A Lion Of Judah Has Passed!

Ariel "Arik" Sharon (1928-2014)

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the death of former Prime Minister Ariel "Arik" Sharon.

He was born on 26 February 1928 in Kfar Malal. At age 10, Sharon entered the Zionist youth movement Hassadeh.

As a young teenager, he first began to take part in the armed night-patrols of his moshav. In 1942 at the age of 14, Sharon joined the Gadna, a paramilitary youth battalion, and later the Haganah, the underground paramilitary force and the Jewish military precursor to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Sharon's unit of the Haganah became engaged in serious and continuous combat from the autumn of 1947, with the onset of the Battle for Jerusalem. Without the manpower to hold the roads, his unit took to making offensive hit-and-run raids on Arab forces in the vicinity of Kfar Malal. In units of thirty men, they would hit constantly at Arab villages, bridges and bases, as well as ambush the traffic between Arab villages and bases.

From the Jewish Virtual Library:

In 1953, he founded and led the “101” special commando unit which carried out retaliatory operations against Palestinian fedayeen. Sharon was appointed commander of a Paratroop Corps in 1956 and fought in the Sinai Campaign. In 1957, he attended the Camberley Staff College in Great Britain.

Between 1958 and 1962, Sharon served as Infantry Brigade Commander and then Infantry School Commander, and then attended Law School at Tel Aviv University. He was appointed Head of the Northern Command Staff in 1964 and Head of the Army Training Department in 1966. He participated in the 1967 Six Day War as commander of an armored division. In 1969 he was appointed Head of the Southern Command Staff.

Sharon resigned from the army in June 1972, but was recalled to active military service in the 1973 Yom Kippur War to command an armored division. He led the crossing of the Suez Canal which helped secure an Israeli victory in the war and eventual peace with Egypt.

Ariel Sharon was elected to the Knesset in December 1973, but resigned a year later, serving as Security Adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1975). He was elected to the Knesset in 1977 on the Shlomzion ticket. Following the elections, he joined the Herut party and was appointed Minister of Agriculture in Menachem Begin's first government (1977-81). One of his priorities was to pursue agricultural cooperation with Egypt.

In 1981, Ariel Sharon was appointed Defense Minister, serving in this post during the Lebanon War, which brought about the destruction of the PLO terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon. In the realm of international relations, he was instrumental in renewing diplomatic relations with the African nations which had broken off ties with Israel during the Yom Kippur War. In November 1981, he brought about the first strategic cooperation agreement with the U.S. and widened defense ties between Israel and many nations. He also helped bring thousands of Jews from Ethiopia through Sudan.

In 1983, Sharon resigned as Defense Minister after a government commission found him indirectly responsible for the September 1982 massacre of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Lebanese Phalangists.

Sharon remained in the government as a minister without portfolio and then served as Minister of Industry and Trade from 1984-90. In this capacity, he concluded the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. in 1985.

In 1998, Ariel Sharon was appointed Foreign Minister and headed the permanent status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

While serving as Foreign Minister, Sharon met with U.S., European, Palestinian and Arab leaders to advance the peace process. He worked mostly to create and advance projects such as the Flagship Water Project funded by the international community to find a long-term solution to the region's water crisis and a basis to peaceful relations between Israel, Jordan, the Palestinians and other Middle Eastern countries.

Following the election of Ehud Barak as Prime Minister in May 1999, Ariel Sharon was called upon to become interim Likud party leader following the resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu. In September 1999, he was elected Chairman of the Likud. He also served as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset.

On September 28, 2000, Sharon made a visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the holiest place in Judaism to emphasize Israel's claim to sovereignty over the Temple Mount. Palestinians maintained that Sharon came with “thousands of Israeli soldiers” and defiled a Muslim holy place, when in fact, Israel's Internal Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami permitted Sharon to visit the Temple Mount only after calling Palestinian security chief Jabril Rajoub and receiving his assurance that if Sharon did not enter the mosques, no problems would arise. Sharon did not attempt to enter any mosques and his 34 minute visit was conducted during normal hours when the area is open to tourists. Palestinian youths — eventually numbering around 1,500 — shouted slogans in an attempt to inflame the situation. Some 1,500 Israeli police were present at the scene to forestall violence.

Following Sharon's Temple Mount visit, the Palestinians, under the direction of Yasser Arafat, launched an unprecendented wave of violence and terror against Israelis, dubbed the “al-Aksa Intifada” by the Palestinians for its association with the al-Aksa Mosque located on the Temple Mount. Palestinian leaders claim that Sharon's visit sparked the violence, but on November 7, 2000, an investigatory committee led by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell was established to determine the causes of the violence and to make recommendations for calming the situation. The Mitchell Report issued in April 30, 2001, concluded “the Sharon visit did not cuase the “al-Aksa intifada.”

In a special election held February 6, 2001, Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister. He presented his government to the Knesset on March 7, 2001. After calling early elections to the 16th Knesset, which were held on January 28, 2003, Ariel Sharon was charged by the president with the task of forming a government and presented his new government to the Knesset on February 27, 2003.

After several years of bloodshed, terror, and stalled peace talks with the Palestinians, Sharon devised a bold plan that would ensure a higher degree of security for Israelis, and improve the lives of Palestinians. While Palestinian terrorism against Israelis was at its peak, and going virtually unchecked by Arafat and other Palestinian leaders, Sharon decided that Israel should act unilaterally to improve its security situation and reduce bloodshed. This plan, known as the disengagement plan, called for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers in the Gaza Strip, as well as the dismantlement of all settlements in the area, including four settlements in northen Samaria. Between August 16 and August 30, 2005, Israel safely evacuated more than 8,500 Israeli settlers and, on September 11, 2005, Israeli soldiers left Gaza, ending Israel's 38-year presence in the area.

The implementation of the disengagement plan was viewed as a success by most of the Israeli public, although it sparked bitter protests from ministers of Sharon's Likud Party, causing a party schism. Facing bitter infighting in Likud, Sharon formally resigned from the party to form a new centrist party, “Kadima,” or “Forward” on November 21, 2005.

Following the Likud Party spilt, Sharon outlined the goals of his new party. One, he said, is to closely follow the United States-backed road map plan for peace with the Palestinians. Sharon declared that there will be no more unilateral withdrawals from the West Bank, and insisted that Palestinian terrorist groups be disarmed and dismantled. The Kadima party platform calls for “maximum security and assuring that Israel be a Jewish national home and that another state that shall arise be demilitarized, with terrorists disarmed.”

In mid-December, 2005, Sharon spent two days in a hospital after suffering a minor stroke, which doctors said caused no irreparable brain damage. However, on January 4, 2006, Sharon was rushed to the hospital following another, more serious stroke. Sharon suffered a massive brain hemorrhage, which caused extensive cerebral bleeding.

Prime Minsterial duties were turned over to Ehud Olmert, who held a cabinet meeting on January 5, 2006, to signal the transfer of power. Olmert was subsequently elected Prime Minister until elections on March 28, 2006.

President George W. Bush said that Sharon was “a man of courage and peace,” and that “on behalf of all Americans, we send our best wishes and hopes to the prime minister and his family.”

“Arik was a brave soldier and a daring leader who loved his nation and his nation loved him. He was one of Israel’s great protectors and most important architects, who knew no fear and certainly never feared vision, He knew how to take difficult decisions and implement them. We all loved him and he will be greatly missed,” Simon Perez.

“The State of Israel bows its head over the passing of former prime minister Ariel Sharon.  His memory will forever be held in the heart of the nation. Sharon played a central role in the struggle for Israel’s security throughout its existence. He was, first and foremost, a courageous fighter and a distinguished general, one of the greatest commanders the IDF has ever known. When he left the military, he continued to act on behalf of the people of Israel, both in the capacity of the many roles he filled in Israel’s successive governments and as the country’s eleventh prime minister,” continued the prime minister. “He will forever be remembered.” Benjamin Netanyahu.

"One of the state of Israel’s greatest soldiers and warriors before and since it was founded. He was directly in the line of fire throughout his entire life” – first on the frontlines of battle, then on the political frontlines.

“Arik’s life story is fascinating, extraordinary and unique, imbued with courage, human kindness, vision, and leadership,”- Ehud Olmert

Ariel Sharon's family was by his side when he passed. He nursed remarked that he was fighting for life until the end.

Except for the disastrous pull out from Gaza, Ariel Sharon was an exceptional leader of the nation of Israel.  If he hadn't had the stroke that felled him, I do believe that Israel would have taken a different direction in policy.

Today a Lion of Judah has gone.  His like will not return for a long time!

Jerusalem!!

46 years ago today the City of David, Jerusalem was reunited after being cut into 2 by the Jordanians and the United Nation.  For 19 years no Jew, no Christian was allowed to worship at their holy places.  In fact, the tombstones on the Mount of Olives Cemetery (One of the oldest Jewish Cemeteries in the world.) were used by the Jordanians as paving stones, building stones, even to make latrines.  And the world said nothing.  Not a peep.

On an almost daily basis, snipers on the walls of the Old City would open fire on Israeli civilians.  And the world said nothing.  Not a peep.

To solve this issue and stop the gunfire, orders were given to liberate the Old City.  And the IDF came through with skill.  The City of David was unified.  All people were free to worship at their holy places.


Click here if the video doesn't load.

Today as Israel and Jews around the world celebrate 46 years of a unified Jerusalem, President Barack Hussein Obama is demanding that the city be split into 2 again.  And the world is cheering him on.

Forget about what happened the last time the city was divided to appease the Arabs.  Forget that for 46 years the city has been whole, united.  Forget that under the Arabs only Muslims could pray at in the city, Jews and Christians were forbidden.  That means nothing to those who have been appeasing the Arabs in the hope that they finish the job Hitler started.

But you can help:

Keep Jerusalem United - Sign the Declaration!


Click here if the video doesn't load.

Sign the Declaration!

I declare that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish People and strongly support all efforts to maintain and strengthen a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State of Israel.

Just click here.

 Land for peace with Palestinians doesn't work.  They have taught Israel that.  In 2005 Israel gave up Gaza in the hope of peace.  And was subjected to over 10,000 rockets.  And the horror that became the city of Sderot.

For 46 years Jerusalem has been united.  Let us work to keep it that way!


Click here if the video doesn't load.

Jerusalem United Forever!

Jerusalem. Freed in 1967. Egypt Wants It Today.

Jerusalem.  City of David.  Home of Temple Mount.  Ancient City of G-d.  Once a divided city now reunited.  A holy city.  Is now being declared the Capital of Egypt.

If Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi were to become president, Egypt’s capital would no longer be Cairo, but would be Jerusalem, a prominent Egyptian cleric said at a presidential campaign rally, which was aired by an Egyptian private television channel.

"Our capital shall not be Cairo, Mecca or Medina. It shall be Jerusalem with God’s will. Our chants shall be: ‘millions of martyrs will march towards Jerusalem," Safwat Hagazy said, according to the video aired by Egypt’s religious Annas TV.

The video, which went viral after being posted on YouTube, was translated into English by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

“The United States of the Arabs will be restored on the hands of that man [Mursi] and his supporters. The capital of the [Muslim] Caliphate will be Jerusalem with God’s will,” Hegazy said, as the crowds cheered, waving Egyptian and Hamas flags.

“Tomorrow Mursi will liberate Gaza,” the crowds chanted.

“Yes, we will either pray in Jerusalem or we will be martyred there,” Hegazy said.

Hegazy’s speech came during a presidential campaign rally at the Egyptian Delta city of Mahalla, where Mursi attended along with the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badei and members of the group and its political wing the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Al Arabiya reported.

Mursi will challenge Egypt’s former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq in the upcoming runoff elections, scheduled to take place June 16 and 17. Shafiq, an air force general, was the country’s last prime minister before former president Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down by a popular uprising in February 2011.

Last week, a court sentenced Mubarak and his interior minister to life imprisonment for their role in the killings of up to 850 protesters in the January 25 uprising that ended Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Six senior police officers were acquitted for lack of incriminating evidence. Hegazy led thousands of protesters at Cairo’s Tahrir Square against the verdicts.

Strange how the MSM have not picked up on this coming from Egypt.  If When elected President of Egypt, Mohammed Mursi will invent an excuse to attack/invade Israel.  And to hell with the Fakistinians, Egypt will take the whole of the land of Israel.  In fact their battle chant is:

“The United States of the Arabs will be restored on the hands of that man [Mursi] and his supporters. The capital of the [Muslim] Caliphate will be Jerusalem with God’s will,”

They just forget a bit of history.  Not even ancient history.  Egypt was the big loser in the War for Independence (1948), Suez Canal Crises (1956), 6-Day War (1967) and Yom Kippur War (1973).  The Egyptians were routed each time.

And they should remember what happen in 1967 with Jerusalem.

Never Again will Jerusalem be divided.  Never Again will Jerusalem be out of Israeli hands.

When Egypt attacks it will be Egyptians who will weep tears of sorrow,  After all this is a good target for the IAF:

Oh Jerusalem!

Starting tonight and continuing all through Sunday (until sunset) Israel and the Jewish people will be celebrating the 45th anniversary of the reunification of the City of David, Jerusalem.

On Saturday night and Sunday Israelis will celebrate Jerusalem Day, which marks the reunification of Jerusalem in the Six Day War after 19 years of Jordanian rule in half of the city.

Synagogues were full Saturday night as many Israelis held special, festive prayer sessions in honor of the 45th anniversary of the capital’s reunification.

The government will hold a special session Sunday at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem, which was the site of some of the Six Day War’s fiercest battles. During the session the government will vote on a series of motions aimed to develop Jerusalem in terms of tourism, economy and more.

One of the motions is the development of Ammunition Hill at a cost of 20 million shekels.

At 3 p.m. the annual Jerusalem Day march will take place in and around the Old City. Later in the afternoon the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem will host the main Jerusalem Day celebrations. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, ministers, and members of Knesset are expected to be in attendance.

Source

For the last decade the Fakistinians have tried to destroy any link Jews have to the City of David.  Yet written non-Jewish sources from the Greeks, Romans to the Crusaders and Ottomans, finally to the British have all called Jerusalem the City of David, the City of the Jews.  One can lie about the truth, but the facts dispels the lies.

Jerusalem, the city which Barack Hussein Obama would cut in half to please the Muslim world, will never be divided again.  Too many Jewish lives were given for that to ever happen.


Ofra Haza - Yerushalaim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold)

Lyrics

The mountain air is clear as water
The scent of pines around
Is carried on the breeze of twilight,
And tinkling bells resound.

The trees and stones there softly slumber,
A dream enfolds them all.
So solitary lies the city,
And at its heart -- a wall.

Oh, Jerusalem of gold, and of light and of bronze,
I am the lute for all your songs.

The wells ran dry of all their water,
Forlorn the market square,
The Temple Mount dark and deserted,
In the Old City there.

And in the caverns in the mountain,
The winds howl to and fro,
And no-one takes the Dead Sea highway,
That leads through Jericho.

Oh, Jerusalem of gold, and of light and of bronze,
I am the lute for all your songs.

But as I sing to you, my city,
And you with crowns adorn,
I am the least of all your children,
Of all the poets born.

Your name will scorch my lips for ever,
Like a seraph's kiss, I'm told,
If I forget thee, golden city,
Jerusalem of gold.

Oh, Jerusalem of gold, and of light and of bronze,
I am the lute for all your songs.

The wells are filled again with water,
The square with joyous crowd,
On the Temple Mount within the City,
The shofar rings out loud.

Within the caverns in the mountains
A thousand suns will glow,
We'll take the Dead Sea road together,
That runs through Jericho.

Oh, Jerusalem of gold, and of light and of bronze,
I am the lute for all your songs.

One City Never To Be Divided Again!!!!    JERUSALEM!!!!

One City, Never Again To Be Divided!

In the 20th Century Judaism added 4 new holidays:  Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), Yom HaZikaron (Israel's Memorial Day), Yom Ha-Atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) and Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day).  The last one, Yom Yerushalayim celebrates the re-unification of Jerusalem. Yom Yerushalayim is celebrated on the 28th of the month of Iyar. The liberation of Jerusalem in 1967 marks the first time in thousands of years that the entire city of Jerusalem, the holiest city in Judaism, was under Jewish sovereignty. The destruction of Jerusalem was a watershed event in Jewish history that began thousands of years of mourning for Jerusalem, so, it follows, that the reunification of Jerusalem should be a joyous celebration that begins the process of reversing thousands of years of destruction and exile. Jerusalem is central to the Jewish tradition. Jews face in the direction of Jerusalem and all of the prayer services are filled with references to Jerusalem.

Now with that in mind, it is a wonder why Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States, and supposed friend of Israel would try to force Israel to partition the city once more.

Recent days have seen conflicting reports on construction in Jerusalem. While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu states that construction in Jerusalem will continue, reports indicate that in practice, Jews are barred from building in some parts of the capital city. Arutz Sheva's Hebrew news service spoke to Jerusalem Construction and Building Planning Committee member Yair Gabbai to clarify the situation.

According to Gabbai, there is definitely a distinction being made between “west” Jerusalem, meaning the territory that has been under Israeli sovereignty since 1948, and “east” Jerusalem, the lands that were under Jordanian control from 1948 until 1967. Recently, officials have begun making a distinction between Jews and Arabs, allowing Arabs to build in neighborhoods where Jews are turned down for construction permits, he said.

"The most recent meetings have taken on a certain apartheid-like quality,” he said. “Construction permits in eastern Jerusalem are given exclusively to Arabs, while in the western half of the city there's no discrimination.”

United States President Barack Obama is behind the de facto construction freeze, Gabbai believes. “[Obama] is the source of the pressure on the prime minister and the government to freeze construction in eastern Jerusalem, even though it's not good for Jerusalem,” he said.

Finish reading here.

When Jerusalem was cut in two, not one Jewish place of worship was allowed to stand erect under Jordanian rule.  Even the Kotel was turned into a latrine for the amusement of the degenerate Arabs.  And this was done even though the world assured Jews that their sacred places would be safe and Jews would have access to these places.

From Wikipedia:

The Hurva Synagogue, also known as Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid ("Ruin of Rabbi Judah the Pious"), is a historic synagogue located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The synagogue was founded in the early 1700s by followers of Judah he-Hasid, but it was destroyed a few years later in 1721. The plot lay in ruins for over 140 years and became known as the Ruin, or Hurva. In 1864, the Perushim rebuilt the synagogue, and although officially named the Beis Yaakov Synagogue, it retained its name as the Hurva. It became Jerusalem's main Ashkenazic synagogue, until it too was reduced to rubble by the Arab Legion during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

After the site came under Israeli control in 1967, a number of plans were submitted for the design of a new building. After years of deliberation and indecision, a commemorative arch was erected instead at the site in 1977, itself becoming a prominent landmark of the Jewish Quarter. The plan to rebuild the synagogue in its 19th century style received approval by the Israeli Government in 2000 and the newly rebuilt synagogue was dedicated on March 15, 2010. The company involved with its reconstruction believes that restoring the synagogue to its former glory will once again allow it to serve as a center for World Jewry.

Hurva Synagogue restored - 2010

I wonder if this will be the last year Yom Yerushalayim will be celebrated in a unified city.  Under Obama's proposal orders the city will once again be divided (I wonder what Germans would do if Berlin was divided again?).  Will we then see signs like these:

43 years have passed since Jerusalem, City of David, City of Gold, was divided.  Will it remain whole in the next 43 years, or will it be divided forever?

Let us pray that the answer is NO!

One city forever united!

In Those Days, At This Time!

Which was a bigger miracle?

The military victory or the eight days of oil?



 View video here.

Now that is an interesting question for Chanukah.

Which is the more important aspect of the Chanukah Holiday?

The Maharal of Prague explains that both are true. The actual event for which we give thanks is the salvation of the Jewish people. We won a war against all odds. However, it wasn't clear that the victory was a miracle. To the people living in those times, military success was attributed to Jewish resilience and bravery. It didn't appear that God had delivered us from the hands of the Greeks; rather, it appeared as if the victory came about (as the verse in Deut. 8:17 warns) through the soldiers’ "might and strength of their arms."

It was only through the miracle of the oil that the Jews came to appreciate the miracle of the battle. Once people saw the oil last eight days -- an overt miracle from God -- they then understood that their success on the battlefield was from God as well. The miracle of the oil revealed to them the miracle of the war.

No Standing Army

This explanation of the Maharal, however, becomes difficult to understand when we take into account a basic historical overview.

The events of Chanukah take place in the second century BCE, around the middle of the era of the second Holy Temple. A few hundred years earlier, when the Babylonians had destroyed the first Holy Temple, the Jewish people began to lived under the reign of non-Jewish monarchies. We were a vassal state under foreign rule, and our right to exist and our form of government was decided by the ruling parties. So when the Greeks entered Jerusalem, the Jewish people did not even have a standing army.

This wasn't a war of a stronger army against a weaker opponent. It was a war in which the most powerful empire in the world was pitted against a band of unorganized, unarmed, private citizens.

While the war itself lasted three years, during the first year of fighting, there were no formal battles. Two armies were not squaring off against each other -- because there was no Jewish army! The fighting consisted of guerrilla skirmishes. Some Jews would sneak up on a lone detail of Greek soldiers, kill them, and take their weapons. Bit by bit, more Jews would join Judah the Maccabee. But at every point, the Jews were far outnumbered, outgunned and preposterously less battle-ready than their enemies.

Even more startling is that almost all of the original fighters had no battle experience. The leaders of the rebellion were kohanim, priests in the Holy Temple. A kohen is a Torah teacher who guides the Jewish people in matters of spirituality. So this was a war led and fought not by soldiers, but by the rabbis. Imagine a venerated sage leading his yeshiva into battle against the U.S. Marine Corps!

How could anyone not see the miracle of the war? No intelligent assessment of the situation would have predicted a Jewish victory. How then is it possible that the Jews at the time saw these events as anything other than the miracles that they clearly were?

The Oil Event

The answer to this question seems to be that when one is many years away and far removed, he gains a historical vantage point. He is able to see an event in context and can easily recognize it as a miracle. But to those living in the day-to-day heat of the battle, it is much more difficult to see the event from that perspective.

To those involved, it seemed to be a natural course of events. Granted, the odds were slim, but the Jews won. Skirmish after skirmish, battle after battle, the Maccabees came out victorious. There is no question that they did well, which is why it seemed that their skill and cunning won those wars. As such, to the people living in those times, the miracle was hidden.

Until another event focused their sight.

When the kohanim returned to the Temple and took out that little bit of oil that couldn't possibly last for eight days, and saw it remain aglow night after night, everyone knew this was miraculous. The miracle of the oil reshaped the previous three years in their minds. They then recognized the battles as the miracles that they truly were.

In Our Times

In our own times, we witness an eerie parallel to these events and to the same mistaken interpretation.

For almost 2,000 years the Jewish people -- universally hated and oppressed -- have existed as a lone sheep amongst 70 wolves. Yet we have somehow survived. And now, after long centuries of wandering, we find ourselves back in our homeland.

Since 1948, the Jewish nation has witnessed profound miracles in the repopulation and development of Israel: world-class hospitals, road, schools; a burgeoning hi-tech industry; vast amounts of high-level Torah study.

But it is the survival of our people that is the greatest miracle.


In 1948, the Jewish population in Israel numbered approximately 650,000, surrounded by some 50 million Arabs. On May 15, 1948, one day after the State of Israel was declared, five Arab nations attacked, each with well-trained armies and air forces, each alone capable of annihilating the small band of Holocaust survivors. At the time there was no Jewish army, navy or air force. Yet, against all odds, we won that war, and against all odds we continued to win war after war -- until now, ironically, the Jews are considered the superpower in the region.

To the average witness to these events, this appears -- not as a demonstration of the hand of God -- but rather as the normal ebb and flow of history.

The lesson of Chanukah is to see behind the veil -- to tune our sight into the true cause of events, and to see that it is God Who runs the world, and God Who fights our wars. Then as now.

On this, the 5th day of Chanukah, let us remember that the miracle of the holiday is not that the sacred oil stayed lit for 8 days, thus allowing more oil to be consecrated, but that a small group of yeshiva students, men without training, without weapons, without ever being in battle, but with God leading them, defeated armies that were 6, 7, 8, 9 and even 10 times their size.

A Great Miracle Occurred There!