All of Life is a Miracle,

Since we are now in the midst of the joyous days of Chanukah, allow me to
share a thought with you. The reason we celebrate eight days of Chanukah is
because when the Chashmonaim were looking for oil to light the menorah they
found a small flask which contained only enough oil to burn for one day, and
miraculously it burned for eight. And there you have it. That’s the reason we
have an eight-day celebration called the Festival of Lights. But there is one slight
question. Shouldn’t we be celebrating Chanukah for 7 days, not 8? After all, the
first day was not a miracle, for there was enough oil to light for one day. Many
answers are given to this question, but the one that I’d like to share with you is
that the fact that oil burns in the first place is also a miracle, and herein lies a
great life lesson.
Everything you see in the world is actually miraculous. It’s just that since you’re
used to seeing it, it makes no impression on you. Is birth not a miracle of
gargantuan proportions? What about the growth of a flower? How about the
normal function of the human body, where millions of things could go wrong
on a daily basis, yet we travel through life without ever truly appreciating the
miracle of good health. In fact, we Jews have a special short prayer that we
recite every time we use the bathroom to thank G-d for the miraculous function
of our body to remove waste material. The list is endless! So, as you light your
Chanukah menorah tonight, just keep in mind this thought:
You – and everything around you – are a miracle.
Wishing you an inspiring Shabbos and a Chanukah sameach,
Rabbi Moshe Gruenstein