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6 | DECEMBER 14 • 2023 J
N
opinion
This Chanukah: A Different Kind of Miracle
C
hanukah feels dif-
ferent this year. The
vanquishing of our
enemies that occurred in
the days of the Maccabees
during their
war against the
Greeks seems
distant this
Chanukah.
As we light
our flickering
candles, still
shrouded in the
darkness of the
murderous pogrom on the
seventh of October, with 136
hostages from 10 months to
83 years old still being held
in Gaza, and the tragic after-
math of so many fallen, how
can we possibly rejoice and
celebrate this year?
Unlike many other rituals,
the lighting of the Chanukah
candles is accompanied by
two blessings (three on the
first night). Following the
standard blessing for per-
forming a mitzvah, a com-
mandment, one recites the
blessing of She’asa Nissim,
giving thanks to God for
the miracles performed “in
those days, at this time.”
Yet, if we carefully examine
the formulation appear-
ing in Rambam’s Mishneh
Torah (Hilchot Megillah
v’Chanuka 3:1), we will
notice that some of
the manuscripts have a
slightly different version,
which reads “bayamim
hahem uvizman hazeh,”
which translates as “in those
days and at this time.” With
the addition of a single let-
ter vav, these editions of
Rambam offer an entirely
new meaning to this bless-
ing: that just as miracles took
place long ago, miracles con-
tinue to surround us in every
generation to the present day.
This year, inspired by
the miracles to which we
have all been witnesses, I
will be adopting the alter-
nate version of the text, to
give thanks for the wonders
all around us, “bayamim
hahem uvizman hazeh,” “in
those days and at this time.”
Indeed, these have been
unimaginably difficult weeks
for the families of the mur-
dered and the kidnapped, for
the fallen, wounded and the
displaced, for the soldiers
serving in every corner of
this country, and for all of
Am Yisrael. But even within
this darkness, the light of
PURELY COMMENTARY
Rabbi
Dr. Kenneth
Brander
Times of
Israel