On Miracles, Revealed and Hidden
On Miracles,
Revealed and Hidden
By Harav Yaaqov
Medan
Translated by
When discussing the Chanuka miracle, we generally view the miracle of the
oil as a revealed miracle and the military victory of as a hidden
miracle. What, however, defines
one miracle as revealed and another as hidden? Furthermore, why was there a need
for the miracle of the oil at all? Would we not have managed without it, either
by permissibly lighting impure oil under the principle of tuma hutra
be-tzibbur or by postponing the lighting for another eight days, after it
had already been interrupted for over three years?
I will try to define the difference between revealed and hidden miracles
with the following strange fictional example.
A Torah-observant Jew was sentenced to death by a regime that outlawed
the performance of mitzvot. While the Jew was being led to the gallows,
the king instructed that a coin toss determine the method for executing this
criminal: heads would mean being burned at the stake, and tails would mean the
guillotine. The coin was tossed and
remained suspended in midair, never
landing. The conclusion drawn based on the kings command was that there was no
preferred method of killing the Jew, and he was subsequently
released.
This is a revealed miracle! There is no natural explanation for why the
coin remained in midair. The rescue of this Jew who kept the mitzvot and
sanctified Gods name overcame the law of gravity, and Gods miracle overcame
nature.
A second case: The wicked king wanted this poor Jew to die a slow and
painful death. He decreed that the coin be flipped one hundred times. Each time
the coin lands on heads, a limb would be severed from the Jew, until he dies.
The coin was flipped a hundred times, and it landed on tails a hundred times.
The Jew was sent home, his body intact, and his mouth singing praise to God for
having performed a hidden miracle.
An uneducated person or one who does not understand the laws of nature
would presumably be more amazed by the first miracle how did this coin defy
the law of gravity? However, anyone who understands even a bit of mathematics
will be impressed sevenfold by the latter miracle. After all, the chances of
tossing a hundred straight heads are two to the hundredth power. One has a
better chance of selecting one particular grain of sand from all of the worlds
beaches. In other words, a revealed miracle is not always the greater
miracle.
It seems to me that the definition of a revealed miracle should entail
the suspension of familiar laws of nature by a specific object: a coin remains
suspended in midair, a bit of oil burns for eight days, and a pitcher of oil can
be poured out and yet remain full. A hidden miracle is a story spun of many
details, any one of which can be explained naturally. Each time the coin lands
on heads, taken independently, can be explained in a very straightforward
manner; similarly, there is no great wonder when an individual Jewish soldier
prevails in a hand-to-hand battle with his Seleucid rival. However, despite the
fact that each detail of the hidden miracle can be explained independently, the
big picture that emerges from the collection of details is inexplicable. The
combination of details cannot be coincidental, and must be explained. The fact
that the coin fell on heads one hundred consecutive times, thereby saving the
Jew from the kings decree, or the complete victory of the small, weak Hasmonean
army over the strong Seleucid army time and again until the Temple could be
purified, typify this sort of miracle. The victory was comprised of a thousand
details, each of which can be explained independently, but when taken together
indicate a miracle a hidden miracle.
Revealed miracles can be discerned by
what they lack: the natural order fades away. A hidden miracle is identifiable
by what it has: a clear direction and objective such as the salvation of
Israel.
*
*
*
The general principle is that when a
miracle is required to rescue Israel (since the salvation seemingly cannot come
about through the natural order), a hidden miracle will suffice, and God need
not suspend actual laws of nature. Revealed miracles, however, are a different
matter. It seems that revealed miracles are not designed to rescue Israel, but
rather to communicate with them. Specifically at a time when prophecy had ceased
because of Israels sins, miracles became the special manner in which God spoke
with His nation the type of communication that clearly indicates that it is
not just another coincidence, but a real message, without faחade and without
concealment.
During the purification of the Temple,
there was a need to hear from God, but prophecy had ceased. The prophets
question, Why do I need your abundance of sacrifice, and his call, Stop
bringing these vain gifts; incense is abominable to me, continued to
reverberate, emerging from the spiritual state of the people while cleansing the
Temple. The Hasmoneans were a tiny minority compared with those who accepted,
even begrudgingly, the decrees of the Seleucid ruler and his culture. Would God
want, in this environment, thousands of rams and rivulets of oil? Was there a
chance that a violent, bloody revolution would truly change the situation of the
nation? Would Gods Presence return to a Temple tainted by the sins of the
Kohanim and the people, in addition to foreigners? Would a burnt-offering
still appease when brought on the same altar that a woman from a prestigious
family of Kohanim, Miriam bat Bilga, kicked with her sandal? Was God
prepared to embrace His people again, much as the prophet Hoshea embraced Gomer
bat Divlayim, his wayward wife?
The miracle of the oil may be
explained as an almost direct statement by God to the nation of Israel that He
approves of the actions of the Hasmoneans and has returned His Presence to the
profaned Temple. When Moshes Mishkan was inaugurated, Moshe, Aharon, and
the entire nation anticipated seeing whether God desired their project. The
answer came in the form of a Divine fire that descended and consumed the burnt
offerings and fats on the altar on the eighth day. Similarly, King Shlomo
expected a fire to descend from the heavens, and prayed that God show His favor
toward Shlomos Temple, saying: God, do not turn away from the face of your
anointed; remember the love of David, your servant. When the fire descended
from the heavens, everyone knew, according to Chazal, that Davids sins in the
episode of Uriah and Bat-Sheva had been forgiven.
During the inauguration of the Second
Temple, there was no heavenly fire, and everyone was chastened by the lack of
the Divine Presence. When the Hasmoneans inaugurated the Temple, the miracle of
the lights expressed a type of heavenly fire, an indication from God that He
approved of His nation and the actions of its servants, the Kohanim of
the Hasmonean clan. Although the miracle was not strictly necessary, it
communicated to the people Gods pleasure with their path.