The first word sounds like "victory." Is this a victory psalm?
The first word, lamenatzeach, comes from the root nun-tzadi-chet, the root of nitzachon, victory. On Chanukah that is easy to hear. The Gemara's own Chanukah story says the Hasmonean kingdom grew strong and "nitzchum," defeated them.
But the commentators read the word differently. Tehillim 4 opens with the same two words, lamenatzeach binginot, and that is where they explain them. Rashi says this root is used for people who put real effort into the Temple service, and he points to Ezra 3:8, where Levites are appointed "lenatzeach" over the work of the Temple. On his reading, the title hands the psalm to the Levites (the tribe that served in the Temple and sang there) who led the singing.
Ibn Ezra (Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra, Spain, 1100s) gives two views. The Gaon (the head of a Babylonian academy) says the psalm was given to a singer to sing always, like lanetzach, "forever." Others say the menatzeach was the officer over the musicians, and Ibn Ezra calls that the right one.
Midrash Tehillim (old rabbinic teachings on Tehillim) reads the word as describing God: "to the One whose victories last forever." Then it offers another reading: "to the One who is beaten by His creatures." A human king is angry when he loses, it says, but God is glad. Its proof is the verse where Moshe stands between God and Israel so that God does not destroy them.
So this is not a victory psalm by what it says. It never mentions a battle. The Chanukah feel comes from the Hebrew root. Siddur Sefard has a prayer before lighting from Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov (a Chassidic rebbe of the early 1800s, known by his book Bnei Yissaschar). It uses the root in both senses: to win over enemies, and to oversee the work of the Temple.
Shabbat 21b,Rashi on Tehillim 4:1,Ibn Ezra on Tehillim 4:1,Midrash Tehillim 4:4,Tehillim 106:23,Siddur Sefard, ChanukahIsn't it forbidden to copy the Temple menorah? So why picture it?
The Temple menorah had seven lamps (Shemot 25:37). The Gemara and the Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) say you may not make one like it for yourself. A menorah of five, six or eight branches is allowed. Seven is not (Avodah Zarah 43a; Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 141:8). Rashi's reason is short: eight does not look like the Temple's, and seven does. Your Chanukah menorah, with eight lights, is on the allowed side.
Then there is the custom of saying this psalm, all year and not just on Chanukah, while looking at or picturing the seven-branch menorah. The Hashem Melech prayer tells about it. The Chida (Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai, 1700s) speaks of a menorah drawing written on parchment. The Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, 1800s) says picturing it in your mind is enough.
Neither mentions the rule against copying. They do not say how the two fit. But Rashi explains the rule. Even a seven-branch menorah of a cheaper metal is forbidden, he says, because a menorah of any metal would be valid in the Temple. One of wood is allowed, because wood is not valid there. The Rambam (Maimonides, who died in 1204) also allows a seven-branch menorah that is not metal, and the Shach (a leading commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, 1600s) says the same. Rabbi Yosei bar Yehuda forbids wood too, but the Rambam does not follow him. A drawing on parchment is not metal at all.
That is an observation, not a ruling from the sources on the custom. What the sources do say is clear: eight branches are fine, a seven-branch metal menorah at home is not, and a seven-branch picture is a custom some recommend.
Shemot 25:37,Avodah Zarah 43a, with Rashi,Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 141:8,Shach, Yoreh Deah 141:35,Rambam, Laws of the Chosen Temple 7:10,Chida, Tziporen Shamir 18,Ben Ish Chai, Year 1, Vayigash 4Why does a holiday about beating one empire include a psalm for all nations?
The Chanukah story is about one kingdom. The Rambam says the Greek kings would not let the Jews study Torah or keep mitzvot, broke into the Temple and made its pure things impure. Then the Hasmoneans won. The psalm's words mention none of that. They ask that all peoples know God's way and be glad.
One old source does bring the two together. Midrash Tehillim (rabbinic teachings on Tehillim), on this psalm, says Moshe saw the Greek kingdom enslaving Israel and prayed, because it would fall to the tribe of Levi: "Bless, Hashem, his strength" (Devarim 33:11). Rashi, as one explanation of that verse, says the prayer was for the Hasmoneans, who were few against many. Bless them here too, the Midrash says: "May God be gracious to us and bless us."
Then it turns to the nations. God saves Israel, it says, not for their deeds but to make His power and His name known. Might the nations say He plays favorites? No. They thank Him: "Peoples will thank You."
The Midrash explains the psalm, not the custom. We did not find a source that says why this psalm follows the lights. The texts do allow a comparison. Chanukah means dedication, and what was rededicated was the Temple. When Shlomo (Solomon) dedicated the first Temple, he asked God to answer the foreigner who comes to pray there, "so that all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You" (Melachim I 8:41-43). Tehillim 67 uses the same two verbs: "know" in verse 3, and the verb for fear or awe in the last verse.
The Chanukah lights are also meant to be seen from outside. The Gemara says to put them at the door of your house, on the outside, and the Rambam says they are lit to show and reveal the miracle.
That comparison is our own, not a statement from any source. The commentators do not even agree what the psalm is about. So the question stays partly open.
Rambam, Laws of Chanukah 3:1 and 3:3,Midrash Tehillim 67:1,Devarim 33:11, with Rashi,Melachim I 8:41-43,Shabbat 21b