Chanukah Leadership Rambam and Jewish Pride

(1) During the period of the second Temple, when the Greek kings were in power, they proclaimed decrees against the Jewish people, abrogating their religion and forbidding them to study the Torah or to perform the divine precepts. They laid their hands on their wealth and their daughters; they entered the Temple and broke through it, defiling the things that were pure. The people of Israel were sorely distressed by their enemies, who oppressed them ruthlessly until the God of our fathers took pity, saved and rescued them from the hands of the tyrants. The Hasmonean great priests won victories, defeating the Syrian Greeks and saving Israel from their power. They set up a king from among the priests and Israel's kingdom was restored for a period of more than two centuries, until the destruction of the second Temple.

(7) It is a commandment to place the Chanukah lamp at the entrance of one's house from the outside within the handbreadth adjacent to [the edge of] the entrance, so that the mezuzah will be to the right and the Chanukah lamp to the left. And if he was living in an attic, he places it in the window that is adjacent to the public domain. One who has placed the Chanukah lamp above twenty ells (cubits) has not done anything, because it is not recognizable.

(8) In times of danger, one places the Chanukah light within his house inside. And even if he places it on his table, it is enough for it.