Wednesday, December 17, 2014

A Miracle: Real or Fake… Does it really matter?

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles-
I was afraid that God would frown,
But like he did so long ago, at Jericho,
God just made a wall fall down!
When Moses softened Pharaohs heart, that was a miracle.
When God made the waters of the red sea part, that was a miracle too!
But of all God's miracles large and small,
The most miraculous one of all
Is that out of a worthless lump of clay,
God has made a man today.

Those are the words that are sang by the tailor in the movie Fiddler on the Roof.  The tailor is rejoicing over having been brought together with the woman he wanted to be his wife.  The word miracle here is being used to demonstrate a very human emotion and a very human action.  The tailor and Tevye’s daughter were responsible for their upcoming union.  The tailor and Tevye’s daughter worked very hard at becoming a couple and ultimately securing a future together.  They did not leave it in God’s hands… they made it happen.

 

But lets talk about another movie.  A movie with a one word simple title: Miracle.  In the late 1970s America was depressed. 

The 1970s began with our country still entrenched in the Vietnam War.  In 1970 we invaded Cambodia.  The protests that were happening all across our country were very anti-US policy and created a great divide between the members of our armed forces and our general population.  Members of the military were returning home, often times injured, and were being greeted by very angry civilians who did not cheer their return.

The 1972 Olympics in Munich witnessed the barbaric and tragic murder of innocent Israeli athletes.  But it all witnessed the United States basketball team being defeated by the Soviets.

Watergate took place in the early 70s and this triggered even greater disenchantment with the government. That same government was forced to scale back funding for NASA and thus ending a great source of pride for our country.

In 1975 the US loss the war in Vietnam and was forced to flee in retreat from the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese.

There were oil embargos and the price of gas was through the roof. This only added to the great struggle for the average American who was already contending with very high inflation. The energy industry was a further source of negativity when the Three Mile Island incident occurred and faith in Nuclear power along with faith in the authorities capabilities to keep us safe was greatly shaken.

The 1970s came to a close with the Iranian Revolution and the ensuing hostage crisis involving the American Embassy.  To make matters worse the attempted rescue of the hostages resulted in a number of deaths and a failed mission. 

All of these events produced a very depressed United States of America as the 70s were closing.  The Cold War had been raging since the end of World War II and so while we were divided and suffering here in the US we had one common rallying point and that was the Soviet Union was the enemy.  That is the background that we need to understand the movie Miracle and why I am writing about it today.

As many of you know about me, I am a very serious hockey fan and live and breath it.  But I am in a minority in the US.  Sure in areas like Detroit (my hometown), New York, Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago and other northern cities hockey is an enormous thing.  But the majority of the US is not in those places and thus hockey has not become as entrenched as some of us would like to see.  And yet on February 22nd in the evening our country suddenly was enthralled in this great sport.  The Soviet hockey team was made up of a great number of active military members and almost all played in very elite leagues in the Soviet Union that offered world class training facilities.  Since the 1960 Olympics the Soviet team had gone 27-1-1 and had outscored their opponents 175-44.  They were a force to be reckoned with and we were about to do just that.  To make matters worse at that time the NHL did not send players to play in the Olympics.  Instead our team was made up of great college hockey players.  All of these players played for rival teams and played under varying philosophies of play.  No betting person would have taken a bet that the Americans would win a game between the Soviet Union and ultimately clench the gold medal. 

In the season that this epic battle would take place the USSR team had gone 5-3-1 against NHL teams and had beaten the NHL all-stars 6 to 0.  Leading up to the Olympics the two teams had an exhibition at Madison Square Gardens and the Soviets won 10 to 3.  Certainly there was no way that the Americans would be successful. There was no chance.  All of the odds were stacked against them.  It is for this reason that as the game was coming to a close and Team USA was about to win Al Michaels, the TV announcer, said: “11 seconds, you've got 10 seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles?! YES!!!”  Do you believe in miracles?  Do you believe in miracles?

We need miracles in our world.  But not the grandiose ones that we read of from the biblical times.  We need miracles but not the earth shattering ones that change our entire understanding of science and the laws of nature/physics.  In the past few days we have witnessed tragedies that no author could concoct in his or her head.  We have witnessed horrors that are unimaginable.  First the world was tied to their television sets as an Islamic extremist held hostages and terrorized many innocent people. He also claimed to have bombs planted in places and this added to the fear. Ultimately two innocent people would lose their lives in this incident. Second, as those events unfolded a small community in a suburb of Philadelphia was dealing with a rampage that had left six people dead and one teen in serious condition.  This man killed his ex-wife and killed many of her relatives before killing himself.  He also left his two young daughters orphans as he had murdered their mother and killed himself.  The residents of the area that this all unfolded in were on lockdown for hours and hours.  The terror must have been immense.  And third, as if this all could get worse.  In Pakistan yesterday members of the Taliban, terrorists, broke into a school and murdered 145 people, 132 of which were children.  This disgusting act was justified by the Taliban because these kids could have grown up and become soldiers for Pakistan and could have fought against Islam. 

All of this is against a backdrop of us having just commemorated the two year anniversary of the Newtown massacre where 20 children and 6 staff members were murdered at an elementary school.  So much pain… So much destruction… So much hatred… So much violence.  It is so tragic that God went to such great pains to create humans and this is what we have grown capable of doing.  Yes we need to not only believe in miracles but we need to pray for one. And as I said, not the enormous type but mundane ones.  We need a miracle because look at our world.  It is at this time of year that Jews all around the world spin tops with the Hebrew letters: נ . ג . ה . ש on them.  These letters stand for the the Hebrew words: נס גדול היה שם, a great miracle happened there.  It is at this time of the year that Jews celebrate a miracle that is believed to have happened in the year 165 BCE.  Traditionally we believe that once the Jewish soldiers managed to fight off the the Greek armies they cleansed the Temple and found enough oil to light the sacred menorah for one day and yet the oil lasted for eight days.  This was an enormous miracle and one that historically has a great number of issues.  But we will save that for another time.  For now let us understand the true miracle that our ancestors needed then and we need now.  That is the miracle of תקוה and of אמונה, hope and faith.  Those two values or tenants are constantly under attack from all circles.  In a world filled with sadness and horror it is easy to stop having hope.  In a world where religion is besieged and treated as simple naivety it is easy to succumb to pressure and to lose faith.  It is easy and that is the essence of what we need now.  We need the everyday miracles to be clearly evident.  We need the power of hope to not be lost.  We need to believe that in spite of the horrors we have been exposed to that hope is still there. 

A team of college hockey players ignited an entire country when they managed to triumph over the incredible talents of a well trained national team made up of army soldiers and semi-professional players.  That miracle did not involve God changing the laws of nature or science. It did not require God changing the stance that the goalies took in the goal.  It required humans believing that the cards are not stacked against them and that they could indeed prevail.  All of this is by way of explaining the ritual of lighting the Chanukiyah during these eight days of Chanukah.  We begin with one candle and build towards eight.  As the world is dark at this time of the year for a great deal of each day we do not dwell on the darkness… we gather and bring more light into the world.  That light that we are bringing into the world is the light of faith and the light of hope.  That light is something that we need because without it there will never be any miracles to believe in.  Miracles happen every day around us.  It is upon each and every one of us to open our eyes and see them and what they do for each of us.  The darkness is dense and it is great. But the light and the hope and faith is greater.  Let us work to push darkness away and bring more light out.

 

חג אורים שמח