Are You Seeing the Miracles?

By Rabbi Levi Cunin

A group of college students had a private audience with the Rebbe.  One student asked the Rebbe if he could perform miracles. “This physical, natural world,” the Rebbe explained, “ is not a separate entity from the higher, spiritual world -- rather, it evolves from it. And so, when someone connects to the spiritual world, to the Divine, he can affect things in this physical world in a way that cannot be anticipated.  Every person is given the choice whether or not to connect themselves to the spiritual world.           

“We must make the right choice,” the Rebbe continued, “and use all our strength to live virtuously, to introduce harmony to everyone we meet, to encourage others to increase goodness and defeat evil -- in effect, to make the world a better place.”The Rebbe concluded:  “So, in essence, by inspiring students like yourselves to go into the world and perform good works, yes, we can perform miracles.” 

Do you believe in miracles? To answer this question, we must define what we mean by “miracle.” 

The word is used so often, sometimes for such trivial events, that it has become a cliché. On a superficial level, some people consider a miracle to be simply an unexpected event or a wonderful surprise; for others, however, a miracle is the belief that there has been a supernatural, Divine intervention. People may disagree whether events in their lives are indeed miraculous or can be explained naturally. Some see miracles as a true affirmation of the Divine presence in their lives; a more skeptical person may think of a miracle as an unrealistic hope, something to cling to in the face of life’s harsh realities. 

If we agree that a miracle is a beneficent occurrence that cannot be explained by the laws of nature, then we must first ask the question: What is a natural event? Why wouldn’t any natural event that awes and excites us be considered a miracle? 

Thus the Baal Shemtov taught that the difference between a miracle and an act of nature is only in frequency. Imagine if the sun were to rise only once in our lifetime. Everyone would rush to see it, proclaiming it the most miraculous event they had ever witnessed. But because we experience a sunrise every day, it is not difficult for this daily awesome event be seen as just another ordinary part of our lives. 

There is so much distraction in the daily struggle to survive, with all of life’s responsibilities and obligations, it is easy to ignore the simple miraculous events in our very midst. The very noise of life can easily drown out the underlying sound of what should be most real to us, the wonder, the miracle. Often, the skepticism is not a disbelief in miracles; rather it is simply not taking the time to see and appreciate them. To see a miracle means to expose and appreciate the uncommon within the common, the extraordinary within the ordinary, the Divine within the mundane.


Adopted from teachings of Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneerson by Rabbi Simon Jacobson.

Shabbat Shalom!