Miracles We Perform
Sometimes we see God's handiwork clearly, sometimes God leaves the work to us
The spiritual dimensions and power of Purim are often forgotten at the expense of the fun.
We have to remember that the Jewish people prayed, fasted, and Esther was ready to sacrifice her life for her people -- and then we were saved. The Jewish people then renewed their covenant with God. It is said that the Jewish people’s acceptance of the Torah on Purim was out of love. Our joy for Torah and God on Purim can also be on this level of love of God. But it’s hard. We see the devastating war that HaPutin is wreaking on the world and we wonder, "Where is God?"
A story I heard this week helps. Everybody knows that God is everywhere, and only is made obvious in true-life stories such as the following one out of Ukraine. Several groups of Ukrainians were waiting in Kharkiv to be evacuated on buses arranged by Chabad. One group was scheduled to go on Monday. One group would go on Tuesday. For some reason, the bus that was supposed to take the Tuesday group, arrived a day early! The people were upset. The bus had arrived a day early and they were not ready. They had to decide, should they go now or take a chance on another bus? That Monday the bus was filled with eighteen Jews and their Ukrainian neighbors who made the decision to go early, and took the bus a day early to safety.
On the next day, the Russian bombing struck the apartment building where the group which was evacuated had been living. The bus which for some unknown reason showed up on the wrong day, was their salvation. A true miracle heard from someone with personal knowledge of the events.
There are times when God sends an open miracle. The bus carrying away people a day early from the building. There are other times when we have to step up and be a miracle for another. When you contribute to helping people running for their lives, who are now destitute refugees, you are being a miracle for them.
Please God, in the merit of the true joy and love from this Purim, our renewed love for Torah , and the miracles that we perform for those in harm’s way, we will merit the great Revelation and the end of this war, and all wars.
See here for ways to help refugees from Ukraine
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Customs, Laws and Secrets of Purim, Edited by R’ Yonah Bookstein