Everywhere we look there are festive decorations dangling from doorways and treetops, shop fronts and billboards, holiday melodies fill the airwaves, or play in our local coffee shops and grocery stores. It’s almost impossible not to get swept up in the revelry, and we should celebrate! Celebration, after all, is the greatest expression of our joy and gratitude.

According to Kabbalah, Chanukah is a cosmic opening, a portal that opens for eight days, where the “concealed Light” is revealed and is available for us all, where all blessings can come to fruition. We restrict happiness and goodness from coming to us through our actions, our behavior, and any negativity that we do, but the good news is we can reveal all types of blessings and miracles that are intended for us through a shift in consciousness.

There’s a great parable that illustrates the power of Chanukah…

There was once a great kabbalist who asked people who came to him with their problems to write down their names and the difficulties they were facing on a piece of paper. The sage would then meditate on what had been written.

One day, a man came to the kabbalist with two pieces of paper: one was his and the other was his friend’s. First, he gave his paper, then his friend’s, which the kabbalist looked at and said, “I see that this man’s soul is shining with tremendous Light.” He meditated on the friend’s name and prayed for him.

A few months later, the same man returned to the kabbalist. Again, he presented the kabbalist with both his name and that of his friend for the kabbalist to pray and meditate on. But this time when the kabbalist looked at the friend’s name, he literally threw it out of his hands, shouting, “How could you bring me this man’s name? He’s such a negative person. I don’t even want his name in my house!”

The man was shocked, “I’m very confused. A few months ago, I gave you the very same name and you told me that his soul was shining with tremendous Light. Now you tell me that he’s a terribly negative person. How can this be?”

The kabbalist thought for a few moments, and said, “I understand what happened. A few months ago when you first came in with that person’s name, he was lighting the candles for Chanukah. When a person lights the candles on Chanukah, no matter how negative he is and no matter how many negative actions he’s done, the Light of Chanukah shines in his soul. Unfortunately, your friend didn’t continue that connection with the Light when Chanukah was over. He gave it up, and now I see the true darkness in his soul.”

Chanukah is synonymous with miracles, and we have 8 days allotted to revealing them. But what is a miracle? And how do we understand and classify what a miracle is? According to Wikipedia, a miracle is a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is considered to be divine, or to put it another way, it is a highly improbable or extraordinary event, development, or accomplishment. Albert Einstein famously said that there are only two ways to live our lives; one is as though nothing is a miracle, and the other is as though everything is a miracle.

Part of our problem is that we want to understand everything in life, we want all the answers, and very often we doubt when a miracle occurs because it is outside of our realm of logic. But that’s just the thing we need to create miracles!

We need to believe in the “impossible”; we need to believe that anything and everything is possible, and in order to do that, our view of the world has to change.  Once we change our perspective, and go beyond what we think makes sense, as well as appreciate the miracle of everyday life, that is when miracles will overflow into our lives.

Albert Einstein said another clever thing—he was indeed a brilliant man—only a life lived for others is worth living.

The purpose of creating miracles in all of our lives is not merely done for the miracle’s sake; it is for our sake, so that we are able to awaken our certainty and become a channel for the miraculous. The more we can reveal miracles, not only for ourselves, but for the world at large, the more fulfilled and our lives will become.

If we can commit to strengthen and transform our consciousness every day, that is how we will live a truly fulfilled life. The gift of Chanukah is that it’s the one holiday when we don’t have any work to do at all, just light the candles to draw in all the blessings and miracles we desire for the rest of the year. But if we push a little harder, and go against our nature, that can only benefit us further. It’s up to us. Miracles are within our reach, we simply need to light the way for each other!

THOUGHTS TO ACTION:

Think about something you truly want to manifest in your life, and put your thoughts into action. Find your appreciation in the every day miracles. Watch the sunset. Watch the sunrise. Help reveal miracles. Volunteer in your community – food drives, clothes drives, toy drives, soup kitchens, or maybe even mentor a child – the opportunities for miracles are everywhere. It’s up to you to take action.