The Sages ordained the observance of two festivals: Purim and Hanukah. (All the other holidays are mentioned already in the Torah.) On Purim, of course, there is an obligation to conduct a Se'uda, a festival meal in celebration of the day. Does such an obligation apply on Hanukah?
This issue is subject to a debate among the Halachic authorities. The Maharam of Rotenberg (Rabbi Meir Ben Baruch, Germany, 1215-1293) wrote in one of his responsa that no such obligation exists, as the festival of Hanukah was not established as a day of festivity like Purim. Others, however, maintained that Halacha does require conducting festive meals on Hanukah. This is indeed the implication of the comments of the Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Maimonides, Spain-Egypt, 1135-1204) in Hilchot Hanukah (3:3), where he describes Hanukah as a time of "rejoicing and Hallel." Rejoicing presumably refers to festive eating and drinking, thus suggesting that on Hanukah one is required to eat special meals.
The Bet Yosef (commentary to the Tur by Maran, Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the Shulhan Aruch) raises the simple question of why we would distinguish between Purim and Hanukah in this regard. Why do all authorities agree that one must conduct a festive meal on Purim, whereas regarding Hanukah we find different opinions?
The Bet Yosef answers that these two festivals celebrate two very different kinds of salvation. During the time of the Purim story we faced physical annihilation. Haman attempted to destroy not the Jewish religion, but rather the Jewish people. The Greeks, by contrast, had no interest in eradicating the Jewish nation. Their aim was the disappearance of the Jewish faith and Jewish practice; their target was not the people of Israel, but rather the Torah of Israel. Appropriately, then, the Sages established Purim as a celebration of our physical survival, when we therefore indulge in physical enjoyment – eating and drinking. On Hanukah, however, we celebrate a spiritual victory, rather than our physical survival, and therefore the Sages did not require that we conduct festive meals on this holiday.
Another explanation notes that the Purim miracle occurred in the context of a "Mishteh" – a party, as it was during a party that Ester exposed Haman's plot. Naturally, then, our commemoration of this miracle includes festive meals. Needless to say, there is no corresponding element in the story of Hanukah.
Yet a third approach claims that the festivities of Purim celebrate not only the actual miracle, but also the Jews' reaffirmation of their acceptance of the Torah that occurred in the wake of this miracle. Therefore, just as the Talmud comments that on Shavuot – the day when we celebrate the giving of the Torah – all Sages agreed that one must conduct a festive meal to celebrate our acceptance of the Torah, so does an obligation of festivity apply on Purim. No such collective reaffirmation of the acceptance of the Torah transpired in the Hanukah story, and thus this obligation does not apply. Others, however, dismiss this theory, arguing that the rededication of the Bet Ha'mikdash that occurred after the victory over the Greek oppressors should deserve festive celebration no less than the Jews' reacceptance of the Torah after the Purim miracle.
In any event, this issue, as mentioned, is debated by the Halachic authorities.
As for the final Halacha, Hacham Ovadia Yosef ruled that one should conduct festive meals on Hanukah, and the meals should include words of Torah and the singing of songs of praise to God, thereby lending them the status of "Se'udat Mitzva" (a "Mitzva meal") according to all views. The Hacham adds in this context that the days of Hanukah, which commemorate the Jews' deliverance from Greek oppression, are especially suited for redemption, and we should therefore increase our eager anticipation of the arrival of Mashiah during Hanukah. This theme of Hanukah is alluded to by the word "Mashiah," which can be read as an acronym for the phrase, "Madlikim Shemonat Yeme Hanukah" ("We light during the eight days of Hanukah"). This holiday is therefore a time for heartfelt prayer that the Almighty should bring the final redemption and perform great miracles for us just as He performed for our ancestors many centuries ago.
Summary: One should conduct festive meals on Hanukah, and these meals should include words of Torah and the singing of songs of praise to God.
