Miracles: Channukah and Beyond

What is Chanukkah? ... That [which] our Sages taught: On the 25th of Kislev - the days of Chanukkah, they are eight, not to eulogize on them and not to fast on them, for when the Greeks entered the Temple, they polluted all the oils in the Temple, and when the Hasmonean dynasty overcame and defeated them, they checked and they found but one cruse of oil that was set in place with the seal of the High Priest, but there was in only [enough] to light a single day. A miracle was done with it, and they lit from it for eight days. The following year [the Sages] fix those [days], making them holidays for praise and thanksgiving.

(6) And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. (7) And the people came to Moses, and said: ‘We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that He take away the serpents from us.’ And Moses prayed for the people. (8) And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live.’ (9) And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived.

...She said to her husband: ...Until when should we go on suffering like this? ...He said to her: ...What should we do? ...Pray to G-d that something should be given to you. He prayer and a hand came out and gave him a piece of a golden table leg. ...He saw in a dream that in the future the righteous would each from this three legged golden table ...But he would be eating from a two legged table. He said to her: ...Are you satisfied that the rest of the world will be eating from a completed table, but we from a missing or incomplete table? ...She said to him: ...What should we do? ...Pray that it be taken away ...He prayed and it was taken away. It was learnt ...Greater was the latter miracle than the former miracle ...for we learn ...when a thing is given it is not taken away Once on a Friday evening, He saw that his daughter was sad. He said to her My daughter, why are you said? She said to him: My vessel filled with vinegar got mixed up with my vessel filled with oil and I lit from that can a light for the Sabbath. He said to her: My daughter, why does this bother you? Whoever told the oil to burn, He will tell the vinegar to burn. It was taught: The light continued to burn all day until they used that light for Havdala.