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History & Miracles

(The Knesset Menorah, Benno Elkan, 1956) Located in Jerusalem, Israel

Hannukah is here, so happy Hannukah! I want to briefly discuss the whole reason of Hannukah and then segue into a talk about miracles. Hannukah is when the small Jewish army defeated the large army of the Greeks. They were in the Holy Temple and were looking to rededicate the Temple, but they only found one jug of oil with only 1 day's worth but miraculously the oil lasted for 8 days and we celebrate that miracle as well as the military victory. As I said, the purpose of this post is not to discuss that history but rather miracles.


People often ask me how can you be a historian and believe in miracles (being that I am what would be called by the general populace as a 'religious Jew'). It is a fair question given that historians often look at facts and not myths, or attempt to disprove myths. But I think I would retort and ask, how can you be a historian and not believe in miracles? You might perceive something as a fluke, or happenstance, but I view it as a divine interference. Whatever the lens you look at it through, there is no doubt that there are some moments that are very seemingly above nature. An important piece to understand is that miracles do not come about randomly, they come through the natural course of the world. That is to say, a miracle these days is not one where one sees an angel protecting a house from a fire, but rather when it rains over a fire thereby protecting the house. The more one looks for these sorts of events, the more attuned one is to such events. A well-known event that could be described as a miracle, if one wishes to see it as such is the story of the soccer team that was trapped in a cave that was sinking.

Some might argue that one needs faith to believe in miracles, and maybe this is the purpose. Does a historian need to have faith to see them? I do not wish to infringe on anyone's rights, but I believe that what some people call strong will and conviction is some form of faith. A historian should have conviction. Historians without conviction will never be able to educate, inspire or lead the world in a meaningful direction.


I'd like to conclude with a quote from Maimonides who says,

"A miracle cannot prove that which is impossible; it is useful only as a confirmation of what is possible." That is history, proving that which happened, regardless of how we think of it, did. It happened, and if you want to view it as a miracle and such. that is you choice.


Sometimes to really believe history, sometimes we need a bit of other-worldliness to convince us.

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