In the evening they poured the entire cruse of oil into the
Menorah and kindled it. In the morning, they were amazed to
find that after burning the entire night the cups were
still filled with oil. Thus, on the first night a miracle
had already occurred.
Some difficulties with the above:
- The Menorah cups must be filled with enough oil to last
the night (Menachot 89a).
- Only pure olive oil is suitable, and not oil derived
through a miracle!
In response, Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik of Brisk advances the
thought that on the first night the entire cruse of oil was
poured into the Menorah.
The miracle was in the quality of the oil. Oil which normally
could burn for one night suddenly acquired the power to last for
eight nights. Thus, each night the Menorah remained full, with
the original olive oil losing only 1/8th of its "flame"
potentiality.
There is an argument in the Gemara (Shabbat 21b) as to how
many candles should be lit each night of Chanukah. According
to Beit Hillel, we start the first night with one candle and
each night we add a candle. According to Beit Shamai, we
start the first night with eight, and decrease by one every
night after.
According to the Avudraham, one of the meanings of the name
"Chanukah" is "Candles should be lit for eight days and the
halacha is according to Beit Hillel" (that each night we
increase one candle).
When one looks at the Chanukah Menorah any day of Chanukah,
one can immediately tell from the number of candles being
lit, that the halacha is according to Beit Hillel.
For example; on the third day of Chanukah he sees three
candles lit, he then knows that this is according to Beit
Hillel, because according to Beit Shamai, there should have
been six candles lit. On the sixth day of Chanukah, if one
sees six candles lit, he can derive from this that the
halacha is according to Beit Hillel, because according to
Beit Shamai there should have been only three candles lit.
If Chanukah candles were only be lit for a period of seven
days, then on the fourth night of Chanukah, according to Beit
Hillel and also according to Beit Shamai, a total of only
four candles would be lit. Thus, if one looked at the
Chanukah Menorah that evening, one would not be able to see
if the halacha was according to Beit Hillel or Beit Shammai.
However, when Chanukah is celebrated for eight days, then on
the fourth day, according to Beit Hillel one lights four
candles and according to Beit Shamai one lights five candles.
Since the word "Chanukah" indicates that the halacha is
according to Beit Hillel, Chanukah has to be eight days and
not seven days.