THE MIRACLE OF HOPE
BSD 
CHANUKA MIRACLES IN YOUR LIFE
Why do we celebrate this Yom Tov of light for the eight days that the menorah burned, if officially there was enough oil for one day, which would just give us a seven day miracle? There are hundreds of answers, esoteric, kabalistic, historical and hysterical (that we love holidays and need a longer one in the dark winter). Here’s one of my favorites.
Living in Eretz Yisrael in the times of the Chanuka story was demoralizing. Much like today, there was assimilation, where Jews began to behave like non Jews. Secular behavior was rationalized with excuses like, “We need to blend in to the secular world”, or “We have no choice, they will kill us if we keep the Torah”.
Those who did hold on to Torah and Mitzvos were indeed persecuted, and preferred to live in the hills and caves around Yerushalayim than be subject to the abuse of the Greeks and Hellenists in the cities. I looked today out my window to the mountains around Yerushalayim and wondered what it must have been like living out in the cold and rain of winter, in the heat and scorch of summer. The strength of these people just amazes me.
And this went on for years. Not only were the religious Jews fugitives, but they proactively fought battles with the Greek armies. When the fighting was basically over, they re-entered the Bais Hamikdash and the Menorah story took place. They saw the Holy of Holiest desecrated, raped by the immorality of the Greeks. They felt humiliated and abandoned. The pain of seeing the most Beloved in such a state…
But they shook off the despair and began to repair. They replaced the fallen objects, and decided they wanted to light the Menorah. Searching for pure oil became an obsession. They knew that halachically they could light with any oil, but they refused to compromise on love. This was about love and dedication, not halachic status. They were alive, passionately wanting to prove their desire for D’vekus. But even more, they were desperate for a sign from their Beloved that the love was mutual. They got their sign, lit the Menorah and began to live again.
The first day’s miracle? That Jews had the inner strength to desire and pursue a spiritual life after such a long time of apparent disconnection. To want to try again. To battle despair and the apparent Divine indifference. To internalize that now famous teaching of Rebbe Nachman that there is no such thing as despair for a Jew. To reach up a little higher, to push a drop more for Simchas HaChayim. This was the miracle of the first day. Hope that translated into constructive behavior.
That and more. The Sanzer Rav says that although they only got a little miracle, that also didn’t sadden or disappoint them. They accepted this Divine but tiny miraculous offering and allowed themselves to fill up with the Joy and Love of the Sender. This joy is the root of our Chanukah celebration.
We are now in the end of time. If you are sensitive, you will have noticed for a while now that “time” is moving “faster”. As the exile ends and the redemption begins, the tests of apparent ‘hester panim’ are stronger. The miracles of our daily life are commensurately stronger. Every time I am in a predictably large crowd and a bomb does not go off, I know a miracle just happened. The hashgacha here is complete.
The fact that people continue to search for Hashem in daily life, that the schools here are Baruch Hashem packed with Chutznikim who are desperate to re-connect to Hashem, that kids are now going to Ben Yehuda to say Tehillim and light candles, that even the little miracles that happen are enough to inspire us to keep up our Avoda—this is the living miracle of Chanuka.
The Jews who have the strength to come here to visit, those who send their hearts, their children here to learn , and those heroes who plan to come and live here, they are today’s Macabbim.
We all keep asking, “What else can we do to bring Mashiach?” “What is Hashem telling us and how should we respond personally?” We need the Mashiach Tzidkeinu to guide us. But the fact that we still care to ask, and that we are prepared and committed to push ourselves an extra drop- that is a miracle.
So I bless you to hang on a little longer; don’t give up on your desire to ‘know Hashem’ in a real way. Stare into the fire of the Chanuka candles and allow them to transport you back to Yerushalayim. Search for the constant Nissim in your own life and recognize them as kisses from Hashem.
But in the end, be stubborn in your determination that the total and complete Geula happen now, that all evil be destroyed and that its energy be transformed into good. Let the little miracles sustain you and keep you spiritually alive so that you can spread the Godly light that belongs to you. Absorb the fire of Chanuka, let it fuel you, and then use its power to radiate the Unity of Hashem to our People.
