Question

Some comments regarding what the honorable Rabbi wrote on the matter of
comments on beautifying the Hanukkah lamp (Column 430).
This is based on a principle I heard from several Torah scholars, great sages of the generation.
It seems that there are two aspects to beautifying a commandment. One is in the object itself, that it should be as beautiful as possible, and regarding that we say, "It is a commandment to add up to one-third," see there. And there is another aspect, in the person himself who performs the commandment—meaning that if he performs the commandment with great intention, or with great fear of Heaven, or with great joy, these too are included in beautifying the commandment. So wrote the Chida (Tziporen Shamir, sec. 161): "Beautify the commandment by being very joyful in performing it, and our sages wrote that one receives great reward for performing it joyfully, even more than for the commandment itself. And perhaps the word joy is an acronym for: The joy of an obligatory commandment it is. This fits very well with the commentators' explanation of the statement, 'Great is conduct [stemming] from his toil,' that he rejoiced in the commandments—that joy alone, aside from the body of the commandment, is greater than the fear of Heaven with which one performs the commandment, for joy is greater than the commandment." See there. So we see that there is beautification of a commandment in the person himself, and not only in the object of the commandment.

And it is already well known that it is a great commandment to fulfill some commandment with joy, as it says in Psalms (2:11), "Serve the Lord with joy, come before Him with song." And as explained in Sabbath 30b: "The Divine Presence rests neither through sadness, nor through laziness, nor through laughter, nor through frivolity, nor through idle talk, nor through pointless chatter, but only through the joy of a commandment, as it is said: 'And now bring me a musician.' And it came to pass, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him." And so too in Maimonides (Laws of Sukkah 8:15): "The joy with which a person rejoices in performing the commandment and in loving God who commanded them is a great service. And anyone who holds himself back from this joy is worthy of punishment, as it is said: 'Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart.'" And the Chida wrote (Midbar Kedemot, entry Shin, sec. 25): "When one is occupied with Torah or a commandment or prayer, he must be exceedingly joyful, more than if he had earned or found a thousand thousands of gold dinars… our master Rabbi Chaim Vital, of blessed memory (Sha'ar Ruach HaKodesh)." And so too in many ethical works.

Accordingly, one may ask: who is more praiseworthy? Someone who fulfills the Hanukkah commandment with a heart like stone and without joy, but with a very beautiful menorah, or someone who fulfills the commandment with an old menorah that is not beautiful, but with great joy? It seems clear that the joy of the commandment is preferable to beautification in the object itself, meaning the menorah itself. For we do indeed find that the Divine Presence rests upon a person through the joy of a commandment, as explained in the Talmud above, but we do not find that our sages wrote that the Divine Presence rests upon him because of beautification in the object of the commandment. Nor do we find regarding beautification in the object of the commandment that "one receives great reward for performing it, even more than for the commandment itself."

And similarly we find regarding whether charity is preferable to fasting or not. The Taz wrote: "For here fasting is considered literally like sacred offerings, since fasting stands in place of a sacrifice, for he offers his own body to Heaven. It is preferable to charity, which is for the needs of creatures. And proof of this is from the words of the Rosh (first chapter of Tractate Ta'anit), who brought there the words of the Ra'avad, who wrote that accepting a fast is only for charity, as though he volunteers his fat and blood to the Most High…" And this is like what is said in Berakhot 17a: "When Rav Sheshet would sit in a fast, after he prayed he would say this: Master of the universe, it is revealed and known before You that when the Temple stood, if a person sinned he would bring an offering, and from it only his fat and blood were offered, and he would obtain atonement. But now I have sat in fasting and my fat and blood have diminished. May it be Your will that my diminished fat and blood be considered as though I had offered them before You on the altar, and may You favor me." So in charity he gives only his money, but in fasting he gives of his own body, and therefore one can say that fasting is preferable to charity. And therefore the same applies to the joy of a commandment, since the joy is in his own person, and it is preferable to giving his money for beautification in the object of the commandment. And this is stated explicitly in Berakhot 32b: "Rabbi Elazar said: Fasting is greater than charity. What is the reason? This is with one's body, and that is with one's money."

Therefore one may discuss our case, for presumably this man has great satisfaction and joy from using a menorah that belonged to a great and righteous person, and he does not have such joy if the menorah is merely new but did not belong to a great and righteous person. Therefore it seems that it is better to fulfill the Hanukkah commandment with a menorah of a great and righteous person, because in that way he has great joy in fulfilling the commandment. Especially since, as far as I know, there is no clear source in the Talmud and the medieval authorities (only in the Maharshal; see Kaf HaChayim sec. 671, para. 31) to beautify Hanukkah through a beautiful menorah, the reason being that according to most decisors, strictly speaking one does not need a menorah or vessel at all for the Hanukkah lights. So it seems to me.