Based on the teachings of The Lubavitcher Rebbe, ZT'L

To plant a seed is an act of faith.

After all, the farmer takes a supply of perfectly good grain and dumps it in the ground, to spoil and decompose—all in the hope that, many months later, the earth will reward his toil and expense with a profitable return.

It is for this reason that the Talmud associates the first section of the Mishnah, the section which summarizes the Torah's agricultural laws, with the concept of "faith." The Jewish farmer, explains the Talmud, "believes in He Who sustains the world, and therefore sows."1

A String of Miracles

One may ask: but are there no farmers who are atheists? Aren't the consistent patterns and cycles of nature trustworthy enough to justify the investment?

But this is precisely the Talmud's point. To the Jew, there is no such thing as "nature" per se. In fact, there is no intrinsic difference between the phenomena we perceive as "natural" and that which has been termed as "supernatural" and "miraculous." When we witness a direct involvement on the part of G-d in the affairs of man, we call this a "miracle." But a natural occurrence is exactly the same thing. For nothing exists or occurs independently of G-d's express desire and involvement, nor does the Almighty act by the means of any intermediary forces or systems. The only reason we distinguish between the "natural" and the "miraculous" is that, on the whole, the Almighty chooses to affect our reality in a systematic and patterned manner, resulting in what we call the "laws of nature" and the illusion of predictability. The "laws" of nature are illusory because any prediction that is based upon them is validated only when G-d chooses to continue to sustain the world in a manner that is consistent with a particular pattern. In truth, however, if tomorrow the sun were to rise in the west and water were begin to flow uphill, this would be no more or less "miraculous" than today's natural reality. The fact that G-d has consistently chosen to create and sustain a world in which the sun rises in the east and water flows downhill, in no way compels (or even makes it more probable) that He will continue to do so.

If tomorrow the sun were to rise in the west and water were begin to flow uphill, this would be no more or less "miraculous" than today's natural reality.

Thus, one who plows his field and scatters his grain because he trusts in a set of "proven" natural laws is relying on an empty illusion. The Jew, however, knows that nature is simply a sequence of "miracles." He knows that in every instant of time the Creator brings the entirety of existence—including his field and grain, the very substance of time and space, and the "laws" of nature and logic—into being. He knows that G-d is the exclusive Cause of every phenomenon, and that the sole relationship between a natural "cause" and the subsequent "effect" is that G-d chooses to first cause the one and then cause the other. So why does the Jew sow? Because he trusts in the Almighty as the "Sustainer of the World." Because G-d told him: "You shall sow your field... prune your vineyard, and gather its yield" (Leviticus 25:3) and that these activities will serve as the conduit through which he receives his sustenance from the supreme Sustainer of all. The same is true of every act and decision in which he "relies" on the precedents established by the natural order.

The miracle of Chanukah included miracles, wonders, and salvations.

Three Modes of Involvement

G-d employs a "natural" pattern in creating and sustaining the world in order to conceal His omnipresent truth, thereby creating an environment in which free choice is possible and the attainments of man are challenging and meaningful. In fact, the Hebrew word for world, olam, means "concealment." Our world is a system which is governed by laws and axioms whose apparent consistency and predictability conceal its Divine essence.

The challenge presented by this concealment is that we should penetrate it; that we should discern the guiding hand of G-d in the events and experiences which befall us; that despite the obscuring veil of nature, we should learn to recognize the Divine purpose in everything we encounter and to develop and utilize it accordingly.

To assist us in this task, G-d, at certain points of history, temporarily suspends the concealment: suddenly, we are confronted with a "supernatural" event, an event which demolishes the illusion which has numbed our spiritual vision. On a lesser scale, each one of us is blessed with wondrous and amazing experiences in the course of his life; experiences which, although the committed skeptic could attribute them to chance and coincidence, are virtual eye-openers to the Divine guiding hand in our lives.

Ultimately, however, if we probe and scrutinize each event and phenomenon we encounter, the concealment of nature will dissipate entirely, and the most ordinary and commonplace aspects of creation will reveal themselves for what they truly are: a powerful and poignant attestation to the all-pervading truth of its Creator.

Miracles, Wonders and Salvations

For eight days we celebrate the festival of Chanukah, reliving the miraculous events which befell our forefathers some 23 centuries ago: the victory of a handful of loyal Jews over the mighty Greek armies; the discovery of a single untainted cruse of olive oil for the menorah in the recaptured Holy Temple; the burning of this oil—sufficient to keep the menorah's lamps alight for but a single day—but lasting for the full eight days needed to obtain new, pure oil.

To mark these miracles, we kindle our menorahs every evening of the festival. After the lighting, we proclaim: "We light these flames... in order to thank and praise Your Great Name for Your miracles, Your wonders and Your salvations."

The miracle of Chanukah included displays of Divine power in all three above-mentioned categories. There were, of course, the nature-defeating "miracles"—a small band of Jews defeating the mightiest army of the time; a small amount of oil burning eight times longer than its natural properties allowed. On Chanukah we also mark the many "wonders" which occurred at that time: for example, after the Greeks had contaminated everything in the Holy Temple with their pagan activities, a single cruse of oil was found in a niche in the ground with an unbroken seal that attested to its purity. Many other "wondrous" events are recorded in the story of Chanukah—events which, although by a supreme stretch of the imagination one could describe them as coincidence, clearly point to G-d's active involvement in history.

One who plows his field and scatters his grain because he trusts in a set of "proven" natural laws is relying on an empty illusion.

Thirdly, the story of Chanukah includes purely "natural" events. In fact, the entire Maccabee rebellion began with one such event: a group of Greek soldiers came to the Judean village of Modi'in, built an altar in the village square, and ordered the Jews to offer a swine to a Greek idol. Mattisyahu the Hashmona'i and his sons attacked the soldiers and drove them from the village. They then took to the Judean hills where, joined by others, they began the battle to free the Holy Land from the Greek tyrant and the enforced Hellenization he had imposed upon the Jewish people.

There was nothing miraculous or even "wondrous" about this brave resistance on the part of the Hashmona'i family against a few soldiers in an isolated mountain village. Obviously, the skirmish could have gone either way, but can't one say that they "happened" to win? But the Jew knows that this, and the countless similar events which occurred in the course of the Maccabees' battles with the Greeks, are G-d's "salvations." That they succeeded because the Almighty saved them, although His involvement came cloaked in the garments of natural occurrence.

Look Thrice

Therein lies the deeper significance of the words we recite after kindling the menorah on Chanukah: "In order to thank and praise Your Great Name for Your miracles, Your wonders and Your salvations." "Miracles," "wonders," and "salvations" describe a progressive recognition of the Divine reality by man. First, we are to contemplate G-d's "miracles," remembering and marking those open displays of Divine power which have occurred throughout history—events with the power to transform the thinking and behavior of the most cynical skeptic. A more demanding task is to properly assimilate G-d's "wonders": not to close one's eyes to these amazing occurrences; not to squander these glimpses of Divine Providence.

Finally, the message of Chanukah is that one's every success is a "salvation" from G-d; that the sprouting of a stalk from a decaying seed is not "nature" but a specific display of the Almighty's infinite kindness and His constant involvement in our lives as the "Sustainer of the world."

1. Jerusalem Talmud, quoted in the Tosafot commentary on Shabbos 31a.

From Week in Review, by Yanki Tauber, based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. To order or for more information, call 718-774-6448.