DAVER ACHER, ONE CAN ALSO UNDERSTAND THE MIRACLE IN THIS MANNER....

Halfnutcase, who also writes a blog (here: http://yonirants.blogspot.com/), proposes a different understanding of the miracle of the oil that took place during Chanuka - see here: http://yonirants.blogspot.com/2006/12/bais-yosefs-kasha.html


He writes:
the bais yosefs kasha
One of the traditional questions that jews twist themselves in to pretzles asking is the bais yosef's kasha. It goes a little like "why do we celebrate hanuka for 8 days when a miracle occured on only 7 of those days? (as we had 1 day's pure olive oil)"
[Please read the rest of his posting here: http://yonirants.blogspot.com/2006/12/bais-yosefs-kasha.html]


I very much like the different slant on the miracle that he ellucidates, and I will add it to my understanding of the holiday.


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NOTES:

Beis Yosef = A book by Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488 – 1575), which is a commentary on the Arba Turim (The Four Rows; a bawuste compendium of Halacha by Rabbeinu Yakov Ben Asher, 1270 – 1340, son of the Rosh), based on a variety of Halachic opinions, primarily drawing from Rabbi Yitzhak Alfassi (the Rif), Rabbeinu Asher (the Rosh) and Rabbi Moishe Ben Maimon (the Rambam). The Beis Yosef (House of Yosef) is often printed alongside the text of the Arba Turim.

Rav Yosef Karo = Yosef Ben Efraim Karo (1488 – 1575), native of Toledo in Spain, who at four years of age left Iberia with thousands of others in the gerush Sefarad (expulsion from Spain) – an event which directly benefited the Ottoman empire (where Yosef Karo’s family settled), and a few generations later also proved a blessing to Amsterdam (when the "Portuguese" Sfardim settled along the Amstel river).
He was also the brother in law of Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz (1500 – 1580), the teacher of Rabbi Moishe Cordovero (the Ramak, born circa 1522, died 1570), and reputed to be the only student who received smicha from Mahari Beirav in Tzfat in 1538 CE.
Rav Yosef Karo was the author of the Shulchan Aruch (the Set Table – a compendium of Halacha), in reference to which he is often refered to as the ‘mechaber’ (author), though also called the Beis Yosef after another famous work from his pen.

Arba Turim = The Four Rows, in reference to the four rows of precious stones on the high priests’ breastplate, being a compilation in four sections of Halacha, specifically those rules which are still applicable in golus.

Rabbi Yakov Ben Asher = The Master Of The Rows (1270 – 1340), author of the Arba Turim (ארבעה טורים), a monumental compendium of Halacha divided into four parts: Orach Chayim (Path of Life; worship and ritual), Yoreh Deah (Teach Knowledge; prohibitions and impurities), Even Ha Ezer (Rock of the Helper; marriage and family, including dissolution of same), and lastly Chosen Mishpat (Breastplate of Judgement; administration and civil laws).
Rabbi Yakov usually follows the opinions of his father Rabbi Asher ben Yehiel (the Rosh), but often refers to the Sefer Halachot of the RIF, as well as the ideas of the Tzarfati (French) and Ashkenazi (German) gedolim (scholarly greats).
The Arba Turim was of great influence on subsequent Halachic writing, effectively setting standards that later generations of scholars strove to emulate. Rabbi Yoisef Karo (also known as the Mechaber – compiler or author) based his own work Beis Yoisef on the Arba Turim.
Rabbi Yakov Ben Asher also wrote a Torah commentary, which, in addition to pshat, also veers off into Gematriot.

Mahari Beirav = Rabbi Yakov Beirav (1474 – 1546). Famous Spanish Talmudist (born in Toledo, nifter in Tzfat) and Kabalist, who tried to re-institute rabbinic smichus according to ancient practises, with a view towards reconstituting a sanhedrin and rebuilding the Temple, in preparation for the expected coming of Moshiach.