Q:
Why isn’t there a Mesichta Chanukah?
A:
This you have to understand without drashos. There have been drashos said on that but the plain pshat is this: You must realize that the mishnah was completed by the Anshei Kenesses Hagedolah in the times of Ezra. This was explained by the Doros Harishonim, the greatest authority on Jewish history. The entire mishnah was already drawn up at that time in an abbreviated form. Later they added things. But it was impossible for them to make a mesichta on Chanukah because Chanukah hadn’t taken place yet. That’s all. Purim had taken place. That’s why you have a Mesichta Megillah. But there couldn’t be a Mesichta Chanukah.
However, some mentions of Chanukah did get into the mishnah. There are mishnayos about Chanukah, sure, but there’s not a Mesichta Chanukah. It was too late.
And that’s the plain reason despite the drashos that are being said on the subject.
TAPE # 249 (December 1978)
