What Makes it a Miracle . . .
The eight-day holiday of Passover is not over yet. So keep munching on that matzah!
In fact, this Monday celebrates, perhaps, the greatest miracle our nation has ever witnessed – the wondrous splitting of the Rea Sea.
Let us take a step back and analyze the concept of a ‘miracle’:
The rising of the sun every morning is no less miraculous than was the splitting of the Red Sea. For if the sea were to split every day at noon, we would call it a natural phenomenon. And conversely, if the sun were to have risen once in world history, we would label it a miracle.
The holy Baal Shem Tov (17th century founder of Chassidism) once put it thus: “The difference between a miracle and a natural event is only its frequency.” In other words a natural occurrence is merely a repeated miracle that we have become familiar with.
Having this frame of mind can change our perspective on so many of life’s routines. Instead of viewing our daily schedules as a state from which we try to escape to a ‘fantasy’ world, we can begin to appreciate every nuance of life as a genuine gift and miracle from G‑d.
Let us therefore utilize these final days of Passover to latch onto and express the infinite potential imbedded within every miraculous moment of our lives.
Shabbat Shalom & a Happy Passover,
Rabbi Raleigh Resnick