Founder’s Blog

Happy Hanukkah from the Ozarks

By Boaz Michael  | Comments (3) | Posted on December 4, 2007

My family and I are getting ready to celebrate Hanukkah for the first time in our new home here in Missouri. Tonight we begin this celebration by lighting the first candle on the Hannukkiah and I can already smell those latkes cooking. This will be quite a change of pace from being on the road last year and those warm Hanukkahs in Phoenix. Somehow the cold weather makes it feel just right for this eight day celebration.

I think one of my favorite themes of Hanukkah is the idea of miracles. For those that don’t know, the letters on the dreidel [nun, gimmel, hey, shin] stand for the expression, “A great miracle happened here.” This is in commemoration of both the Maccabee’s great victory over the Greeks as well as the story of the single flask of oil staying lit in the Temple menorah for eight days. Every year I am reminded that with the Father all things are possible. A passage from the book of Maccabees really illustrates the faith that Judah and the other warriors had in HaShem despite the great adversity.

It is no hard matter for many to be shut up in the hands of a few; and with the God of heaven it is all one, to deliver with a great multitude, or a small company: For the victory of battle standeth not in the multitude of an host; but strength cometh from heaven. They come against us in much pride and iniquity to destroy us, and our wives and children, and to spoil us: But we fight for our lives and our Torah laws. Wherefore the LORD himself will overthrow them before our face: and as for you, be ye not afraid of them. (1 Maccabees 3:16-22)

They believed that if they would carry out HaShem’s work that He would be faithful to help them overcome. As I look back over the previous year I see that in the ministry and in my own personal life many armies have been conquered, though none without the hand of the Father.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Hanukkah with friends and family. May we all spread His light, walk in His Torah and with Heaven’s help, stand strong in the face of opposition. Shalom and Happy Hanukkah from Missouri!

About the Author: Boaz Michael is the president and founder of First Fruits of Zion.

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