Passover marks the beginning formation of the Jewish nation and our relationship with the Creator. The Haggadah that we all will be reading on the night of Passover revolves around the ten plagues and the miracles that our forefathers witnessed. These were open revealed miracles for all to see and could not be denied. However, there are many other more abundant hidden miracles, which require a keen eye to see, that are with us every day.
It has been said that coincidences are miracles in which G-d prefers to remain anonymous. If we were to carefully scrutinize everything that occurs in our daily lives, we would find many such “coincidences”. Sometimes we may not be aware of the significance of a particular event until much later, when we may have forgotten how or why we think it occurred and so we just write it off to happenstance. Other times we notice that things seem to just happen at the right time. In some instances, the likelihood of the desired occurrence being chance is so remote it astounds even a non-believer.
In the Book of Songs which we read on Passover, King Solomon writes “Behold He stands behind our walls looking through the windows and peering through the lattices”. Rabbi Israel commented and asked. What’s the difference whether G-d watches through the window or through the lattices? He is still watching over us. The difference is that sometimes it is through a window and then we can see Him just as He sees us, at other times it is through a crack in the partition where He can see us, but we do not see Him.
A parent teaches his child to grow by letting go of his hand, moving back and giving the child space. In a similar way G-d steps back to give us room to grow, but as a loving parent He is never far away.
Hag Sameah,
Rabbi H. Shaul
