Chanukah Connection

In this paper I would like to explore connections in general, and also connections specific to Chanukah^{^[1]}. Chanukah was established by our Hakhamim after they defeated the Greeks and rekindled the menorah, the lampstand, in the Temple. The account of the battles and the miracles can be found in the apocraphal book of Maccabbees.

Mitzvot

Lets start by noting the fact that the Hebrew word mitzva (miswa), normally translated as commandment, means connection! The first use of mitzva is found in:

Bereshit (Genesis) 26:1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2 And HaShem appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments (mitzva), my statutes, and my laws.

In this pasuk, this passage, we see the establishment of the connection of Avraham and his seed to HaShem and to the higher world. Avraham established the connection by obeying the mitzvot (commandments [plural]). This connection was a restoration of the connection that Adam had in Gan Eden. Never the less, the ultimate fulfillment of this connection required the second Adam: