My Husband Was Snow White

In his Ma’ama”D (Mamlachti Dati/ “public religious”) elementary school, my husband put on a Purim play for the parent body, playing the role of Snow White. He borrowed his mother’s blonde sheitel (since when did Snow White turn Blonde?) and his sister’s jean skirt. The drama director had casted a chubby girl in the grade as Prince Charming, and a humorous production was born.

Twenty-five years ago, before the outspoken times of transgender and the like, this kind of unexpected role reversal brought irony and tons of laughter to the audience. Thank Gd, Chubby Charming wasn’t asked to kiss Snow White to wake her up; maybe she or he just tapped him or her on the shoulder, as she woke up from a great slumber.

It’s good to know that even as a kid people thought my husband was beautiful enough to play this part. Even more so, I’d like to draw out the point: the unexpected things in life sometimes bring us the most humor and satisfaction due to their very irony. What we least expect dropping into our lap can make us the happiest people around.

Besides for stand-up comedy or movies, the unexpected occurrences, or what we diametrically believe will happen that doesn’t (or that won’t happen that does), is very much related to the history of Chanukah. The miracles of one unexpected jar of pure oil to light the menorah for not one day but eight days; the Yevanim getting smeared by the righteous Jewish wimps…this is the stuff that makes for our celebrations.

Chanukah stands for the moments in our life that are transformative, of the opportunities that just fall into our lap after years of running around like a chicken without a head, killing ourselves with our efforts. And one day, we just meet the right person with a job offer; or one day, we find the right treatment for our ailment; or one day, the pot accidentally spills into our pan of cooked food and just like that, we find the perfect sauce of the century, with no effort, to finally pair with our rather dry protein.

What I’d like to focus on here is those times when we clearly see Yad HaShem in our victories, our healings, and our comforts which contradict the rules of nature or overcome our own personal efforts. These easy, breezy, beautiful moments after making ourselves crazy for so long is the greatest proof that there is a Gd and subsequently the greatest gift to our personal joy and pleasure—for relying on ourselves alone or what we expect through a typical occurrence or progression of time is simply not enough. What pulls us out of the mud is a certain level of neis, or irony.

A neis, the Hebrew word for miracle, is derived from the word flag. Any country or institution raises its flag from bottom upwards. And so too, our miracles come from the lowest, most random places we least expect a victory or redemption, and—Boom! The flag is up and we’ve won. Not by our own might, לא כוחי ועוצם ידי, but rather by the Will of HaShem!

Sometimes we just need that tap on the shoulder from a stranger or our proverbial Prince Charming to wake us up to the reality that there is a plan, and we’re just a character playing out a script. And one day, the curtain will lift and we’ll have the performance of a lifetime, directed by the Wisest and Most Intentional of All.

Not only will we feel Yad HaShem on our backs when we view the irony of our own stories, but even through suffering and especially afterwards, we’ll feel the kiss of Gd on every aspect of our lives, as we pray to see Him more and more easily throughout our next endeavors.