Good evening and 'Hanukkah Sameach! With Hashem's help, let us discuss a topic related to 'Hanukkah, in the spirit of the Parashiot we read during this period.

The war of the Greeks against Israel aimed to darken the eyes of Israel. It was not a physical war like Purim, where Haman wanted to exterminate all the Jews. Under the Greeks, whoever wanted to become Hellenized could go on living.

This idea is already alluded to in the second verse of the Torah.

But what is our hope? The verse continues: "And the spirit of G-d hovered over the waters" — this is King Mashiach! After the exile of Rome, Mashiach will come.

Facing this attempt to darken the eyes of Israel, we celebrate 'Hanukkah: we kindle lights. This is the very essence of the Mitzvah of 'Hanukkah.

We also say Hallel, and in the Amidah we add 'Al Hanissim': "That You performed for our fathers in those days, at this time."

We must be spiritually sensitive enough to feel that Hashem performs miracles for us also at this time. Every minute that we breathe is in fact a miracle.

But we do not truly live with this awareness. We fail to grasp that everything is a miracle; we need a great miracle to feel it. Yet every moment the Holy One blessed be He creates is a miracle in itself.

The Greeks entered the Temple and made all the oil vessels impure, so the Menorah could not be lit in the Beit Hamikdash.

But as the Talmud reports (Shabbat 21b), they 'missed' a small flask of oil sealed with the seal of the Kohen Gadol, holding enough oil for a single day. A miracle occurred: the oil lasted eight days.

In Parashat Vayeshev, after the brothers pulled Yosef out of the pit.

Yet Yosef was in complete distress: sold, separated from his father, going down to Egypt as a slave. What could the smell matter? Precisely: with every breath he would say, "How is there no bad smell? Hashem is doing a chesed with me!"

David takes his sling and throws a stone that strikes Goliath right in the forehead. Let us read the text carefully.

Goliath was about 3 meters tall. Had he fallen backward, David would have had to walk 6 meters or more to cut off his head. Hashem made him fall forward, at David's feet: a message — "I am with you!"

Hashem's presence is revealed in small things. There will always be something different from nature, so we know that He is here.

Example: you arrive late, rushed, certain you will find no parking. Suddenly a car pulls out and you slip in. That is a wink from Hashem: "I am with you."

At night, before sleep, we recite the Shema and place our soul in deposit.