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Chizuk<br />
SHAAREI TIKVAH/ CHANUKAH <strong>2009</strong><br />
Because the ultimate expression<br />
of love and kindness<br />
is not in doing what I have to<br />
do, but in doing what I don’t<br />
have to do.<br />
In fact, it is only because the Maccabees had the light of miracles<br />
already in their souls that they attempted to accomplish the impossible.<br />
A small group of weaklings stood up against the warriors<br />
of Greece and won! But they knew it was possible because Hashem<br />
created the world and is free to do as He pleases.<br />
Their victory was a miracle itself, so why perform the additional<br />
nes of keeping the menorah miraculously lit for eight days? It seems<br />
most unnecessary. Okay, the Maccabees reclaimed the Bais Hamikdash<br />
in Yerushalayim from the Greeks and when they went to light<br />
the Menorah there was only enough oil for one day. And yes, unbelievable<br />
that oil lasted for eight days until more oil could be pressed<br />
and brought in. But this doesn’t seem like a very important miracle.<br />
If they hadn’t been able to light that Menorah they would not have<br />
fallen apart. They’d have to wait another eight days, and would that<br />
have been so terrible?<br />
That is the definition of miracle, however, it is unnecessary. Natural<br />
phenomena are necessary. If I put a drop of ink into water, it<br />
will necessarily dissolve. That’s nature. But a miracle is just the opposite.<br />
It doesn’t have to be. Indeed, in the light of nature it shouldn’t<br />
be. But it is because Hashem wants it to be. Hashem needs no reason<br />
to make a miracle. Hashem wants to, and Hashem does it. That’s<br />
why <strong>Chanukah</strong> is such an incredible holiday of miracle, because it is<br />
the holiday which celebrates the essence of miracle, the essence of<br />
the unnecessary.<br />
When you look at the world in the light of <strong>Chanukah</strong>, you realize<br />
that everything in the world is unnecessary; that even you are unnecessary.<br />
And yet the world is here and you are here. Celebrating<br />
the unnecessary is really the celebration of love. Because the ultimate<br />
expression of love and kindness is not in doing what I have to<br />
do, but in doing what I don’t have to do. If I dent your car and then<br />
offer to pay for it, that is not an act of love. That is the law. But if<br />
one day I spontaneously decide to wash your car, that is an act of<br />
love.<br />
Judaism believes that we are here because Hashem, in His infinite<br />
love, created us. It is a miracle that we are here, and on <strong>Chanukah</strong>,<br />
more than at any other time of the year, we marvel at that. We see<br />
ourselves in the light of miracles, in the light of hope.<br />
In the light of science and in the light of art we see aspects, and<br />
only some aspects, of what exists. But in the light of <strong>Chanukah</strong>, in<br />
the light of miracles, we see that anything is possible. We see the<br />
triumph of Hashem’s love.<br />
<strong>Chanukah</strong><br />
On the first night of <strong>Chanukah</strong> all eight candle holders stand before<br />
you. Yet, you light only one. Tomorrow night you will light two.<br />
You know that eventually, you will light all eight. From this we learn<br />
a powerful lesson:<br />
Move step by step in life.<br />
Take things on at a pace you can handle.<br />
Always grow.<br />
Always keep moving ahead.<br />
If you did one good deed yesterday, do two today.<br />
Your ultimate achievement is always one step ahead.<br />
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