Yechiel Michel Epstein

“ But God, Who is desirous of His nation Israel, gave over the mighty into the hands of the weak, the numerous into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, and the wicked into the hands of the righteous. And the heretics from among Israel who sided with Antiochus, they too were killed, and were delivered into the hands of those who involved themselves with the Torah. Thus, the Name of Heaven was aggrandized and sanctified in the world, and the light of Torah became revealed in its pure essence, and the Name of Israel was aggrandized among the nations. ”

“ What is Hanukkah? That which our Rabbis taught: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev: there are eight days of Hanukkah. One may not eulogize on them, nor to fast during them. For when Antiochus’ men entered the Holy Temple, they made impure all of the oil that was in the Sanctuary, and when the Hasmoneans came to power and defeated them, they searched but only found one jug of oil which was left with the seal of the High Priest, and there was only in it enough to light [the Menorah] for one day. A miracle happened with it, and they lit from it for eight days. ”

“ Since Purim does not receive the status of a holiday, as is explained in the Megillah, certainly Hanukkah does not.
Women do have the custom not do work as long as the candles are lit, and we should not be lenient with this (Tur) , as part of the miracle occurred through a woman during the period when (the Syrian-Greeks) decreed that before a virgin was married she was required to spend the night with the local Greek officer, as Rashi explains in Gemara Shabbat ( 23:A) . ”