 We all have learned about the miracles of Chanuka and the courageous fight of the Maccabees for truth, justice, and the Torah way. The problem is that the special bracha of this
Holyday doesn’t really fit with the stories of Chanuka. The bracha doesn’t speak about the miracle of the oil, the Macabees defeating the Syrian Greek armies, or the spiritual battle of Torah living versus Hellenistic living.
The only “actions” posted in the bracha are that “Hashem’s children entered the sanctuary of Hashem’s house, cleaned it, purified it, lit candles outside in the courtyard, and established the Holydays of Chanuka”.
The rest of the bracha is focused on all the things that Hashem did in His great mercy! “You in Your great mercy stood up for them in their hour of despair, fought their battles, judged those that judged them, took revenge for them”, etc.
I believe that Chazal are focusing all of us on a very important aspect of “miracles”. The Maccabees had no chance of winning, and they knew that they had no chance, but they also knew that they had to do what was within their sphere of control.
ALL the miracles of Chanuka are a direct result of Hashem responding to their worldly actions! Chanuka is the Holyday that is meant to light our way through our long exile.
As a nation and individually we have gone through darkness and feeling hopeless to change the situation, feeling as if “there is no way for us to win”. The truth is that there is no way for us to win, but that it doesn’t matter because Hashem doesn’t want us to win, but to try and to believe that what we do can rain down miracles upon us, our families, friends, people, and the world.
I clearly remember one of the first classes I had with Rabbi Weinberg about tefilla and as he was leaving Rabbi Weinberg was singing “I believe in miracles”. I didn’t understand it then, but it is clear that a major foundation of the Jewish people has to be the belief that our relationship with Hashem can bring miracles even in the darkest of times and that Hashem will, in His great Mercy, stand up for us in our time of despair, fight our fights, judge those that judge us, and…
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