The Miracle Of Hanukkah, Part 1 – Do You Believe In Miracles?

Question: We are celebrating Hanukkah to commemorate the miracle that occurred during the war of the Maccabees, when the jug of oil provided enough oil to light the Menorah for eight days instead of just one. Do you believe in miracles?

Answer: No, I don’t believe in miracles. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, a miracle is a serious, scientific matter not as we perceive this concept in our world. The upper force doesn’t perform miracles and doesn’t do anything that is supernatural and that exceeds the limits of “He has given a law that cannot be broken.”

All the miracles are only in relation to us. The system functions according to rigid laws that operate everything from the beginning of creation to its end. We have to learn these laws and then the phenomena we encounter in the system will not seem like miracles to us.

The first miracle, for example, is the miracle of the exodus from Egypt. People wanted to connect but could not do so because a force separated them. This force is called Pharaoh, their egoism.

They wanted to be as one man in one heart, as Abraham had taught them in ancient Babylon, so that love would cover all sins, but their efforts were in vain. Following seven years of satiety, seven years of hunger came along, until there was a miracle that allowed them to escape from Egypt and the domination of Pharaoh.

The same thing is happening today in era of technological advancement, when the accelerated development of technology, culture, and education begins. First it seems that it provides us with unprecedented opportunities and everyone aspires for the American dream: a wonderful career, science, and that promise to reveal all horizons.

But suddenly we discover that we have reached a totally different state than what was dreamed of. The American dream burst like a bubble, and the whole world finds itself in a whirlpool that drags us more and more deeply to the bottom. This is the end of the seven years of satiety and the beginning of the seven years of hunger.

I also felt as if I was living in the seven years of satiety in the 60’s and the 70’s when I believed that the horizons were open before me. But then I discovered that the science I engaged in did not provide any answers to my questions about the meaning of life and the purpose of life.

Thus, the seven years of hunger began and I began to search for a way to revive myself, for the meaning of my life, for the purpose of life, and for what I could give my children. This is how I found the wisdom of Kabbalah, and this is a miracle, just like the miracle of the exodus from Egypt.

A miracle is when a person who has no way of discovering the meaning of his life in an ordinary way suddenly receives a special Light, an extraordinary force, that shines on him, opens his heart and mind, and reveals that this life has a  goal and that he is part of a special process.

This miracle that opens a new life to him is called the exodus from Egypt, and it has to take place in everyone’s life to a certain extent.

A person escapes from Egypt, from his egoism, by acquiring the attribute of bestowal, the force of connection and unity, and begins to implement it. But then his egoism erupts again and he needs a miracle once again in order to overcome the egoism, and this time it is the miracle of Hanukkah.

Question: How are events that occurred in ancient times, like the exile in Egypt and the time of the war of the Maccabees, related to our time?

Answer: It is said: “the actions of fathers are a sign for the sons.” This means that what happened to our forefathers will also happen to each of us.
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From the Israeli Radio Program 103FM 12/6/15