On Sunday night, we will light the first candle of Chanukah B”H.
I have a special relationship with Chanukah. It elevates me sometimes more than other Holydays. I am not sure why, but perhaps because:
On Chanukah we celebrate the phenomena of “hidden miracles” in our lives. The victory in the war against the Greek suppressors was not the sort of miracle as in the parting of the red sea, but it was what is call in Hebrew a נס נסתר or hidden miracle.
Now, I believe that these miracles occur to each individual in his life many times, and one just needs the ability to see and notice them. I try to do so. At times when the daily routine looks very gloomy and one may not see how to get out of the entanglement, and then suddenly something happens which turns it into a way out or is it a medical problem which seems to be very serious but subsequently another test shows it to have been a mistake. All these things which we experience in our lives, are “normal” but they belong to the category of “hidden miracles” in which Hashem interferes “quietly”, and for which we celebrate Chanukah.
Shabbat Shalom and a Happy Chanukah next week
Rabbi Chaim Michael Biberfeld