Just a Little Miracle
The
lights of Chanukah celebrate a little miracle: After a small band of Jews had
beaten the might of Greece, one small flask of oil for the Menorah was discovered
in the Holy Temple - One small flask, un-defiled by the Greeks... That flask
contained enough oil to last just one short day. But it burned and burned for
eight days... To commemorate that little miracle we kindle the lights of Chanukah
for eight days.
But if you think about it - we should really only light the lights for seven days, because on that first day the lights burned completely naturally - there was enough oil for one day!
So why do we light candles for eight nights - one of those nights was no miracle at all!
That eighth candle we light is for the little miracle called the Jewish People. When Louis the XIV asked Pascal for one piece of evidence of G-d's presence in this world, he replied "The Jews, Your Majesty..."
The survival of the Jewish People is like that one pure flask of oil. It seems so frail. You think it will never survive. But it goes on burning and burning and burning... And the reason it goes on burning is because it is pure.
It's just a little miracle...
