From our Chabad friends in Fla:
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| Finding G-d in the Miracles We Overlook |
| So what will happen with Iran? Will President Trump allow them to maintain a nuclear project for “peaceful purposes,” or none at all? Can we count on the U.S. to fight for Israel’s interests? What was Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu referring to in his speech this week when he said, “If we need to stand alone, we shall stand alone. If we need to fight with our fingernails, we shall fight with our fingernails. But we will not relent”? If that’s true, where do we Jews go from here?
We can find great comfort in the Torah’s promise: at the end of this current era, just before the arrival of Moshiach and the beginning of the final redemption, we will experience miracles even greater than those witnessed during the Biblical Exodus from Egypt. If we cannot rely on POTUS, we have nothing to fear—because G-d will be there to catch us. But there’s one catch: We need to open our hearts to believe in G-d’s Divine protection over us, to ensure that He unleashes his miracles upon us. The Rebbe made this point abundantly clear on the anniversary of his 71st birthday, April 13, 1973, when he said: “When one starts his day with a foundation of belief in miracles, this faith then permeates every aspect of the day, and thus the entire day will be infused with miracles. And just as the Exodus was in the merit of the faith of our ancestors in G-d, the same thing will happen again now.” The current month of Nissan—the month of Passover and the first month of the Jewish year—infuses the entire year with a miraculous nature. When we recognize the Divine providence and miracles within nature, and certainly when we recognize open miracles, this awareness paves the way to the complete and final redemption, when the wonders of the final redemption will eclipse even the wonders of the Biblical Exodus from Egypt. Admittedly, this is not easy to achieve. Human nature accustoms us to take repetitive gifts for granted. When amazing things happen, we often convince ourselves that it’s nothing more than “luck” or “coincidence.” Living with awareness is one of the most difficult challenges. But it’s well worth the effort when we consider what’s at stake. It becomes a lot easier to sense the hidden hand of G-d when we see unexplainable events of good fortune all around us. Do you recall how the helicopter of the murderous president of Iran mysteriously crashed from a clear sky just one year ago, on May 19, 2024? Just before Pesach last year, Iran launched two massive missile attacks on Israel. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the aerial attack comprised more than 180 ballistic missiles—the largest single ballistic missile attack ever recorded. Yet, amazingly, not a single missile caused significant damage or loss of Jewish life. Albert Einstein famously said: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” The Rebbe teaches that everything that happens to us is either an open miracle from G-d or a hidden one. This is why we recite a special blessing before eating: “Bah-rookh ah-tah ah-doh-noi eh-loh-hay-noo meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm When I was recently in Santa Monica, California, I met Peter Himmelman, son-in-law of Bob Dylan and an active member of the local Chabad community. When I asked him what had prompted his spiritual journey, he shared this story with me: It was late one night while he was learning with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, a veteran Chabad educator in Crown Heights, New York. Admiring oil paintings of shtetl life and the Rebbe, Peter asked, “What’s the deal with those pictures of the Rebbe? They seem cultish to me.” Simon replied that he liked the pictures, viewing the Rebbe as an inspiring grandfather figure. He explained that Tzadikim (righteous people) do not seek personal gain; they live solely to serve others and are able to achieve extraordinary things. Skeptically, Peter asked, “Can they fly?” Simon answered, “I’ve never seen anyone fly, but for a Tzadik (saintly person), flying is no greater a miracle than walking.” |
| Singer-Songwriter Peter Himmelman’s Miracle Message |
| Each day in our prayers, we declare:
“Every living being shall praise G-d” The Rebbe points out that in Hebrew, the word for “soul” (neshama) shares a root with the word for “breath” (neshima). Hence, King David’s words can be understood as a call for us to thank G-d for every single breath we breathe! Imagine living your life with that level of awareness. Imagine infusing your prayers with that consciousness. It would make them so personal, so real, and so uplifting! There’s a beautiful story that brings this home:
When the teacher asked, “Are you having trouble?” she replied, “Yes, I can’t quite make up my mind because there are so many.” “Well,” the teacher said, “tell us what you have, and maybe we can help you.” The young girl hesitated, then began to read her list: “The seven wonders of the world are: to see, to hear, to touch, to taste, to feel, to laugh, to love.” The room grew so silent you could hear a pin drop. During the Seder, we read in the Haggadah that “in every generation and in every day, a Jew must see himself as if he personally escaped from Egypt.” Miracles are not reserved only for the distant past. Now is the time to brace ourselves for the greatest miracles our people have ever seen! So whether it’s your money or the military of the mujahadeen, your personal health, or the threat of Hamas—divest yourself of anxiety. Open your heart and invite G-d into every circumstance. Because when G-d enters the scene, that’s when miracles happen! Wishing you a Shabbos of clarity, faith, and seeing the miracles all around us,
Rabbi Dovid & Chana Vigler |
| © 2025 Rabbi Dovid Vigler. All rights reserved. |
