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The Gemorah in Mesechta Shabbos asks, ,"מאי חנוכה"“What is Chanukah?” In replying, the Gemora cites a braisa which states that Chanukah was declared a Yom Tov of eight days during which we recite הלל and refrain from fasting and eulogizing. The Greeks, at the zenith of their dominion over the entire Mideast, entered the heichal and defiled the בית המקדש rendering the entire supply of oil invalid for the mitzvah of lighting the menorah. After the Chashmonaim miraculously defeated the Greeks they returned to the Bais Hamikdash to rededicate it and once again reinstate the avoda. Searching throughout the Bais Hamikdash resulted in finding one lone flask of untainted oil, which upon lighting, remained luminescent for eight days. The following year, the Chachomim inaugurated an eight-day Yom Tov commencing on ,כה' כסלו the day that the עבודה of rekindling the מנורה was renewed.
The obvious question is why did the חכמים set the celebration to begin on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev? Yes, that was the day the Chashmonaim entered to rededicate the היכל, however, the military victory was accomplished earlier than the twenty-fifth. Furthermore, the Gemora completely omits mention of the military victory as having any bearing on the origin of this Yom Tov. Wouldn’t one think that the vanquishing of this invincible enemy would be sufficient cause-de-celebre?
We must conclude that the inauguration of Chanukah in actuality has no correlation to the stunning, overwhelming military victory. Clearly, Chazal understood that our Yomim Tovim are celebrations of spiritual accomplishments, not physical feats. Military prowess and gaining independence are certainly noteworthy but pale in comparison to ruchnius accomplishments.
Each and every Yom Tov we proclaim אתה בחרתנו מכל העמים וכו' וקדשתנו במצותיך" “,”You selected us from amongst all the other nations etc. and You sanctified us with Your mitzvos”. Our uniqueness as a nation is reflected in our being gifted with the opportunity to perform mitzvos with which to enhance our connection to Hashem. Yom Tov is a function of additional, specialty mitzvos performed in an atmosphere of closer proximity to Hashem. Chanukah was enacted as a new Yom Tov because we were finally afforded the opportunity to restore the mitzvah ofהדלקת המנורה . This new holiday added a fresh mitzvah to our arsenal of Avodas Hashem.
When the Gemora posed the question, “What is Chanukah?” it was probing for Chazal’s prompt to create an entirely new Yom Tov. The reason that mention of the victory of the war was omitted is because there is no connection between the victory over the mighty Syrian army and the establishment of Chanukah.
The question still remains to be answered why they did not establish the Yom Tov until the following year. The most appropriate time to celebrate and savor the special moment would have been while the sweet sounds of victory still reverberated in the streets.
It may very well be that since the new Yom Tov was legislated as a commemoration of a rejuvenation of ruchnius, it was, as yet, too premature to rejoice. At the time of the נס most of Jewry had succumbed to Hellenization and were submerged deep in the Greek culture. Aside from the sons of מתתי-הו, there were very few Yidden still שומר תורה ומצות. Bris Mila was completely halted and Shmiras Shabbos was nearly extinct. It was only after the military defeat that Matisyahu was able to galvanize his intimate group of followers to travel to every village and hamlet to publicize that the danger posed by the יוונים had passed. They availed themselves to perform brisim and to reeducate and familiarize the people in the halachos of Shabbos as well as other areas that had been neglected heretofore. Throughout the course of the year the Yidden were mischazek and rejoined the path of שמירת התורה והמצות. Only then was it apparent that the miracle had borne fruit; fruit of ruchniusdike nature. Only then, one year later Chazal were able to surmise that it was appropriate to ordain the new Yom Tov of Chanukah.
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