07/12/2023
Hanukkah Miracle in Canada 2023!
On November 14, 2023 290 000 Jews gathered together in Washington DC in support of Israel. It was the largest gathering of Jews in US history. I traveled from Toronto to the rally with the Jewish school I teach at and it was truly an inspirational and memorable event. It was an incredible experience to sing Hatikvah and other Jewish songs with over a quarter of a million people, to hear from Jewish heroes and American politicians demonstrating their support for Israel and to be among so many proud Zionists. I was looking forward to the Canadian version that took place on December 4, though I knew it would be on a much smaller scale and have much worse weather. Little did I know that I would be experiencing a modern day Hanukkah miracle.
Canada has the third largest Diaspora Jewish community in the world. The Canadian Jewish community has been successful in its over 250 year history in balancing tradition with integration among our neighbors. Our international reputation among other Jews is being the Polar Jews. We are known for our harsh winters of freezing temperatures and lots and lots of snow. I traveled on a bus with other staff and students from my school. When we left Toronto, there was no snow. As we traveled over four hours to Ottawa the scenery became more and more white. Ottawa had a snow storm the night before and was covered in beautiful fresh snow. It was the first major snowfall of the year which is always as pretty as a picture.
We arrived in front of Canada’s Parliament building and were among twenty thousand other Jews and supporters of Israel. The Canadian government has recently angered Israeli politicians over several statements condemning the IDF’s actions in Gaza while not putting the blame of this war on Hamas. Canadian Jews have been victims to an unprecedented rise in antisemitism since October 7. There have been gunshots at yeshivot, firebombs at shuls, bomb threats, graffiti, kidnapped posters destroyed and many other acts of Jew hatred also occurring worldwide. The Jewish communities of Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and others were there to put more pressure on the government to better understand the Israel Hamas War. This was the largest gathering of Jews in Canada’s history. We gathered to condemn antisemitism in Canada, Hamas’ atrocities in Israel, to show our support for the IDF and to pressure our government to help bring the hostages home.
As we stood outdoors listening to one speaker after the other we were exposed to the Canadian winter and it started to snow. I overheard other people talking behind my back about how nice the snowflakes were but didn’t yet understand what they were saying. Then I noticed myself that many were in the perfect shape of the Star of David and I started taking pictures of a few as I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was looking at snow flakes in the shape of the most popular Jewish symbol and the image for the flag of Israel. I spoke with strangers standing next to me to get some assurance I wasn’t seeing things. They assured me that they too, were in awe of this marvel. As the rally continued, more and more people were taking pictures, videos and talking about the weather being a clear act of God. Some were joking about how Jews control space lasers and star of david snowflakes. Others were saying that this is a clear sign from God, a Hanukkah miracle. Everyone who noticed the abundance of Israel Snow during the Israel rally was in awe at this miracle. As a Canadian, I have been through hundreds maybe thousands of snowfalls and I have never in my life seen this before. The one time I and 20 000 other Jews experienced an abundance of star of david snowflakes happens to be at the largest pro Israel rally in Canada’s history. This is no small coincidence!
When the story of Hanukah occurred, the Maccabees didn’t need the miracle of the oil. They needed the military victory over the Greeks. The oil supernaturally lasting for eight days was seen as a sign from God. God was very much hidden as Hellenism and Paganism was rampant and the light of Torah was darkened for some time. The Oil Miracle was very symbolic that the light of the Menorah in the Temple will shine bright and carry on for many generations to come. In Ottawa, on December 4, the Jews at the rally did not need it to snow Stars of David. What is needed is victory over Hamas and our soldiers and the hostages to return home safely. Both the Oil Miracle of Hanukkah and the Israel Snow miracle of Canada’s Israel rally are signs from God. Both are God’s way of encouraging the Jewish people that He stands with us. Just like the Maccabees defeated the Greeks and Judaism prevailed, so too will Zionists today defeat our enemies and continue to carry the light of morality, Israel, Jewish values all rooted in our Torah.
Happy Hanukkah! נס גדול היה פה, שעשה ניסים לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה
Am Yisrael Chai!
