During this month of miracles, nothing seems ordinary. Snowmen come to life (at least on the screen), people randomly break into song, and even the coldest of nights feel warmed by the bright displays of color. And on Sunday, Chanukah, also known as the Festival of Lights, begins, opening a rare portal of opportunity for us to connect with the miracle behind the miracle. Are you ready to open the blinds?
Remember "the man behind the curtain" in The Wizard of Oz? Dorothy and her friends believed that their wishes would be granted by a real wizard–as long as they obeyed the thunderous voice (which, by the way, was punctuated by some rather impressive light tech for the time!). However, the so-called wizard turned out to be a smallish, gray-haired man bellowing through a heck of a sound system from behind a curtain. The jig was up. And the magic was gone… or was it?
Because the characters who had obeyed that booming voice when it tested their courage, empathy, intelligence, and determination did not shrink from their newfound gifts, even after the wizard’s unmasking. Instead, they were led to an even greater power: the realization that they'd performed the miracles on their own! The real wizard had been within them all along. Which brings me back to the greatest gift we’re offered during Chanukah.