Then and Now: Today’s Chanukah Miracles are No Less Remarkable

Jerusalem Day celebrations in the Old City. (Nicky Kelvin/Flash90) (Nicky Kelvin/Flash90)

When improbable circumstances align so fortuitously and unexpectedly, we must consider whether another factor is at work and if a greater plan is unfolding.

By Rabbi Jonathan Feldman, Director, Tribe Tel Aviv

In the past five months, the trajectory of Israel’s war against its enemies has completely turned around in our favor in ways that would have been unimaginable only a few months ago.

Yet the past year has also dealt out the massacres of October 7th, the loss and injury of our hero soldiers, and the hostages who are still in captivity.

I think that we have not allowed ourselves to recognize the magnitude of the miracles that have been unfolding before our eyes because of the challenges that still engulf us.

Chanukah, the holiday festival of miracles and thanksgiving, is a fitting time to try and step back in order to look at and think about the extraordinary unfolding of the recent events

Rewind to last summer: the war in Gaza had been grinding on for seven months with progress going at a very slow pace. Northern Israel was being pounded with missiles barrages from Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli soldiers were falling in battle. The nation was grappling with an overwhelming question wondering how long can we continue like this?

Then, on July 31 Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran. What followed was an unprecedented series of overwhelming successes:

-The elimination of Hezbollah fighters with exploding beepers and walkie-talkies

– The decimation of Hezbollah’s leadership structure, launch sites, and missile capabilities

– The elimination of Hezbollah’s leader, Nasrallah

– The strategic capture of Rafah, Hamas’s headquarters, and the Philadelphi Corridor

– The death of Hamas leader Sinwar, architect of the October 7 massacre

– The destruction of Iran’s aerial defenses and weapons manufacturing capabilities

– The fall of Assad’s regime and the dismantling of Syrian military power

Defying All Predictions

Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor speaking at the 92nd StreetY in New York noted that each of these achievements on their own can be explained by the exceptional efforts of the IDF, backed by the US.

But he said their rapid and comprehensive success defied all predictions. Indeed, both the US and Israeli assessments of the potential devastating toll on Israel were wrong.

When improbable circumstances align so fortuitously and unexpectedly, we must consider whether another factor is at work and if a greater plan is unfolding.

Divine miracles don’t always manifest as seas splitting or oil burning longer, they can manifest as the convergence of events. This is what we call a hidden miracle.

The Maharal of Prague relates that these two types of miracles are central to explaining the Chanukah story. He tells us that the Chanukah miracle of the oil in the menorah burning for eight days was not central to the rededication of the Temple.

So why did G-d bring about this miracle for the Maccabees who were the Cohanim in charge of the Temple? God orchestrated this overt miracle so the Jews would understand that their military victories themselves were miracles-albeit hidden ones.

These victories, though achieved through human effort, were divinely guided triumphs. They were hidden miracles imbedded in the actions of the soldiers which resulted in victory.

Today, we kindle the Chanukah lights to commemorate God’s miracles celebrating both the extraordinary rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem and the victory of Jewish light over the darkness of Greece.

Central to our experience of Chanukah is the gratitude we express to the Almighty for these miracles in the Chanukah prayers. Our gratitude extends into recognizing G-d’s role in our lives today. When we light the Chanukah candles, we declare in the second blessing that God’s miracles occurred ‘in those days’, and also ‘in these times.’ This tradition of remembering past miracles also serves to turn our attention to present-day miracles

This Chanukah, as we light our menorah, let us pause to express gratitude to the Almighty for the extraordinary miracles we have experienced in Israel’s current wars against our enemies.

Though we may not have witnessed overt open miracles, the hidden miracles abound- we need only open our eyes to see them. And through our gratitude, may we merit to continue to see wonders and miracles for our people and have our own modern day Chanukah miracles continue until we are safe and in living in peace.

Chanukah Sameyach! Happy Chanukah!