BS’D
From the well-known incident which occurred between Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa ztk’l and his daughter, we can develop many teachings.
It was erev Shabbat just before candle lighting, and the daughter of R’ Chanina was saddened since she had poured vinegar instead of oil into the candle holders. When she realized that oil was not available, her father replied, “My daughter, The One who gave permission for the oil to light can tell the vinegar to light” and so it was. R’ Chanina did not pray to Hashem that it shall be so. He simply made a statement of emuna peshuta (simple words of emuna), and as a result of his emuna, the vinegar served as a lighting source for the Shabbat candles.
For R’ Chanina, there was no miracle in that a candle can be lit with vinegar since using oil was just as miraculous in his eyes. This message is strengthened by the words quoted in Masechet Makot, “In the way that man wishes to go, they guide him.” The forces in life are meant to test us. Hashem allows for these conflicting powers to persist in order to provide us with free will. Nonetheless, we must remember that they are all tests of faith to challenge us to see Hashem, not nature or cause-and-effect.
A question which may arise from the case of R’ Chanina could be why didn’t Hashem bring about a smaller miracle by providing him with oil to light the candles as opposed to a grander miracle of enabling the vinegar to be lite? The answer – for R’ Chanina the usage of oil or any other substance is a revealed miracle. The term nature simply did not exist in his mind. Therefore, Hashem ‘responded’ to him measure for measure in a miraculous way.
From here, we learn that if we work towards experiencing Hashem in every aspect of our lives, we will surely merit finding Him, whether in ‘natural’ circumstances or ‘supernatural’ events.
