Two centuries before the birth of Christ, Judah Maccabee led a revolt of Jews against Greco-Syrian forces to reclaim the city of Jerusalem and reoccupy the Second Temple, a successful revolt against the Seleucid Empire. Everyone knows what followed: that there was only enough oil to provide light for one day, but a miracle from God kept the oil burning for eight days, giving the Maccabees time to find more oil.
As a Jewish child growing up, Hanukkah was my favorite holiday, and I was surprised to discover that it is not one of the most religious holidays on the Jewish calendar, overshadowed by Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Rosh Hashanah (when we pray for God’s mercy for the coming year), Passover (when we pray for the miracle that God has passed us by and freed the Jews from their Egyptian slave masters), and Shavuot (when we commemorate the reception of the Torah). of Allah). But Hanukkah wasn’t my favorite because of the gifts we received each night, but rather because of the miracle itself.
A child lights the Menorah candles with a long match for a Hanukkah celebration. (iStock)
It is one of the most beautiful and important miracles in Jewish history – representing light over darkness, strength and courage and perseverance over weakness and capitulation. To this day, people from all over the world come to the Western Wall, the remaining wall of that temple in Jerusalem, and pray to God, leaving little messages of hope and prayer, believing that God will hear us and answer.
Today I must ask God to answer my prayer that the devastating, ISIS-inspired, terror-driven attack on Jews on Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Australia, which left at least fifteen people dead, may be answered.
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Let this horrific event be a warning to the world. We pray to God to stem the growing tide of anti-Semitism, a cancer of hatred growing around the world, before it is too late.
We must show Him the strength and courage that the Maccabees showed so many centuries ago to bring the world out of darkness and into light, so that He will see our courage and reward it. We must make ourselves and our world worthy of God’s miracles.
Split of the book cover of Dr. Marc Siegel and “The Miracles Among Us”. (FNC)
As a graduate of Brown University and from a family of three Brown graduates, starting with my father who served in the Navy while at Brown (the famous V-12 program) during World War II, I am also deeply hurt and disturbed by the shootings there last weekend. Brown is an idyllic campus on a hill, deliberately placed outside the city of Providence. It is a close-knit community that shares good cheer and good wishes throughout the school year.
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It is a special place and also worthy of a Hanukkah miracle, as it experiences a newfound vulnerability under the bullets of a gunman.
Two women hold candles during a vigil, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, RI, for those injured or killed in the Dec. 13 shooting on the campus of Brown University. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)
And as Brown tries to come together, so must we all come together, join hands and ask God for a healing miracle.
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May He suppress the forces of darkness everywhere.
May He bring us all into the light.
May He bind up our wounds and heal us.
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