Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles!
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
Rabbi Avi Strausberg and the Hadar faculty produced a meaningful text-based Hanukkah reader this year focused on the theme of miracles and our own relationship to miracles today.
They ask us to consider the following questions:
- What is the place of miracles in our lives today?
- Do we still live in a world in which God’s presence can be discerned through miracles?
- How do we experience God’s presence today?
- How do you experience and define the miraculous?
- Lastly, where does God end in the miraculous and where does human agency begin?
Albert Einstein said, "There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. "
Every morning, we thank G!d for the small daily miracles that we experience in our lives. From opening our eyes, standing up, taking a breath, and having the opportunity to begin a new day.
Hanukkah, which occurs during the darkest time of the year, reminds us to be agents of light, kindness, goodness and blessing. We have the ability to see, create and acknowledge the miracles that surround us and share that spark of divinity with the world around us.
The Department of Adult Learning & Growth has a special gift for you to incorporate into your Hanukkah ritual. As you light the Hanukkah candles and then the Shabbat candles this evening, share the following texts and teachings with those around your tables.
Discuss, and reflect on the meaning of miracles in your lives. Go around the table and have everyone tell of a miracle they have witnessed in their lives and its impact.
May the light of Jewish learning shine brightly around your Hanukkah and Shabbat tables!
Wishing you a Hanukkah full of wonder, miracle, and blessing!
Jewish Teachings About Miracles:
Whoever sees a place where miracles happened to Israel must say:
“Blessed be He Who worked wonders for our ancestors in this place!"
~ Talmud, Berakhot
"A miracle cannot prove that which is impossible; it is useful only as a confirmation of what is possible."
~ Maimonides
"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
~ Albert Einstein
"In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles."
~ David Ben-Gurion
"A man should believe in G!d through faith, not because of miracles."
~ Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav
Check out Adult Learning’s very own Dr. Sandra Lilienthal’s
Eli Talk: “Choosing the Miracles of Our Lives”
A Hadar Hanukkah Companion
Shabbat Shalom
