| Dear Yeshiva Family:
The Ibn Ezra asks a famous question about the birth of Moshe Rabbeinu. Since it is known that Moshe was 80 years old when he took the Jews out of Mitzrayim, and we know his mother Yocheved was born as Yaakov and the Shevatim were first descending to Mitzrayim back in Parshas Vayigash 210 years prior, it turns out that Yocheved was 130 years old at the time of the birth of Moshe! The Ibn Ezra questions why the Torah does not make a special mention of this miracle; after all, the Torah spent so much ink creating fanfare about Sara Imeinu giving birth to Yitzchok at a mere 90 years old.
The Ramban (Bereishis 46:12) answers that throughout life miracles are always occurring and it is unnecessary for them to be constantly recorded in the Torah. The Torah is not a collection of stories of miracles. Only miracles that were foretold by a Navi are worthy of being recorded, for they are recorded for a reason or to prove the veracity of the Navi or the Torah. Miracles that are not foretold do not prove Hashem, and do not warrant mention in the Torah.
The Maharal (Gur Aryeh 2:1) offers a different approach. He explains that at the time of Moshe Rabbeinu's birth there were so many miracles that were taking place, particularly regarding women giving birth, and therefore Yocheved's pregnancy was not considered noteworthy. It was not uncommon at that time for a woman to give birth annually to sextuplets! By the time an eldest child was 10 years old he could have almost 60 siblings!! The fact that a woman gave birth to a single child when she was 130 did not even make the back-page news. Miracles became par for the course in Mitzrayim and people became used to that reality.
Such is the reality of life. If you hear or see something fantastic once or twice it loses its wonder and grandeur and it becomes "old news."
In that sense, all of life is really a miracle. Placing a dry brittle seed in the ground where it disintegrates and produces roots and shoots, eventually to become a mammoth tree weighing 50 tons is a miracle. We are not shocked only because we have seen this trick before. Just because science can predict and label the different processes that take place, such as germination and photosynthesis, does not mean that it is not a miracle. Science is just assigning names to the miracles that we are used to seeing. We don't write home every time we successfully produce a bean plant experiment only because we have come to expect that miracle to occur.
An excellent exercise to increase one's happiness and fulfillment in this world is to train oneself to open his eyes and recognize miracles that are experienced daily. Looking at the world with wonder and awe will bring about deeper levels of appreciation and awareness of Hashem. This is what we are trained to do since we were young children in the daily morning prayer of "Modeh Ani." We begin the day appreciating and thanking Hashem for things that can hopefully be predicted, such as waking up, and by the time we are adults we may have gotten used to. However, if one thinks about the words he says, it literally forces one to be more appreciative for the daily miracles of life.
To help us recapture this valuable meaning, we may want to consider saying "Modeh Ani" in English for a week. Then, switch back and forth between English and Hebrew to help keep the inspiration fresh. This way one focuses on the idea he is mouthing, and then appreciates life more!
Since the beginning of the current war in Eretz Yisrael, there has been almost a daily barrage of miraculous stories coming out of Gaza. There is a story circulating about how a tuna fish can exposed terrorists about to attack a platoon from a nearby tunnel. There is a story of a weapon that discharged by accident, 'randomly' killing a terrorist about to fire an RPG. Many stories of soldiers evacuating for a variety of reasons just in the nick of time. Some of these stories are at the point of being supernatural, or unbelievable, if not for the fact that we know we have our Father in Heaven watching over us at all times! These are opportunities to focus on Hashem's love and care for us, and to improve our emunah and bitachon, knowing that Hashem has our backs. There was a soldier who was shot but the bullet was stopped by a Sefer Tehillim that was in the soldiers' vest. There is not a clearer manifestation of Tehillim helping than that. These messages can be found daily for those that are looking!
However, here we can fall into the trap that because there are stories of absolute miracles circulating, we begin to gloss over smaller daily miracles. If we hear about soldiers surviving a firefight against hundreds of terrorists this should cause us to turn to Hashem in gratitude. How did they survive? Were they using cheat-codes? Did the bullets just happen to miss? But things like that barely make the news anymore because they don't rank on the miracle list. Additionally, we hear about such things daily, to the point that we have almost come to expect them. We must realize why we expect that - because we have gotten used to the reality that Hashem sticks up for us.
We need to practice cognitive thinking and heighten our awareness as to how much good is going on in our lives. It is true, there are painful moments, but we have to recognize the good that continues to exist.
Unfortunately, Klal Yisrael suffered a loss on Tuesday evening with the passing of the Mashgiach R' Matisyahu Salamon zt"l. One thing R' Matisyahu was known for was his push to have people be besimcha, to be happy. He would stop a person walking and ask him why he was frowning, why the glum face; there is just so much good that one can focus on.
If we can instill one thing in ourselves from R' Matisyahu's life, it would be to look inward to the blessings that are in our lives, and to use that awareness to serve Hashem with joy. Hashem should help us recognize all the good he gives us and help that awareness enrich our service of Hashem and help us lead productive, fulfilling lives.
Rabbi Moshe Revah Rosh HaYeshiva, HTC - Beis HaMidrash LaTorah moshe.revah@htc.edu | 
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