Congregation Or Zarua 1 Tevet 5782//December 5, 2021 The Last of the Miracles: Did God Retire After Hanukkah? Marc D. Ashley

The commandment of lighting the Hanukkah menorah is exceedingly precious, and one should carefully observe it in order to acclaim the miracle, ever praising and thanking God for the miracles that God has performed for us. Even if one has nothing to eat except what he gets from charity, he should borrow or sell his garment, in order to buy oil and lamps and light them.

One could ask why they established an eight day celebration at all. After all, since there was enough oil in the sealed jar to light for one night then the miracle actually was for seven nights. One could answer that they divided the oil they found into eight parts and placed one portion in the menorah each night, which nonetheless burned until morning. Thus a miracle occurred every night. Further you could say that after they filled the menorah on the first night the jar remained full of oil as it was in the beginning, and thus the miracle was recognizable even on the first night. Alternatively, they poured all the oil into the menorah on the first night and though the candles burned all night they found them still full of oil in the morning, and so it happened each night.

(31) And when Israel saw the wondrous power that the Lord had wielded against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord; they had faith in the Lord and His servant Moses.

(2) If there appears among you a prophet or a dream-diviner and he gives you a sign or a portent, (3) saying, “Let us follow and worship another god”—whom you have not experienced—even if the sign or portent that he named to you comes true, (4) do not heed the words of that prophet or that dream-diviner. For the Lord your God is testing you to see whether you really love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

In each and every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt, as it is stated (Exodus 13:8):

"And you shall explain to your son on that day: For the sake of this, did the Lord do [this] for me in my going out of Egypt."

The Sages taught: After the last of the prophets -- Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi -- died, the Divine Spirit of prophetic revelation departed from the Jewish people. But nevertheless, they were still utilizing a Divine Voice, which they heard as a kind of echo of prophecy.

Rav Pappa said to Abaye: What is different about the earlier generations, for whom miracles occurred and what is different about us, for whom miracles do not occur? If it is because of Torah study; in the years of Rav Yehuda all of their learning was confined to the order of Nezikin, while we learn all six orders! . . .

Abaye said to Rav Pappa: The previous generations were wholly dedicated to the sanctification of God’s name, while we are not as dedicated to the sanctification of God’s name.

Rabbi Asi said: Why was Esther likened to the dawn? It is to tell you: Just as the dawn is the conclusion of the entire night, so too, Esther was the conclusion of all miracles performed for the entire Jewish people. The Gemara asks: But isn’t there the miracle of Hanukkah, which was performed many years later? The Gemara answers: It is true that additional miracles were performed after the miracle of Purim; however, it is with regard to miracles for which permission was granted to write them in the Bible that we are saying that the miracle of Purim was the last one.

From where in the Torah can one find an allusion to the events involving Esther?

He replied to them that the verse states: “Then My anger shall be kindled against them on that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they will say in that day: Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us? And I will hide [haster astir] My face on that day for all the evil which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned to other gods”

(Deuteronomy 31:17–18).

The Torah says, “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lowermost part of the mount” (Exodus 19:17). Rabbi Avdimi bar Ḥama bar Ḥasa said: the Jewish people actually stood beneath the mountain, and the verse teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, overturned the mountain above the Jews like a tub, and said to them: If you accept the Torah, excellent, and if not, there will be your burial. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: From here there is a substantial caveat to the obligation to fulfill the Torah. The Jewish people can claim that they were coerced into accepting the Torah, and it is therefore not binding. Rava said: Even so, they again accepted it willingly in the time of Ahasuerus, as it is written: “The Jews [re]affirmed, and took upon themselves, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them” (Esther 9:27), and he taught: The Jews [re]affirmed what they had already taken upon themselves via coercion at Sinai.

Ten things were created on the eve of the [first] Sabbath at twilight, and these are they: [1] the mouth of the earth [that swallowed Korach and his band], [2] the mouth of the well [that followed Miram], [3] the mouth of the donkey [that spoke to Bilaam], [4] the rainbow [in the time of Noah], [5] the manna, [6] the staff [of Moses], [7] the shamir [a tool used in the building of King Solomon's Temple], [8] the letters, [9] the writing, [10] and the tablets [all of the Ten Commandments]. And some say: also the demons, the grave of Moses, and the ram of our father Abraham [that he slaughtered instead of Isaac]. And some say: and also tongs, made with tongs.

(10) This occasioned the sages to say that all miracles which deviate from the natural course of events, whether they have already occurred, or, according to promise, are to take place in the future, were fore-ordained by the Divine Will during the six days of creation, nature being then so constituted that those miracles which were to happen really did afterwards take place. Then, when such an occurrence happened at its proper time, it may have been regarded as an absolute innovation, whereas in reality it was not.

Rabbi Alexandri said that Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: Greater is the miracle performed for the sick person than the miracle that was performed for Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were rescued from the fiery furnace (see Daniel, chapter 3), as in the miracle of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah they were rescued from the fire of a layman, and anyone is capable of extinguishing it. And that fire afflicting a sick person with a fever is the fire of Heaven, and who can extinguish it?

You perform many miracles and wonders for us every day and no man knows.

Then who does know? -- You, O Lord. Rabbi Eleazar ben Pedat said: "See what is written: 'To Him who does great wonders alone' -- He alone knows. And what is written thereafter? 'To Him who divided the Sea of Reeds asunder' -- the piece of bread [i.e., livelihood (a play on words)] is equal in importance to the sea, which was divided asunder. Just as the world cannot do without the piece of bread, so it is not possible for the world to do without miracles and wonders.

How are we to envisage this? A man is lying on a bed, and a serpent is on the ground before him. When he seeks to rise, the serpent becomes aware of him. When he is about to put his feet on it, the serpent flees from him. And the man does not know what wonders the Holy One, blessed be He, performs for him.

The Gemara asks: What is [the basis or origin of] Hanukkah, and why are lights kindled on Hanukkah? The Gemara answers: The Sages taught in Megillat Ta’anit: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev, the days of Hanukkah are eight. One may not eulogize on them and one may not fast on them. What is the reason? When the Greeks entered the Sanctuary they defiled all the oils that were in the Sanctuary by touching them. And when the Hasmonean monarchy overcame them and emerged victorious over them, they searched and found only one cruse of oil that was placed with the seal of the High Priest, undisturbed by the Greeks. And there was sufficient oil there to light the candelabrum for only one day. A miracle occurred and they lit the candelabrum from it eight days. The next year the Sages instituted those days and made them holidays with recitation of hallel and special thanksgiving prayer.

You, in great mercy, stood by Your people in time of trouble. You defended them, vindicated them, avenged their wrongs, delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, and the many into the hands of the few, and the corrupt into the hands of the pure of heart, and the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the arrogant into the hands of those occupied in Your Torah. You have generated a great name and holiness for Yourself in Your world, and provided a great salvation and deliverance for your people Israel even to this day. Then Your children came into Your shrine, cleansed Your Temple, purified Your sanctuary, and kindled lights in Your sacred courts. And they set aside these eight days of dedication [of Hannukah] in order to give thanks and praise to Your great name.

[We thank You] for the miracles, and for the deliverance, and for the heroic acts, and for the salvations, and for the wars that you performed for our ancestors in those days, in this season [and in this time (of history)].

Our Father Who is in heaven,

Rock and Redeemer of Israel,

bless the State of Israel -- [that it may be] the beginning of the flowering of our Redemption.

We are thankful to You that You Lord are our God and the God of our ancestors forever; Rock of our lives, You are the Shield of our deliverance in every generation. We will give thanks to You and recount Your praise, for our lives that are committed into Your hand, and for our souls which are entrusted to You, and for Your miracles that every day are with us, and for Your wonders and benefactions at all times— evening, morning and afternoon. (You are) The Beneficent One— for Your compassion is never withheld; And (You are) the Merciful One— for Your kindliness never ceases; we have always placed our hope in You.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who formed man with wisdom and created within him openings and hollow organs. It is obvious and known in the presence of Your glorious throne that if one of them were ruptured, or if one of them were blocked, it would be impossible to exist and stand in Your Presence even for a short while. Blessed are You, Lord, Who heals all flesh and performs wonders.

On the first night:

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.