In Jewish ritual jurisprudence, rabbinic laws—i.e., those found in the Talmud—are overridden by those derived directly from the Pentateuch. This distinction guides situations where one must prioritize among different obligations. Thus it is anomalous that halakhic scholars conclude that a person who has enough money for either Hanukkah candles (a rabbinic ritual) or wine for the Shabbat kiddush (considered a biblical commandment), but not for both, should purchase the former. Mois Navon uses this ruling to analyze the meaning of the festival lights, and the obligation “to publicize the miracle” on the holiday:
The Hanukkah candles . . . clearly express the notion of divine providence and the critical importance of the Jewish people as part of God’s story. In addition . . . by acknowledging God as working miracles that defy nature, we acknowledge God as Creator of that very nature. Accordingly, the Hanukkah candles represent precisely the same fundamentals of faith as do the four cups [of wine drunk at the Passover seder]—with one important caveat. The miracles performed by God to save the Jewish people from Egypt were done by God, and God alone: “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:14). In contrast to this passivity of the people at the Exodus, the war of the Maccabees was fought actively by the people, with the help of God.
Navon goes on to cite the observation of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Betsalel of Prague (a/k/a Maharal, d. 1609) that the military victory over the Seleucids—not the fact that a single cruse of oil lasted for eight days—is the central miracle of Hanukkah:
He writes that the miracle of the candles was merely instrumental, done by God in order to drive home the understanding that the military victory was no less miraculous than the oil lasting eight days. This was necessary since, then as today, people tend to view military victories as a result of their own strength.
Read more on Lehrhaus: https://thelehrhaus.com/holidays/darkness-we-have-come-to-dispel-between-the-light-of-hanukkah-and-the-black-shabbat/