Defining Miracles

Thanks for another summary, Haviva!

The difference between Nes (miracle) and Teva (nature)--Nes rarely happens while Teva happens frequently.

The Midrash Raba says that during creation G-d made a condition with the sea that it would split for Bnei Yisrael. Hashem made these sort of conditions that allow for "miracles" for everything as He created it. When G-d made the "rules" for everything He built into the "rules" an allowance for what we call Nissim.

The Maharal tells us that the Seder night on Pesach is called Seder (seder means order) to show us that although we cant see it, miracles are built into nature and they also have a predetermined order. Miracles are NOT random occurences.

R' Dessler says that the "Laws of Nature" from the human perspective are determined by the frequency of the events. If two things differ only in frequency, then they are really the same thing but humans call them different things. If there weren't laws of nature we wouldn't have bechira because G-d would be clear in daily life.

Talmud Bavli relates the story of R' Hanina ben Dosa and how his daughter was upset because she accidentally filled the Shabbat lamps with vinegar instead of oil and she didn't think that the lamps would stay lit long enough. R' Hanina said that if G-d can make oil burn, He can also make vinegar burn and the lamps burned all Shabbat until havdala. This demonstrates R' Hanina that his betachon in Hashem that even when G-d performed an open miracle his mindset didn't change.