Draft. This siddur is waiting for a rav's review. For a halachic question, ask your rav.
Hebrew, then English. Open "What it means" under any line for the explanation.
On Chanukah and Purim, add this in the thanks blessing, Modim:
וְעַל הַנִּסִּים וְעַל הַפֻּרְקָן וְעַל הַגְּבוּרוֹת וְעַל הַתְּשׁוּעוֹת וְעַל הַנִּפְלָאוֹת וְעַל הַנֶּחָמוֹת וְעַל הַמִּלְחָמוֹת שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם בִּזְּמַן הַזֶּה.
And for the miracles and for the deliverance and for the mighty deeds and for the rescues and for the wonders and for the consolations and for the wars that You did for our ancestors in those days, at this season
And for the miracles, the deliverance, the mighty deeds, the rescues, the wonders, the consolations, and the wars that You did for our ancestors in those days, at this season.
The Gemara (the Talmud, the written record of the rabbis' debates) says Chanukah is mentioned in the thanks blessing of the Amidah. The Rambam (Maimonides, a great medieval law codifier who died in 1204) says Purim goes there too.
Shabbat 24a; Rambam, Laws of Prayer 2:13On Chanukah, add:
בִּימֵי מַתִּתְיָהוּ בֶּן יוֹחָנָן כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל חַשְׁמוֹנָאִי וּבָנָיו כְּשֶׁעָמְדָה מַלְכוּת יָוָן הָרְשָׁעָה עַל עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְהַשְׁכִּיחָם תּוֹרָתֶךָ וּלְהַעֲבִירָם מֵחֻקֵּי רְצוֹנֶךָ,
In the days of Matityahu son of Yochanan the High Priest the Hasmonean and his sons when the wicked Greek kingdom rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget Your Torah and to move them away from the laws of Your will
The Rambam writes that the Greek rulers would not let Jews study Torah or keep mitzvot, and that the Hasmoneans, a family of priests, defeated them.
Rambam, Laws of Megillah and Chanukah 3:1וְאַתָּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים עָמַדְתָּ לָהֶם בְּעֵת צָרָתָם רַבְתָּ אֶת רִיבָם דַּנְתָּ אֶת דִּינָם נָקַמְתָּ אֶת נִקְמָתָם מָסַרְתָּ גִבּוֹרִים בְּיַד חַלָּשִׁים וְרַבִּים בְּיַד מְעַטִּים וּטְמֵאִים בְּיַד טְהוֹרִים וּרְשָׁעִים בְּיַד צַדִּיקִים וְזֵדִים בְּיַד עוֹסְקֵי תוֹרָתֶךָ
And You, in Your great mercy stood up for them in their time of trouble argued their case judged their cause avenged their wrong handed the strong into the hands of the weak the many into the hands of the few the impure into the hands of the pure the wicked into the hands of the righteous and the arrogant into the hands of those busy with Your Torah
And You, in Your great mercy, stood up for them in their time of trouble. You argued their case, judged their cause, and avenged their wrong. You handed the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the arrogant into the hands of those busy with Your Torah.
"Argued their case" and "avenged their wrong" echo Jeremiah 51:36, where God answers Zion's complaint against Babylon: "I will argue your case and avenge your vengeance." "And You, in Your great mercy" is how Nehemiah 9:19 begins a line about God not leaving Israel in the desert.
Jeremiah 51:36; Nehemiah 9:19וּלְךָ עָשִׂיתָ שֵׁם גָּדוֹל וְקָדוֹשׁ בְּעוֹלָמֶךָ וּלְעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל עָשִׂיתָ תְּשׁוּעָה גְדוֹלָה וּפֻרְקָן כְּהַיּוֹם הַזֶּה
And for Yourself You made a great and holy name in Your world and for Your people Israel You made a great rescue and deliverance as on this day
"You made a name for Yourself, as of this day" is borrowed from Nehemiah 9:10 and Daniel 9:15. Both times it is said about the Exodus from Egypt. The prayer reuses the words for the Chanukah victory.
Nehemiah 9:10; Daniel 9:15וְאַחַר כַּךְ בָּאוּ בָנֶיךָ לִדְבִיר בֵּיתֶךָ וּפִנּוּ אֶת הֵיכָלֶךָ וְטִהֲרוּ אֶת מִקְדָּשֶׁךָ וְהִדְלִיקוּ נֵרוֹת בְּחַצְרוֹת קָדְשֶׁךָ וְקָבְעוּ שְׁמוֹנַת יְמֵי חֲנֻכָּה אֵלּוּ לְהוֹדוֹת וּלְהַלֵּל לְשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל.
And afterward Your children came to the inner room of Your house and cleared out Your hall and purified Your Sanctuary and lit lights in the courtyards of Your holy place and fixed these eight days of Chanukah to give thanks and to praise Your great name
And afterward Your children came to the inner room of Your house, cleared out Your hall, purified Your Sanctuary, lit lights in the courtyards of Your holy place, and fixed these eight days of Chanukah to give thanks and to praise Your great name.
The Gemara says the sages made these days a holiday "with Hallel and thanks," the two things this line ends on.
Shabbat 21bOn Purim, add:
בִּימֵי מָרְדְּכַי וְאֶסְתֵּר בְּשׁוּשַׁן הַבִּירָה כְּשֶׁעָמַד עֲלֵיהֶם הָמָן הָרָשָׁע בִּקֵּשׁ לְהַשְׁמִיד לַהֲרוֹג וּלְאַבֵּד אֶת כָּל הַיְּהוּדִים מִנַּעַר וְעַד זָקֵן טַף וְנָשִׁים בְּיוֹם אֶחָד בִּשְׁלוֹשָׁה עָשָׂר לְחֹדֶשׁ שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר הוּא חֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר וּשְׁלָלָם לָבוֹז.
In the days of Mordechai and Esther in Shushan the capital when the wicked Haman stood up against them he sought to destroy, to kill, and to wipe out all the Jews from young to old, little children and women in one day on the thirteenth of the twelfth month which is the month of Adar and to take their possessions as loot
Mordechai was Esther's cousin, who raised her. Haman was the Persian king's top minister.
Esther 2:7; 3:1וְאַתָּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים הֵפַרְתָּ אֶת עֲצָתוֹ וְקִלְקַלְתָּ אֶת מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ וַהֲשֵׁבוֹתָ לּוֹ גְּמוּלוֹ בְּרֹאשׁוֹ וְתָלוּ אוֹתוֹ וְאֶת בָּנָיו עַל הָעֵץ.
And You, in Your great mercy canceled his plan and ruined his scheme and paid him back on his own head and they hanged him and his sons on the gallows
The last words quote Esther 9:25. The Megillah tells it in two steps: Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordechai, and later his ten sons were hanged too.
Esther 7:10; 9:13-14; 9:25Say it inside Modim, just before "And for all of them." The Chanukah paragraph is for Chanukah and the Purim paragraph is for Purim.
Siddur Sefard; Rambam, Laws of Prayer 2:13The Purim paragraph says Haman "sought to destroy, to kill, and to wipe out all the Jews, from young to old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to take their possessions as loot." Those are the words of his decree in the Megillah (the Book of Esther), word for word. So on Purim you thank God by reading the enemy's own letter back, and then saying what happened to it.
Esther 3:13The Gemara (the rabbis' discussions built on the Mishnah) says the sages set the days of Chanukah as holidays of "Hallel (psalms of praise) and thanks." Later it asks whether to mention Chanukah in Birkat HaMazon (the blessings after a meal). It says that if you do mention it, you put it in the thanks blessing, just as in prayer. So the Gemara tells us where this prayer goes. It does not give the wording.
Shabbat 21b; Shabbat 24aTractate Soferim (a short book of rules for scribes, Torah reading and prayer, from about 750) has an early form of this prayer. For Chanukah it gives thanks "for the wonders and the rescue of the priests" in the days of Matityahu, and asks: "so too, do for us miracles and wonders." It says the Purim miracles of Mordechai and Esther are mentioned in the same blessing, and that both are also said in Birkat HaMazon.
Tractate Soferim 20:8The first line piles up seven things: miracles, deliverance, mighty deeds, rescues, wonders, consolations and wars. Abudarham (a commentary on the prayers, Spain, about 1340) gives six of them a verse. "Mighty deeds" goes with "Hashem goes out like a warrior" (Yeshayahu 42:13). "Consolations" goes with "I, I am the One who comforts you" (Yeshayahu 51:12). For "deliverance" he notes that the Aramaic translation of the Torah uses a form of this same word for "redeemed you."
Abudarham, ChanukahOn the words "to move them away from the laws of Your will," Abudarham says the Greek decrees banned keeping Rosh Chodesh (the new month), Shabbat and circumcision. A midrash (an old collection of Torah teachings) reads the word "darkness" in Bereishit 1:2 as Greece, which "darkened Israel's eyes with its decrees" and told them: write on the horn of an ox that you have no share in the God of Israel. The word just before it, "disorder," is read there as Media, with a phrase from the Haman story.
Abudarham, Chanukah; Bereishit Rabbah 2:4Abudarham checked this prayer word by word. He says to say "to make them forget Your Torah," not "to make them forget from Your Torah" (with an extra letter mem), and that Rav Saadia Gaon (a great scholar of the 900s) and Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (a leading scholar in Germany, died 1293) wrote it that way. Our siddur has no extra letter. He also says to say "when the Greek kingdom rose up," not "rose up against them," because "against Your people Israel" comes right after.
Abudarham, ChanukahRead the Chanukah paragraph again. It has the Greek kingdom, the Torah, a war, a cleaned-out Temple, and lamps lit in the courtyards. It does not have the jar of oil. The word oil is not there at all.
The Gemara has the opposite problem. Asked "What is Chanukah?" it answers with the oil. The Greeks made all the oil in the Temple impure. The Hasmonean kingdom (the family known as the Maccabees) won. They found one jar still sealed with the High Priest's seal, enough for one day, and it burned for eight. The war gets one clause.
The Rambam (Maimonides, the great medieval codifier of Jewish law, died 1204) tells both in order: the war first, then the oil. He does not choose between them.
One explanation for why the holiday points to the lights comes from the Meshech Chochma (a Torah commentary by Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, who died in 1926). He builds on a verse in Mishlei (Proverbs): "When your enemy falls, do not rejoice." Other nations make a holiday of their victory day. Israel does not make a holiday of an enemy's fall. So Chanukah points to lighting the Temple and purifying it. The Hasmonean leaders were also priests, he says, and God showed them a sign inside the Temple that only priests knew about, so they could not say their own strength had won.
He says Purim works the same way. The Megillah fixes it on "the days when the Jews rested from their enemies," not on the day of the fighting.
That is one reading. The prayer does include the victory: "You handed the strong into the hands of the weak." But it ends on the Temple and the lamps. Abudarham says that in his day the common people skipped the last part, "And afterward Your children came to the inner room of Your house." He says to say it, because it is "the essence of the miracle."
Shabbat 21b,Rambam, Laws of Megillah and Chanukah 3:1-2,Meshech Chochma, Parashat Bo,Mishlei 24:17,Esther 9:22,Abudarham, ChanukahThe prayer is clear. It names Matityahu and his sons, and says God stood by them when the Greek kingdom tried to make Israel forget the Torah. The Rambam agrees. He says the sons of the Hasmoneans, who were High Priests, overcame the Greeks and saved the Jews, then set up a king from among the priests. Jewish rule returned for more than 200 years, until the Second Temple was destroyed.
Later commentators are less comfortable. The Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, a Torah commentator in Spain, died around 1270) calls the Hasmoneans "saints of the Most High" and says that without them the Torah and its commandments would have been forgotten in Israel. Even so, they were punished heavily. Their mistake, he says, was ruling when they were not from Yehuda and the house of David. He also suggests that priests should not rule at all.
He points to how the family ended. The four sons of Matityahu who ruled one after another all fell to their enemies. The Gemara tells of Herod, who had been a slave of the Hasmonean house. He killed his masters and spared one young woman of the family. She climbed to the roof, called out, "Whoever says, 'I come from the house of the Hasmoneans,' is a slave," and fell to the ground. The Ramban quotes that line as proof.
Abudarham makes a similar point inside his commentary on this prayer. The Hasmoneans were pious, he writes, but as priests they took the crown "not as they should have," and Herod, a slave from their household, wiped out their family.
So how can the prayer thank God for them? The prayer itself stops at the Temple and the lamps. It does not praise the family's later rule. It thanks God for what He did: He stood with them in their trouble. Notice that the Rambam puts God first in his own sentence: "until the God of our ancestors had mercy on them and saved them, and the sons of the Hasmoneans overcame." What to think of the family is left open.
Rambam, Laws of Megillah and Chanukah 3:1,Ramban on Bereishit 49:10,Bava Batra 3b,Abudarham, ChanukahIn the Megillah, a king signs a decree, a queen risks her life, and Haman ends up on the gallows. God is never named. The Purim paragraph tells the same events and says it plainly: "And You, in Your great mercy, canceled his plan, ruined his scheme, and paid him back on his own head." Each of those verbs has God as its subject.
Did the sages notice the silence? The Gemara comes close. It asks where Esther is hinted at in the Torah, and answers with a verse where God says, "I will surely hide My face" (Devarim 31:18). The Gemara gives only the verse. The word astir, "I will hide," sounds like Esther.
The Megillah itself leaves one clue. When Mordechai warns Esther, he says relief "will arise for the Jews from another place" (Esther 4:14). A midrash (an old collection of Torah teachings) uses that verse to say that God will not abandon Israel and will raise up a redeemer one way or another. Another midrash says that wherever the Megillah says just "the king," it can mean the human king or God.
Abudarham goes through the Purim paragraph the way he goes through the Chanukah one, tying its words to verses. "You canceled his plan" goes with "He thwarts the designs of the crafty" (Iyov, or Job, 5:12), said about God. "Paid him back on his own head" goes with "As you did, so will it be done to you; your payback will return on your head" (Ovadiah, or Obadiah, 1:15), said about Esav, Haman's ancestor. He adds that God paid Haman back measure for measure.
Now look at the Megillah's own words about Haman's end. The king orders that his evil plan "shall return on his head" (Esther 9:25). In the Megillah, the king gives the order. The prayer says: "You returned." It names God as the one who did it.
Whether you hear that as the plain meaning of the Megillah or as the sages' way of reading it, the prayer takes a side. It says who it believes was behind the reversal.
Chullin 139b,Devarim 31:18,Esther 4:14; Esther 9:25,Esther Rabbah 8:6 and 3:10,Abudarham, PurimShort ideas from the Chassidic masters, the Kabbalah and the Mussar teachers.
Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov (a Chassidic rebbe in Galicia, in the 1800s) gives one reading of "for the miracles and for the purkan." Nissim, he says, are miracles anyone can see, above nature. Purkan is an Aramaic word, and the Aramaic translation of the Bible is the garment of the Hebrew text, so purkan is a rescue wearing the garment of nature. Now read the first line again and think about which kind you have had.
נסים נגלים נראים לעין כל שהם מוגבהים למעלה מן הטבע ... נסים הבאים מלובשים בטבע
Bnei Yissaschar, Kislev and Tevet 4:3Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of Piaseczno (a Chassidic rebbe in Poland), wrote this in the Warsaw Ghetto at Chanukah 1941. On "to make them forget Your Torah," he says the Greeks used two tools: suffering, and Greek wisdom spreading among Jews. But the Jews understood that the point of all the pain was to make them forget. That, more than the pain itself, was what they worried about. It was their main distress. So their faith grew stronger, and God saved them because of that faith.
תכליתם הוא להשכיחם תורתך ולהעבירם מעל חקי רצוניך וע״ז דאגו והיא היתה עיקר צרתם
Esh Kodesh, Hanukkah 5702 (1941)Rabbi Shmuel Bornstein of Sochatchov (a Chassidic rebbe in Poland, who died in 1926) passes on his father's teaching: the Greeks insisted that whatever the mind cannot grasp is not true, so they fought hardest against the laws whose reasons are hidden. Then he adds a point of his own: a will has no reason. That is why, he says, these laws are called "laws of Your will." Now read that phrase again.
כל שאינם משיגים בשכלם אינו אמת ... רצון הוא למעלה מהטעם, כי אין טעם לרצון
Shem MiShmuel, ChanukahThe prayer says only that they lit lights. The Sefat Emet (the teachings of Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, the Rebbe of Ger in Poland) asks why the miracle came through oil for just one night. His answer: it shows that one point always remains in the Jewish soul, and through it Jews can be saved. He passes on from his grandfather that the one jar sealed with the High Priest's seal is that point. It opens again each Chanukah, and through the lighting each person can widen its light as far as their own situation allows.
נשאר נקודה אחת בנפשות בנ"י אשר עי"ז יכולין להיות נושע בהשי"ת
Sefat Emet, Chanukah, 5647 (1886)The Sefat Emet writes that God made the Purim miracle without Israel's merit, "only because we are His people and always take shelter in Him." That is why, he says, the day gives strength and hope to Jews in exile: they can trust Him because they belong to Him. Now read "And You, in Your great mercy" again.
הקב"ה עשה זה הנס בלי זכות ישראל. רק מצד שאנחנו עמו וחוסים בו תמיד
Sefat Emet, Purim, 5634 (1874)The practical laws. For a final ruling, ask your rav.
Yes, if you have not yet said God's Name that closes the blessing. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says that even if you have said only Baruch Atah, go back and start Al HaNissim. After the Name, finish the blessing, since these days come from the Rabbis, not the Torah (Mishnah Berurah, a code from around 1900). You can add a request for miracles at the end of the Amidah: before the closing verse Yihyu leratzon (Mishnah Berurah), or after it (Arukh HaShulchan, a code from around 1900).
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 682:1; Mishnah Berurah 682:3-4; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 139:21; Arukh HaShulchan 682:3Yes, all eight days of Chanukah and on Purim, in the blessing of the land (it opens Nodeh lecha), not in the short blessing after cake or wine (Mishnah Berurah). If you forgot, some add a request at Harachaman (Rema, the Ashkenazi notes on the Shulchan Aruch). If a Purim meal runs past dark, the Shulchan Aruch says you still say it. Opinions differ, so the Mishnah Berurah advises saying Birkat Hamazon before Maariv. The Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary from the early 1900s) prefers the Harachaman request.
Shulchan Aruch and Rema, Orach Chaim 682:1 and 695:3; Mishnah Berurah 682:2 and 695:16; Kaf HaChaim 695:33You say it in Maariv, Shacharit and Mincha of Purim, and if you forget, the rule is the same as on Chanukah (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, a short guide to Jewish law from the 1860s). The Rema says to start at Maariv on the night of the 14th of Adar, even though you have not yet heard the Megillah. He also says to say it only on the 14th, not the 15th. The Mishnah Berurah explains that it does not fit the 15th, so it would be a break in the prayer. But if someone said it anyway, they do not go back and repeat.
Rema, Orach Chaim 693:2; Mishnah Berurah 693:6; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 141:6Cities that had a wall in Joshua's time, and Shushan (the Persian capital), read the Megillah on the 15th of Adar. The Shulchan Aruch rules that they say Al HaNissim on the 15th, even in a year when the 15th is Shabbat and the Megillah was read on Friday. The Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary from the early 1900s) quotes earlier rabbis who agree, and who add that if you said it on the 14th you do not repeat. If it is doubtful whether the city had a wall, the Mishnah Berurah says to say it both days.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 688:1, 2 and 6; Peri Megadim, Eshel Avraham 688:8; Kaf HaChaim 688:42; Mishnah Berurah 693:6Yes. Musaf is the extra Amidah of Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh (the new month). Chanukah has no Musaf of its own, so the Gemara (the Talmud) asks whether to mention it there. Rav Nachman and Rabbi Yochanan say yes; Rav Huna and Rav Yehuda say no. The Shulchan Aruch rules that you mention it in the Musaf of Shabbat and of Rosh Chodesh. The Mishnah Berurah gives the reason: the day as a whole is obligated in four prayers. If you forgot, you do not repeat.
Shabbat 24a; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 682:2; Mishnah Berurah 682:6שכשנכנסו יוונים להיכל טמאו כל השמנים שבהיכל ... ולא היה בו אלא להדליק יום אחד נעשה בו נס והדליקו ממנו שמונה ימים לשנה אחרת קבעום ועשאום ימים טובים בהלל והודאה
When the Greeks entered the Temple, they made all the oil in the Temple impure... There was only enough in it to light for one day. A miracle happened, and they lit from it for eight days. The next year the sages made these days holidays, with Hallel and thanks.
אֵינוֹ מַזְכִּיר. וְאִם בָּא לְהַזְכִּיר ... מַזְכִּיר בַּהוֹדָאָה ... מַה תְּפִלָּה בַּהוֹדָאָה ... אַף בִּרְכַּת הַמָּזוֹן בַּהוֹדָאָה
One does not mention it. But if he does want to mention it, he mentions it in the thanks blessing... Just as in prayer it goes in the thanks blessing, so too in Birkat HaMazon.
ואומרים בהודייה והודאת פלאות ותשועת כהנים אשר עשית בימי מתתיהו בן יוחנן כהן גדול וחשמונאי ובניו וכן עשה עמנו ה' אלהינו ואלהי אבותינו נסים ונפלאות ונודה לשמך לנצח
In the thanks blessing we say: thanks for the wonders and the rescue of the priests, which You did in the days of Matityahu son of Yochanan the High Priest, and the Hasmonean and his sons. So too, Hashem our God and God of our ancestors, do for us miracles and wonders, and we will thank Your name forever.
עַד שֶׁרִחֵם עֲלֵיהֶם אֱלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְהוֹשִׁיעָם מִיָּדָם וְהִצִּילָם וְגָבְרוּ בְּנֵי חַשְׁמוֹנַאי הַכֹּהֲנִים הַגְּדוֹלִים וַהֲרָגוּם וְהוֹשִׁיעוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיָּדָם וְהֶעֱמִידוּ מֶלֶךְ מִן הַכֹּהֲנִים וְחָזְרָה מַלְכוּת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל יֶתֶר עַל מָאתַיִם שָׁנָה
...until the God of our ancestors had mercy on them and saved them from their hand. The sons of the Hasmoneans, the High Priests, overcame them, killed them, and saved Israel from their hand. They set up a king from among the priests, and kingship returned to Israel for more than 200 years.
והמון העם אינם אומרים ואחר כך באו בניך וכו' ונכון לאומרו כי הוא עיקר הנס
The common people do not say "And afterward Your children came..." But it is right to say it, because it is the essence of the miracle.
וזה היה עונש החשמונאים, שמלכו בבית שני, כי היו חסידי עליון, ואלמלא הם נשתכחו התורה והמצות מישראל, ואף על פי כן נענשו עונש גדול
This was the punishment of the Hasmoneans, who ruled in the Second Temple period. They were saints of the Most High, and without them the Torah and the commandments would have been forgotten in Israel. And even so, they were punished greatly.
וחשך זה גלות יון שהחשיכה עיניהם של ישראל בגזירותיהן שהיתה אומרת להם כתבו על קרן השור שאין לכם חלק באלהי ישראל
"And darkness": this is the exile under Greece, which darkened Israel's eyes with its decrees. It would say to them: write on the horn of an ox that you have no share in the God of Israel.
לְהַשְׁמִיד לַהֲרֹג וּלְאַבֵּד אֶת־כָּל־הַיְּהוּדִים מִנַּעַר וְעַד־זָקֵן טַף וְנָשִׁים בְּיוֹם אֶחָד בִּשְׁלוֹשָׁה עָשָׂר לְחֹדֶשׁ שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂר הוּא־חֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר וּשְׁלָלָם לָבוֹז
...to destroy, to kill, and to wipe out all the Jews, from young to old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to take their possessions as loot.
אסתר מן התורה מנין ואנכי הסתר אסתיר
Where is Esther hinted at in the Torah? "And I will surely hide (haster astir) My face."
ולכך על נס חנוכה אין היום מורה רק על הדלקת שמן זית וחינוך בית ד' וטהרתו
That is why, for the Chanukah miracle, the day points only to the lighting of olive oil, the rededication of the House of Hashem, and its purification.
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