05 Dec CHANUKAH AND DAVENING FOR IDF SOLDIERS

I. Davening for a
Soldier
We daven for a time
when there will be
no more war. We also
daven that until that
time arrives, our soldiers
return from the battlefield
to their families and their lives. Is this tfillah
allowed? On a theological level, does the
tfillah make sense?
Every soldier has loved ones who care
deeply about his safe return. Whether a
mother or father, spouse or sibling, uncle or
cousin, family or friend, they all worry about
the soldier who puts himself in harm’s way
in service to his country and his people. Who
can sleep when a young family member is in
the middle of a deadly war? We daven, we
cry, we say Tehillim. That is for individuals
and is certainly proper and appropriate. We
translate our deepest desires and our belief
in how the world works into tfillah and
requests. However, when it comes to soldiers
in general, things get more complicated.
During Chanukah, we add to our davening
the “Al Ha-Nissim” passage thanking G-d
for the Chanukah miracles. We add this to the
Amidah davening and to bentching, the grace

after meals. However, because Chanukah is
not a biblical holiday, if you forget to say Al
Ha-Nissim, you do not repeat the tfillah. Rav
Moshe Isserles (Rema, gloss to Shulchan
Aruch, Orach Chaim 187:4, 682:1) says
that if you remember after the appropriate

blessing in bentching, you can add Al Ha-
Nissim afterwards in the Ha-Rachaman

section, which consists of additional
requests after all the blessings are finished.
The text is: “May the Compassionate One
perform for us miracles and wonders like
He did for our ancestors in those days, at
this time. In the days of Matisyahu, son of
Yochanan,…” Mishnah Berurah (682:4)
adds that something similar can be done at
the end of the Amidah.
II. Davening for a Miracle
While this seems like an elegant solution
to the problem of forgetting Al Ha-Nissim,
Rav Sender Shor (18th cen., Poland; Bechor
Shor, Shabbos 21b) points out a difficulty.
The Mishnah (Berachos 54a) says that if a
man davens that his pregnant wife give birth
to a boy (or a girl), he has said a tefillas
shav, a prayer in vain. The baby’s gender is
already a fact. Any tfillah about it is too late.
The Gemara (ibid., 60a) points out that when
Leah was pregnant with a seventh boy, she

davened that it turn into a girl so her sister,
Rachel, could give birth to two of Ya’akov’s
twelve sons. In other words, miracles
happen. Can’t a pregnant father daven for
a miracle? No, the Gemara concludes, we
do not account for miracles. A prayer for a
miracle is a tefillas shav, a prayer in vain.
If so, asks Rav Shor, how can someone
who forgets Al Ha-Nissim daven for a
miracle by saying, “May the Compassionate
One perform for us miracles…?” We do
not daven for miracles. We live within the
natural world and ask G-d to protect us and
provide for us within the rules of nature.
While we believe that miracles sometimes
happen, we do not expect them or hope for
them.
Similarly, the natural way is that during war,
soldiers are injured and die. Even during the
Six Day War, which was incredible in both
its brevity and its success, over 700 soldiers
died and many more were injured. Each
death is a tragedy that devastates family and
friends. We hope for minimal deaths but is
it realistic to expect it? After the unexpected
devastation of October 7, dozens of soldiers
have died. Thankfully it has not been more
but we want no deaths, no sorrow, no
tragedy. Can we daven for this miracle going
forward? Or is that an unreasonable and
improper tfillah, and instead we should
focus on the safety of specific individuals
we know?
III. Different Kinds of Miracles
Rav Yosef Shaul Nathanson (19th cen.,
Ukraine; Divrei Shaul, Gen. 43:14)
suggests that the Al Ha-Nissim tfillah for
miracles refers to the final redemption.
We can ask G-d for miracles that He
already promised us. This does not
contradict the Gemara that disallows
asking for miracles in our daily lives.
According to this approach, we should
not daven for miracles in war.
Rav Sender Shor offers two answers
for his question. First, he differentiates
between individuals and a community.
No individual can presume to deserve a
miracle. G-d created the world with laws
of nature and only breaks through those
laws in the rarest of occasions. However,
a community — and particularly the
entire Jewish people — can expect a
higher level of divine guidance and
exception. You are not supposed to
daven for a personal miracle but you
are allowed to daven for a communal

or national tfillah. When we say Al Ha-
Nissim as a request, we ask for miracles

on behalf of the entire Jewish people
which merits special divine providence.
Similarly, according to this approach, we
can ask on behalf of the Jewish people

for a successful and safe war of self-defense.
Rav Shor further distinguishes between
a supernatural miracle and a miracle
within nature. When the sun stops for
hours, contrary to its natural path, that is a
supernatural miracle. When a female fetus
is changed to male (or vice versa), that is
a supernatural miracle. We are not allowed
to daven for such miracles. However, the
miracle of Chanukah was for an unexpected
military victory. That falls within the laws
of nature and therefore is allowed. Similarly,
davening for IDF military strategy to
succeed completely so that casualties are
avoided is asking for a miracle within the
laws of nature. According to this approach,
not only are we allowed to daven for no

military casualties and injuries, the Al Ha-
Nissim request seems to be that very tfillah.

Someone who davens in a mature fashion
does not merely put together a wish list
into word form. G-d is not Hanukkah Harry
who bestows gifts on unworthy children.
Rather, a prayerful person understands the
complexity of our existence and asks for
divine assistance in the struggles of life.
Some tfillahs are appropriate and some are
not. When it comes to the safety of our
soldiers in the IDF, there is ample to room
to daven for their overall safety even though
it may require a miracle. Rav Avigdor
Nebenzahl (Yerushalayim Be-Mo’adeha,
Chanukah, p. 73) takes a view similar to
the second approach above. While we do
not daven for miracles in our own lives,
when we are dealing with Klal Yisrael,
we can assume that the Jewish people as a
whole merits miraculous treatment. Until
the time that peace is with us, we daven for
the safety of Klal Yisrael’s soldiers who are
safeguarding our country and our people.