When lighting the Chanukah candles, we recite two blessings: the first for the very commandment of lighting the candles, and the second for the miracles that God performed "for our ancestors, in those days at this time." This year, these words take on a particularly topical meaning.<\/p>\r\n
As in 'the old days,' we too are fighting the enemy that has risen up against us; and as happened then, God, the Holy One, is performing mighty miracles for us too.<\/p>\r\n
We see with our own eyes the combination of human actions and divine miracles. When Jews rise up and fight with dedication, they receive divine assistance on a scale that was unimaginable in advance.<\/p>\r\n
The hallucination became reality.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n If you had asked a year and a half ago all the experts and commentators who fill the screens, the airwaves, and the pages of newspapers - whether we have the power to collapse the axis of evil, which stretches from Iran through Yemen and Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to the Gaza Strip - they would have told you that it was a delusion. Even the United States preferred to avoid effective activity against Iran.<\/p>\r\n Today, we increasingly understand what a noose Iran has built around us. It has poured unimaginably huge investments into building vast underground infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and more. It has trained and armed our enemies, who were initially quite primitive terrorist organizations, and has given them intelligence and operational capabilities on a state level.<\/p>\r\n As our forces uncover and destroy these infrastructures and reveal their extent, it is impossible not to think about what might have happened if our enemies had launched a combined attack by all of them together. In fact, it is better not to think, because the massacre on Simchat Torah last year would have paled in comparison to what could have happened, had it not been for it.<\/p>\r\n But then we went out to fight our enemies with unparalleled dedication and sacrifice, and we see the chain of miracles unfolding before our eyes.<\/p>\r\n The entire world acknowledges that the promise of the Torah is fulfilled in us: "For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give your enemies before you." Just as in the days of the Hasmoneans, the Holy One, blessed be He, grants us glorious victories that change the entire face of the Middle East.<\/p>\r\n The combination of nature and miracle<\/strong><\/p>\r\n There is a very important and interesting point here: indeed, one does not rely on miracles. One must weigh rational considerations and correctly assess reality and the balance of power. And yet, one cannot be enslaved to 'pragmatism' and see it as the be-all and end-all, because then one may succumb more and more to external pressures and descend from one low to the next.<\/p>\r\n If the Hasmoneans had only put pragmatic considerations before their eyes, the rebellion would not have broken out. What chance did a handful of warriors have against the mighty army of the Greek Empire? Although the Hasmoneans made military plans and prepared for battles, the main force that motivated them was their faith in the Creator of the world and his teachings, and their determination not to surrender to the Greeks.<\/p>\r\n And as in those days, it also becomes clear in this time that when Jews stand by their faith with determination and self-sacrifice, a miracle occurs, and God, the Almighty, stands at their right hand and grants them a glorious victory.<\/p>\r\n Our soldiers fight with the power of faith, and the beautiful words of the Psalms of Israel are fulfilled in them: \"We will camp in the name of the Lord our God, we will remember. They have been crushed and fallen, but we will rise and be encouraged.' Happy Hanukkah!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u05d0\u05e0\u05d5 \u05e8\u05d5\u05d0\u05d9\u05dd \u05d1\u05de\u05d5 \u05e2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5 \u05d0\u05ea \u05d4\u05e9\u05d9\u05dc\u05d5\u05d1 \u05d1\u05d9\u05df \u05de\u05e2\u05e9\u05d9 \u05d4\u05d0\u05d3\u05dd \u05dc\u05d1\u05d9\u05df \u05d4\u05e0\u05e1 \u05d4\u05d0\u05dc\u05d5\u05e7\u05d9: \u05db\u05e9\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d3\u05d9\u05dd \u05e7\u05de\u05d9\u05dd \u05d5\u05e0\u05dc\u05d7\u05de\u05d9\u05dd \u05d1\u05de\u05e1\u05d9\u05e8\u05ea \u05e0\u05e4\u05e9, \u05d4\u05dd \u05d6\u05d5\u05db\u05d9\u05dd \u05dc\u05e1\u05d9\u05d5\u05e2 \u05d0\u05dc\u05d5\u05e7\u05d9 \u05d1\u05de\u05de\u05d3\u05d9\u05dd \u05e9\u05dc\u05d0 \u05d4\u05d9\u05d4 \u05d0\u05e4\u05e9\u05e8 \u05dc\u05d4\u05e2\u05dc\u05d5\u05ea\u05dd \u05e2\u05dc \u05d4\u05d3\u05e2\u05ea \u05de\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":680328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[138],"tags":[6238],"class_list":["post-952182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-138","tag-6238"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n