Are you ready to take charge of bringing your own miracle?

We are moving into the month of Kislev, the month that has within it Chanukah. It is a month governed by the configuration of the Tetragrammaton, the holiest Name of God combination that brings the light of the Creator down from the spiritual realm to the physical. Each month that energy force is rearranged to meet the needs of the month. In Kislev it is arranged as Vav, Yud, Hey, Hey. So what can we learn from this?

First, whenever we have two Hey’s together we know we are dealing with powerful energy.

This month we are called to initiate miracles. we can’t wait for them to happen. They need to be activated by the Vav and Yud and by us taking action, action initiated as a righteous person, not just a righteous receiver.

But, why this month? If we look at the story of the Macabbes and Chanukah what does it really mean? It’s written that the Maccabees took charge in making a difference in this month. They initiated victory by taking action.

The word for this month is Kislev, and we learn that at it’s root is the Hebrew word for “covered” “Kes”. So what is covered? Our potential. We also have the Lamed-Vav with a numerical value of 36.

36 is the number of candles used for Chanukah and the number of righteous people hidden in the world to protect it. Those righteous people are covered, they are not revealed.

However, for us, this is the month that demands we push forward and actually DO SOMETHNG!. This is very important to understand.

We need to activate ourselves this month. So let’s look again to the Vav Yud Heh Heh. Where does that configuration come from? It is derived from a verse speaking about the people who were sitting in the land of Canaan (Coming from “Creah” meaning to surrender) after Jacob was brought into the Cave of Machpelah in the month of Kislev.

Why ? Because Jacob passed away the first day of Sukkot, but the time he was buried was the first day of Chanukah. Why in Kislev?

It says in the Book of Creation, the Sefer Yetzirah, there are two letters controlling this month, which is Samech the letter that created the sign of Sagitarius and it also created the stomach in the body, or rather the digestive system.

In addition if you take the work Kislev and spell out each letter in its full name, it creates the phrase: “is the father of mercy” . That’s why we add in the prayer in Chanukah something about mercy. Thus in this month we not only need to initiate action, we have to activate within this month the action of mercy and kindness.

So this month how merciful can you be? How kind can you be? Do you want a miracle? It all depends on if you can be merciful. Can you be on the level where you can forgive. If you cannot be kind for all the right reasons, then you are not kind.

Yesterday I had a lunch with a “kind” person. We discussed many subjects and finally got to the topic of kindness and I looked at his eyes and I realized that some people he was close to were lacking kindness. He wanted to talk about leadership, but I was talking about kindness.

People like to talk about leadership. But who is a leader? A leader is one who exhibits kindness. If you don’t have kindness, don’t try to be a leader. If a person lacks kindness, don’t make them a leader.

So how do you choose a leader? The one who shows kindness.

Kindness is the first sign of a leader.

People like the title “Leader” you get respect, recognition. But you are stupid. Do you want to be thought of as a leader without the integrity behind it so you burn in hell?

If you cannot find kindness within you run away from a desire to be a leader. We see so many religious people wanting to be leaders for the ego gratifacation.

We see too often in religious environments people who want people to follow them, but don’t have kindness in their heart. For sure they should not be leaders. This month is the month for leaders, people who know how to take initiative and take action, but also have empathy for those who follow theml If you have cruelness in your heart, just looking for justice, step down. You can’t lead without mercy in your heart.

Here in New York, I am being care for by so many genuine leaders. They call me a leader, but I am a follower of people like these with mercy in their hearts, kindness in their hearts. It is their leadership that is leading by example. I want to follow them because I want to be like them, full of kindness.

In this month of Kislev we need to be looking for opportunities to forgive, how to be kind and how to be generous. Harnesing these attributes of the Light and taking fearless action we can surely create the miracles we are seeking!