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Miracle Shmiracle
Yossi J. T. Sroufe, DPhil
Hanukkah. It is a time to reflect on miracles and joy. We are alive! We survived! Let’s eat!
When we think of the word “miracle” we Americans often associate it with a supernatural event. Somehow the laws of physics and nature are suspended to allow for a magical occurrence. Is this what a miracle is or is it something quite different? If we define a miracle as a supernatural event, it can present a troubling test of faith. It can also present difficult scientific issues. So, what do we mean when in Judaism we speak of a miracle?
The word “miracle” derives from the Latin word mirari meaning wonder. I prefer the word “wonder” as it denotes the act of stopping to ponder something before us. Each of us as humans has the capacity to wonder, to think about a matter and question its purpose. Martin Buber called this capacity to wonder an “abiding astonishment.” Abraham Joshua Heschel also referred to such moments as “radical amazement.”
Was the exodus from Egypt a miracle? Do we see the recapture of Jerusalem in the Six Day War as a miracle? What about the Maccabees and their revolt against the Syrian Greeks? Is the story of Hanukkah a miracle?
Our Jewish prayer book presents a different perspective. We pray “Thank You for…Your daily miracles.” In this way we see the birth of a baby as a miracle. The body’s recovery after illness is a miracle. When a flower opens its petals toward the sun, a miracle has taken place. The ability to identify and experience daily miracles is at the core of Jewish belief.
Perhaps the best way to understand this is to realize that miracles are neither supernatural nor super-historical. They are life’s moments that meet people who experience it as a miracle.
Hanukkah leaves me with an abiding sense of astonishment. How could a small band of Jewish men defeat an entire Hellenistic army? It was truly an extraordinary event. Something historical took place and it altered religious history. We wonder at the event and we keep on wondering! When we celebrate Hanukkah, we keep alive the wonder of the original event. We relive a miracle.
When you place the Hanukkiyah in the window and light the candles, do not merely celebrate the miracle. Become a part of it. Stand back and wonder. Light fills our homes, it fills our hearts, and it spreads into the streets. We stand and behold the wonder of Hanukkah as the miracle fills our hearts once again.