There is something unique about the Mitzvah of Chanukkah – that the Mitzvah is not incumbent upon the individual person, but upon the home: "Ner ish ubeito" (a candle for each man and his home). And we must understand: why did the Sages enact, specifically regarding this Mitzvah, that the obligation is not a personal one, but upon the entire home? Additionally, the Mehadrin light one candle for each person in the household, and the question arises: what is the connection between the family and the miracle of Chanukkah?  

If we will look closely at the Midrashim, we will discover that most of the decrees dictated by the Greeks were directed against the family unit. In the Midrash Ma'aseh Chanukkah (Otzar Midrashim, Eisenstein) it is related:

In the days of the Greeks, they plotted against Israel. The said: let us make new decrees against them, until they will reject their G-d and believe in our idolatry. 

They stood up and decreed: Any son of Israel who will make a bolt or door frame at the entrance of his home will be run through with the sword. And why did they do this? So that Israel will not have either honor or privacy, as a home without a door has no honor or modesty, and anyone who wants to can walk in, whether at day or at night. And since Israel saw this, they took off all the doors of their homes and could not have intimacy. They (the Greeks) stood up and decreed: anyone whose wife will go to immerse (in the Mikveh) will be run through with the sword…

They stood up and decreed a bitter and vile decree, that every bride must spend the first night after the wedding with the hegemon (ruler). When Israel heard this, they felt weak and helpless and they abstained from making engagements.

The common denominator of all these decrees is that their purpose is to destroy the Jewish home, the family unit. Initially they targeted the home as a private domain and turned it into a public place. Afterwards they attacked family purity, and afterwards they made engagements and marriage impossible.

And therefore, when the Hashmonaim defeated the Greeks, they emphasized the victory of the family and determined "ner ish ubeito." And as the Rambam rules in Hilchot Chanukkah: "The Mitzvah (of Chanukkah) is for each and every home to light one candle, whether there are many people dwelling in the home or even only one person." The pirsumei nisa (publicization of the miracle) is specifically in the home. And accordingly the Halacha is to place the Chanukkah candle "At the entrance of the house, on the outside" (Shabbat 21b). According to Rashi, it has to be specifically at the entrance of the home, and not at the entrance of the courtyard which opens to reshut ha-rabim (the public domain) since the obligation is incumbent upon the home. And therefore, emphasis is placed upon the entrance of the home, since the essence of the victory is the preservation of the family cell which is inside, within the home.

In his book Ein Ayah, HaRav Kook adds: Since the Greeks attempted, by way of their decrees, to take away from Israel their Israeli (Jewish) way of life, which is based upon the foundations of the Torah, one of which is establishing purity and modesty as the primary goal in family life. This outlook is opposed to the culture of the Greeks, who saw in it an antagonist and an enemy. They glorify the gaiety of life and its physical and imaginary pleasures, and because of this the hatred of the Greeks against Torat Israel was very great. And therefore, in order to emphasize how much the Israeli family has a part in the victory over the Greeks, the basic obligation of Chanukkah has been established to be "ner ish ubeito."

If we look closely, we will see that this is the purpose of the Shabbat candle, as the lighting of the Shabbat candle comes to increase peace between a man and his wife, and for the preservation of the family cell. And therefore the Rambam concludes the laws of Chanukkah with a subject which relates to the laws of Shabbat, and he writes:

"(In a situation where) one has before him (meaning: he has enough money to purchase only one of the following): the candle of his home (the Shabbat candle) or the Chanukkah candle; or the Shabbat candle or Kiddush HaYom, the Shabbat candle take precedence because of the peace of his home, as (even) HaShem's name is erased in order to bring peace between a man and his wife (in the case of a Sotah). Great is Shalom, as all of the Torah was given in order to create Shalom in the world, as it says: "Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace." (Mishlei 3:17)

This law in the Rambam is very surprising, since only at the beginning he speaks of laws pertaining to Chanukkah; however the rest relates to Shabbat. So why does the Rambam choose to conclude the laws of Chanukkah with the subject of Shalom Bayit? The answer is that this is the entire essence of Chanukkah – "ner ish ubeito" – which is based upon the Shabbat candle. And therefore, when there is a situation where it is possible to light either the Shabbat candle or the Chanukkah candle, the Shabbat candle take priority, since the Shabbat candle is the basis for the Chanukkah candle.

Therefore, on Chanukkah all the family gathers around the Chanukkah candles, and it is forbidden to do work at the time they light, since the hour of lighting the candles is an hour of unification of the family cell, and the peace is great, as all the Torah was given in order to make peace, as it says: "Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace."