Chanuka | Ner Chanuka and the Enumeration of the 613 Mitzvot

Chanuka | Ner Chanuka and the Enumeration of the 613 Mitzvot, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

How did the Geonim justify including the Mitzva of Ner Chanuka in their enumeration of the 613 Mitzvot? 

Following the famous homily of R. Samlai (BT Makkot 23b) that Moshe received and conveyed 613 Mitzvot, interest was only sparked in the post-Talmudic era as to the makeup of that list. The earliest proposals, including that of R. Shimon Kaeira (Halakhot Gedolot), included a number of Mitzvot that we commonly view as Rabbinic in provenance, notably (for purposes of our shiur), lighting Ner Chanuka. The inclusion of these Mitzvot in a number of lists from the Geonic era motivated Rambam to define, in no uncertain terms, his approach that only Mitzvot that are explicit in the Torah ought to be reckoned on this list. We explore several formulations that include Ner Chanuka (and, inter alii, Mikra Megilla) and, with the help of several lesser known passages authored by R. Saadia Gaon, come to a new understanding of the source and significance of Ner Chanuka (and Mikra Megilla) within the larger rubric of the Mitzvot.

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