סֵפֶר שֶעָשָה נִסִים
Compiled and written by Rav Rahmiel Drizin
Hakdama – Introduction
Hakdama IntroductionWe are so fortunate to move to yet another special area in our Jewish Life cycleof organic time. For just as the Northern Hemisphere becomes its mostphysicallly dark, we Jews each become beacons of light, dignifying the darkwith 8 nights of light, nights in praise of Nissim/miracles. For the Baal ShemTov, the founder of the Hassidic movement, Hanukah was his “favorite” holiday– for Hanukah is the holiday of light, a light that fills the soul and warms theheart.We praise the miracles when we light, we praise the miracles in the addition tothe after-blessing for bread and the Amidah, we praise the miracles by therecitation of the full Hallel each day. We therefore are taking a “short course”in miracles just in fulfilling our halakhic daily requirements for Hanukah.It appears to me with the help of Heaven, that a more expanded Course inMiracles is required. Two years ago in Sefer Yair Panav Elecha veYechunekha,we daily meditated on one of the 13 Attributes of Mercy and derived personalmeaning from them. Last year, in Sefer BeHallel uveHodot we againconcentrated on the first blessing of the candle lighting ceremony, this timecontemplating the Sefirot from Binah to Malkut, one each day. This year inSefer She’asah Nissim, as will be explained, we turn our attention to the 2ndblessing, now focusing on the previous energies in reverse order, from Malkutto Binah, reflecting on the miracles in our life related to the Sefirot.
Our Sages established these eight days to express praise and thanks to Gd’s
great Name [from Al HaNassim addition], so it behooves us to make it personal,
to look within and to express praise and thanks to Gd for the miracles in our
life. To this extent, we with the help of adapted writings from various Internet
sources, will explore the nature of miracle as they appear in our 24/7 on this
amazing earth plain.
Some may wish to bypass these readings, and to go to the section on Mystical
Miracle Musings towards the end of this document.
What is the Jewish standpoint on miracles?
How important or unimportant is miraculous phenomena to the Jewish believer? Perhaps we
should rephrase the question in the opposite manner: “What is the Jewish standpoint on
nature? or How important or unimportant is natural phenomena to the Jewish believer?”
Gd manages every aspect of creation at every given moment. There are no rules He must
follow. There are no forces He must contend with. All is in His hands
Nonetheless, He chose to create a system called “nature.” An arrangement of fixed rules. An
order of causes and effects. Why did he create nature? In order to conceal His identity and
hide His footprints. He wanted a world in which things would appear as if they run on their
own, and thus, force Man to discover G‑d on his own. In fact, the very word for nature in
Hebrew, “tevah,” also translates as “sunk.” Nature is G‑d’s way of submerging His presence
under a sea of scientific laws and patterns. And Man is a deep-sea diver given the task of
finding G‑d’s hand which lurks behind the veil of nature.
And so, life is very similar to a game of “Hide and Go Seek.” But every now and then, G‑d
emerges from His hiding place and breaks through the self-imposed shackles of nature. The
sea is split. A scientific rule is broken. Mother Nature is proven wrong. Perhaps, a child is
cured from an incurable disease. Or our nation is saved from a seemingly hopeless situation.
And it is through these supernatural events that we realize that nature too is merely a creation
of G‑d.
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