מי שנאמר בו יעבור ואל יהרג, wherever it says you should be over and not get killed, ונהרג ולא עבר, and the person didn't do that, but he rather got killed and wasn't עובר, הרי זה מתחייב בנפשו, it's as if he committed suicide. So the Rambam holds you are not allowed to be moser nefesh at a time when the din is that you don't have to. But others say, Tosafot in Avodah Zarah דף כ״ז עמוד ב׳ and also we find in the Rosh in the beginning of the first פרק of Ketubot in the הגהה there, that when it says יעבור ואל יהרג that for most of the dinim you don't have to get killed and you could be over, it means that you're allowed to be over, you don't have to get killed. But if a person wants to be machmir and let himself get killed and not to be over, he's allowed to do that. And not only that, the Kesef Mishneh on the Rambam brings that according to others, אם נהרג ולא עבר צדקה תחשב לו, that if a person let himself get killed and wasn't over, it is a tzedakah for him, which means that he did a hiddur mitzvah. But even according to the Rambam, all this is in ordinary times. But the Rambam himself says that in בשעת השמד, which means שעומד מלך רשע כנבוכדנצר וחביריו ויגזור שמד על ישראל, if a rasha, a king a rasha will get up, a king like Nevuchadnetzar, and will make gezeirot on the Yidden, לבטל דתם to destroy their religion, או מצוה מן המצות or to destroy one of the מצות, יהרג ואל יעבור אפילו על אחת משאר מצות. He should rather get killed and not be over even if it's not one of the three mitzvot. Which means that according to the Rambam even, that when it comes to, we call it ערקתא דמסאני, that the reason the goy wants the Yid to do the aveirah is not because he wants some pleasure out of it, he's going to gain something, like he tells him to cook on Shabbos because he wants to eat, but he's doing it specially so the Yid should be over on an aveirah, only for that, so then the Rambam also holds that a person must let himself get killed.

Now, according to that it would come out that when we try to apply this din to the time of the Chashmonaim, definitely they were mechuyav to be moser nefesh, because at that time we know that the Yevanim were interested in being mevatel the Yidden from their religion. As we know that, first of all, they made gezeirot on the mitzvot of milah, Shabbos, and Chodesh. The roshei teivot is שמ״ח, שין מם חית, שבת, מילה, and Chodesh, as it says in the Megillat Antiochus and other places. It also says in a Midrash, in בראשית רבה פרשה ב׳ ד׳ and in פרשה מ״ד י״ז, and in ויקרא רבה פרשה י״ג ה׳, and many other places, that the Yevanim told the יידן, כתבו על קרן השור שאין לכם חלק באלקי ישראל. You should write on the horn of an ox that you have no part in אלקי ישראל, the God of the Yidden. So it comes out that at the time it was a concept of ערקתא דמסאני, they were interested in getting the Yidden away from their Yiddishkeit. And therefore, even according to the Rambam, they had to go on mesirus nefesh. But still we have to understand: this din that at the time of shmad you have to let yourself get killed for any mitzvah, that's only if they force you to be over on a specific mitzvah, then you have to be moser nefesh. But lichorah, to go out in a war against them, there is no din like that. And according to the Rambam, that at a time when there is no din that you have to let yourself get killed, you are not allowed to let yourself get killed. Especially in this case where the Chashmonaim were מעטים נגד רבים, they were few against many, and they were weak against strong, and על פי דרך הטבע, naturally they would never win. So here, lichorah, is not shayach that they would be mechuyav to go out and fight. And even we're going to say that normally to go to war is a normal situation, and that's why על פי דין you're allowed to have a war against your enemies even if it's a מלחמת רשות, even if it's not a mitzvah, even though there is a sakanah a person might get killed, but nevertheless the din is you're allowed to have a war, but that is only if we are not sure whether we'll win or we'll lose and we hope we'll win. But in a case when in derech hateva you know for sure that you're going to lose, so then lechorah you shouldn't be allowed to go out and let yourself get killed. As we find the Ralbag says in Shoftim concerning the מלחמה of Gid'on against Midyan, in the end of פרק ז׳, he says that if a person doesn't know if he'll win, לא ימסור עצמו לסכנה. You are not You are not allowed to put yourself into sakanah. So the question is, it comes out that the war that they waged against the Yevanim, they didn't have to, because it was a concept of mesirut nefesh. Now, according to the Rambam, who holds that whenever there's a din that you don't have to give your life for it, you are not allowed to give your life for it, so the question is, how were the Chashmonaim allowed to wage war against the Yevanim, when this meant mesirut nefesh? And according to the Rambam, they were not allowed to go on mesirut nefesh in such a case, unless they would come to them and force them to do a certain aveirah. Then, because it was שעת השמד, they had to go on mesirut nefesh. But to go to war against them, lechorah, according to the Rambam, they were not allowed to do that.

But the Kesef Mishnah on the Rambam, הלכה ד׳ there, brings down the Nimukei Yosef, who says that even though the Rambam holds that you are not allowed to be moser nefesh at a time when the din is that you don't have to, אם הוא אדם גדול וחסיד וירא שמים, if he's a great person and a חסיד and a ירא שמים, ורואה שהדור פרוץ בכך, and he sees that the generation is open in certain things, רשאי לקדש את השם, he's allowed to be מקדש השם, make a קידוש השם, ולמסור את עצמו, and sacrifice himself, אפילו על מצוה קלה, even for a very light מצוה, כדי שיראו העם וילמדו, in order for the people to see and learn. So we see clearly from the Rambam that in a case where a person is a leader, the person is ahead, the person is a חסיד, a ירא שמים, he is allowed to be moser nefesh, even according to the Rambam, in a time when al pi din, you don't have to. And this is the answer why, at that time, the Chashmonaim were allowed to wage war, because since the Chashmonaim were the leaders, they were the כהנים הקדושים, they were the holy kohanim, they were the children of the כהנים גדולים, so they were allowed to go on mesirut nefesh, even though al pi din, maybe they didn't have to. And this is why it's important to mention in על, in הנירות הללו, that it happened על ידי כהניך הקדושים. And it's important for the Rambam to mention that it came through the בני חשמונאי הכהנים הגדולים, to show what the heter for them was, according to the Rambam at least, that they were allowed to have a war and go on mesirut nefesh, even though al pi din, they didn't have to do it. And the reason is because they were the חסידים, יראי שמים, they were the greatest people, and therefore, they were allowed, even according to the Rambam. So it comes out here that the etzem going to war against the Yevanim was a concept of mesirut nefesh, even beyond the limits of the Torah. According to the Torah, they really didn't have to go on mesirut nefesh. Nevertheless, they went on mesirut nefesh beyond the limits of the Torah. They were allowed to do it, but they didn't have to. Nevertheless, they did something which was beyond the limits, beyond the requirements of the Torah. And this, actually, was the reason why Hashem did perform the miracles, such great miracles which are beyond any limits of nature, because Hashem rewards people middah keneged middah, a middah for a middah. Since they went on mesirut nefesh beyond the limits, even beyond the limits of what's required by the Torah, so Hashem performed for them also miracles which are beyond the limits of nature. And not only that, we see that Hashem performed a miracle which was beyond even the limits of Torah. Because concerning the second miracle, that the oil lasted for eight days, this miracle was beyond the requirement of the Torah. Because, as we know, the famous kashya the Pnei Yehoshua asks, why did Hashem perform this miracle? The pshat is, the reason was, since they didn't have any tohor'dike oil, so Hashem made a miracle that till they could get tohor'dike oil, the little jar that they found should last for all those days. But l'chorah, there is a דין that טומאה הותרה or דחויה בצבור, that when it comes to a קרבן צבור, or it comes to an עבודה בצבור, any עבודה in the בית המקדש that's connected to the צבור, to the whole community, if you cannot do it בטהרה, then you could do it בטומאה, then you could do it while it is טמא. So מצד הדין, they were able to light the menorah with שמן טמא. So why did Hashem have to perform a miracle, they should have this tehor'dike oil for eight days, when even if they wouldn't have it, they were able to light the menorah? They would light the menorah with tame'dike oil! But definitely, it is not a hidur mitzvah. It is not the best way to perform the mitzvah, by doing it בטומאה, even though you're allowed. And this is what Hashem wanted to show them. He performed the miracle not only when it is requirements of the Torah, which means that otherwise they couldn't do the mitzvah of the Torah, but even if they could have done the mitzvah of the Torah, but Hashem showed them that He's going beyond the requirements of the Torah, and He wants them to do the mitzvah behidur, betachlit hahidur, the best way, just like they did a hidur beyond the requirements of the Torah. Just like we said before, that they performed mesirut nefesh beyond the requirement, because there was no requirement for them to go to war against the Yevanim. Nevertheless, they went on mesirut nefesh. So, too, did Hashem show them, \"I will perform a miracle which is beyond the requirements of the Torah, that you should be able to do a hidur mitzvah,\" and light the menorah with שמן טהור. And this is one of the lessons we're supposed to take from Chanukah: not only the importance of performing a mitzvah, but also the importance of doing everything behidur, and also on going on mesirut nefesh, even when you don't have to. And in our times, we don't expect chas veshalom mesirut nefesh that you have to give up your life, but the word nefesh means ratzon. As we find different pesukim where nefesh could mean will. Mesirut nefesh means to give up your will, that a Yid has to give up his will in order to fulfill the mitzvot of Hashem. And not only when it is required על פי תורה, but even when it comes to a hidur when על פי דין you are not required to do it. Nevertheless, a person should give up his will and give himself up to be able to perform the mitzvah properly, the way Hashem wants. And this expresses our true love to Hashem. When a person does what he is required, then it doesn't really show that he loves Hashem. Maybe he does it because he knows he has to do it. He really wouldn't want to do it, but he has to do it. When a person shows Hashem that he does it more than he is required, even though he could get away without doing it, then Hashem sees that he loves Him. And if a Yid shows Hashem how much he loves Hashem, then Hashem will show to him how much Hashem loves the Yidden. Just like by the time of Chanukah, when the Yidden showed their mesirut nefesh for a hidur mitzvah, Hashem showed them that He also did something out of the ordinary, even just for a hidur mitzvah.