There are two facets to Chanukah; the gratitude we feel to Hashem for having saved us from the Yevanim, and the recognition of the miracle that occurred with the pach shemen, where one small flask of oil burned for eight days.
We wonder where is the precedent and license for Chazal to establish new holidays; do we ever find a pasuk or source saying that in such and such circumstances one is to establish a new holiday? Where is the source that Chazal took to establish a new Yomtov?
It would seem that the precedent for establishing Yaminm Tovim comes from the holiday of Pesach. Pesach, like Chanukah, celebrates our deliverance from under the thumb of the Egyptians. This teaches us that it is proper to celebrate upon being saved from our enemies. (Perhaps too this is limited to cases where we were already under the enemy rule, and not for situations where we were saved from being invaded by an enemy, for instance like when Hashem saved Chizkiyahu from Sancheriv, where there was a fantastic miracle, yet Chazal instituted no Yomtov as by Chanukah and Purim)
So the reason we created the holiday of Chanukah was only because of our being saved from the Yevamin. The miracle of the oil was certainly impressive, yet we have no license to celebrate miracles. However with regard to setting the content of this Yomtov, when Chazal set down the mitzvos of Chanukah, they certainly accounted for the miracle of the oil, and chose to use that as the main content of this Yomtov – a mitzvah of lighting the Menorah.
What we are suggesting then, in brief, is that the miracle of our winning the war against the Yevanim was the reason for instituting Chanukah, however the content of the Yomtov was chosen based on the miracle of the oil.
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