Much peace and blessings

Explanations regarding the issue of the Rabbinate of the Holy Land regarding the issue
Notes on the lighting of the Hanukkah candle (column 430)
Founded on a principle I heard from several great scholars of the generation.
It seems that there are two sides to the mitzvah, one is in the case of the mitzvah, which is extremely noble, and in this they say (B”8 631 a), “a mitzvah to add up to a third,” p. s. There is another side, and it is in the person of the man who fulfills the mitzvah, that is, if he fulfills the mitzvah with great intention or great fear of God or with great joy, even these are in the general case of the mitzvah. And so is the case with the mitzvah of the late (in Tzfuran Shamir, letter Ksa). “The mitzvah is one that he should be very happy about doing, and the late wrote that he receives a great reward for doing it with joy more than the mitzvah itself. And perhaps the denotrikon of joy is that “the reward of the mitzvah is loved by God.” It is very justified through the commentators in the great article of the guidance that he rejoices in the mitzvah, because the joy alone, apart from the body of the mitzvah, is greater than the fear of God who performs the mitzvah, because the joy is greater than the mitzvah.” p. s. There is a mitzvah in its essence, and not just in the essence of a mitzvah.

And it is already known that it is a great mitzvah to fulfill a mitzvah with joy, as it is said in Psalms (Ps. 58:2), “Serve the Lord with joy, come before Him with singing,” and as explained in Shabbat (30:3), “The Shechinah does not dwell, neither out of sadness nor out of laziness nor out of laughter nor out of light-headedness nor out of conversation nor out of idle talk, but out of the joy of a mitzvah, as it is said, “Now bring me a musician, and let him be like the musician who plays, and let the hand of the Lord be upon him.” And so it is in Rambam (Hal. Sukkah 58:15), “The joy that a person rejoices in doing the mitzvah and in loving the ease with which he is commanded is a great work. And whoever deprives himself of this joy deserves to be cut off from it, as it is said, “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and with a willing heart.” And the Hidda wrote (Bamidbar Kedemoth, 10:25), “When one engages in Torah, a mitzvah, or prayer, he should be much happier than one who gains or finds a thousand thousand gold dinars… Our Rabbi, Rabbi Rach, (Shaar Ruach HaKodesh). And so it is in several books of muslar.

And according to this, we must decide who is more excellent. The one who fulfills the mitzvah of Chanukah with a heart like stone and without joy, but with a very elegant menorah, or the one who fulfills the mitzvah with an old menorah that is not elegant but with great joy. It seems clear that the joy of the mitzvah is better than the joy of the body of the object, that is, the menorah itself. And we have already noted that the Shekhinah dwells upon him in the joy of a mitzvah, as explained in the above verse, but we do not find that our rabbis wrote that the Shekhinah dwells upon him because of the joy of the object of a mitzvah. Nor do we find that the joy of the object of a mitzvah “is rewarded much more for its performance than the mitzvah itself.”

We also note regarding whether charity is better than fasting or not. The 16th chapter (B”Texas 108:8) wrote, “Here in fasting he is considered literally as holy, that is, fasting instead of a sacrifice in which he offers his body to heaven, is better than charity which is for the benefit of creation. And the evidence for this is from the words of the Rosh (Pk. Da’Ta’anit) who cited there the words of the Rab’d who wrote and accepting a fast is nothing but charity as if one were volunteering his milk and blood to the Most High…”. And this is as it says in the Blessings (17): “Rabbi Sheshet, because He will be pleased with fasting in the evening, said, ‘The Lord of the Worlds is revealed before You at the time when the Temple was standing, a sinful man offered a sacrifice, and none offered from it except its milk and blood, which atones for him. And now I sat in fasting, and my milk and blood diminished. May it be pleasing to You that my milk and blood, which diminished, be as if I had offered it before You on the altar and made it acceptable.'” Indeed, in charity he gives only of his own substance, but in fasting he gives of his body, and therefore it is said that fasting is better than charity. Therefore, God is pleased with the joy of a mitzvah, which is joy in his body, and it is better than giving of his own substance to be lavished on the desire of a mitzvah. And so it is with the saying in the Blessings (33:) “And Rabbi Elazar said, Fasting is greater than charity. Why is it not in the one with his body and in his own substance?”

Therefore, one must consider the Nada, which is that this person has great satisfaction and joy in using the menorah of a great and righteous person, and he does not have such joy if the menorah is only new but not from a great and righteous person. Therefore, it seems that he is better to fulfill the mitzvah of Nada with the menorah of a great and righteous person, since in this he has great joy in fulfilling the mitzvah. And especially since it seems to me that there is no clear source in Shas and Rishonim (only in the Maharshal, see 25:38 letter 1) for adorning a beautiful menorah for Chanukah, and the reason is that the main rule of the Rah”p generally applies to a menorah or a vessel for a Chanukah lamp. It seems so for the Nada.