We are now in the season of Hanukah, and as such we will discuss some Hanukah-related Bitachon thoughts.
There is a Halacha to make a beracha on miracles in two types of situations. We make a beracha either based on the place of the miracle or the time of the miracle.
The Gemara in halacha says that if we come to the place where Keriyat Yam Suf happened, we make the beracha of
…She’asah Nissim L’Abotenu B’Makom Hazeh
…Miracles were performed for our forefathers in this place.
Similarly, if an individual experienced an open miracle, he would make a beracha-
She’asah Li Ness B’Makom Hazeh/A miracle was performed for me in this place.
But the halacha stipulates that these Berachot are reserved for miracles that were life-saving.
If a person came to a spot where Eliyahu HaNavi performed a non-lifesaving miracle, for example, a miracle performed in order to demonstrate a point, one would not make a beracha.
That being said, the Maharal, in his sefer Hidushei Aggadot on Shabbat (21a) is bothered. Why do we make the beracha of “She’asah Nissim/ Miracles were performed…” on the lighting of the menorah, if the miracle of the candles didn’t save anyone’s life? It was a miracle that was necessary to do a Mitzvah, and we don’t even mention this miracle of the candles in Al HaNissim/For the Miracles (an extra prayer added to our tefilot on Hanukah).
If a person was stuck on a desert island without a Lulav and Etrog, and miraculously, a Lulav and Etrog landed there from the heavens, he would not make a beracha because it was not a life-saving miracle.
So what makes the miracle of the candles beracha-worthy?
His answer is that the main theme of the days of Hanukah is about winning the war. That’s why Al HaNissim talks all about the war (and many people don’t stress this enough in their focus on Hanukah).
One might make a mistake and think that the Maccabees were powerful, that they had tactics and strategies, that they knew how to spear elephants from their bellies etc.
So therefore, in order to reveal that winning the war really was miraculous, God then made the miracle of the menorah.
Why?
The whole focus of the Greeks was to contaminate the Bet HaMikdash and take away the holiness and purity of the Jewish people. So ultimately, the way we won the war was to take back our territory-which meant taking back the holiness and purity of the Bet HaMikdash. That is why we say, in Al Hanissim, “Your children came into Your house and purified it.”
It wasn’t just about the miracle of the candles, but rather, the miracle of the candles was the final acquisition of the territory, like putting the flag down when reclaiming a territory.
We got our territory back, and that is why Hashem specifically made the miracle with the menorah- Because that symbolized the ultimate winning of the war.
The main miracle was winning the war, which was a life-saving, religion-saving miracle that we benefit from to this very day. Therefore, says the Maharal, the main point is the war, and the candles are just there to reveal the miracle of the war.
This has an interesting connection to the parshiot that we are in now. As we know, Yosef Hasadik was thrown into a pit full of snakes and scorpions.
The Midrash tells us that when the Shevatim were returning from the burial of Yaakov Avinu (in Parashat Veyechi)Yosef Hasadik passed by that pit and made the beracha, Baruch… She’asah Li Ness B’Makom Hazeh/ a miracle was performed for me in this place. But the main miracle was not that he survived the pit of snakes and scorpions. The main miracle, that Yosef was focusing on, was the fact that he became the viceroy of Egypt. That was really a miracle, the fulfillment of his original dream. But it wasn’t an open miracle.
He was in jail, he met the wine steward, etc…. That whole chain of events brought about his salvation, leading him to become the viceroy, interpreting Paroah’s dreams etc.
Sometimes there is a small indicator that makes you say, “Well, that was a miracle,” and then that miracle reveals that everything else was also a miracle.
That is what happens with Hanukah. When we sit by the menorah and think about the miracle of the candles, we should not just focus solely on that miracle. We have to remember the miracle of the war- when a small group of Kohanim took on the entire Greek army, and won! This is not a fairytale- this is a real story. It’s the main focus of Al HaNissim- “the many in the hands of the few, the strong in the hands of the weak…,” that story was miraculous, yet covered under the guise of nature.
The open miracle of the candles was there in order to reveal the miracle of the war.
This is a beautiful thought in understanding the miracle of Hanukah, of what we are supposed to be saying Thank You for, and what we are supposed to be thinking about when we light the candles. Have a wonderful day and a meaningful Hanukah.