Is the public celebration of Chanukah a reaction to the holiday of a different faith—to ensure that Jews don’t feel second-class?
The Passover Seder is carried out in the privacy of one’s home. On Rosh Hashanah we go to the synagogue to hear the sound of the shofar. But there’s only one holiday whose primary mitzvah is PR-oriented, whose message is meant to be advertised and broadcasted, and that is Chanukah. Originally, the sages who established Chanukah instituted that the menorah be lit at the entranceway to one’s home. The concept of pirsumei nissa, “the publicizing of the miracle,” is, and always was, part and parcel of Chanukah. Many of the laws associated with the menorah reflect this central theme of Chanukah. For example, the Talmud (Shabbat 23b) explains that one who only has sufficient funds for either Chanukah candles or wine for kiddush should purchase the candles, and make do with a wine-less kiddush. Why? “The Chanukah lights are more important, because of pirsumei nissa.” In the Diaspora, the practice of publicizing the miracle via lighting the menorah in full view of public thoroughfares was disc
