America is a superpower. Israel is a sliver on the map. America is vast. Israel is a tiny nation with no natural resources.

Which is why it is so jarring to hear the United States, with the largest military on earth, speak about fighting side by side with Israel, and even describe that partnership as an honor.

It stops you because, on paper, this should not be the story. A nation this small should not carry this kind of weight.

This is more than a headline. It reveals something remarkable about the Jewish story.

Yesterday began the Jewish month of Nissan. With it comes the very first commandment given to the Jewish people as a nation:

“This month shall be for you the head of months, it shall be the first for you of the months of the year.”

Nissan is explicitly called the first month of the Jewish year. But that seems strange, because we all know that Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, comes at the beginning of the month of Tishrei.

So which one is it? When does Jewish time begin?

More deeply, why do we need two beginnings for one year?

The Rebbe explains that this is not a technical detail. These two “heads” describe a fundamental definition of Jewish identity.

Tishrei celebrates the beginning of the world. It represents nature, order, and stability. Rosh Hashanah marks the birthday of creation itself, and the beginning of a world that functions according to a dependable pattern. Seeds grow. Rain falls. Planets orbit on schedule. People build lives through effort and structure.

There is something deeply G-dly about nature.

The sun never fails to rise on time. The human body works with astonishing precision. The world has exactly what human life needs in order to exist. Nature is not the absence of G-d. Nature is one of His greatest creations.

But then comes the month of Nissan and tells us that nature is not the whole story.

Nissan begins not with creation, but with redemption. Not with the birth of the world, but with the birth of the Jewish people.

And where does that happen?

Not with Adam in the Garden of Eden, but with slaves in Egypt. Not when we are strong and settled, but when we look helpless and weak.

At that very moment, when the Jewish people were trapped in slavery and could not imagine a way out, G-d came to them and said: “This month shall be for you the head of months.”

In other words, you will have your own unique way of counting time. Your story will not be defined only by the rules of the world, but by the miracles through which I will bring you into being.

The Jewish people were not born in a palace. We were born in exile, in helplessness, surrounded by an empire that seemed untouchable. And it was there, in the place where logic said we had no future, that G-d told us to begin counting our months from Nissan.

That was not just a command about dates. It was a declaration that the Jewish people would never be defined only by the laws of nature.

Yes, we live in the world of Tishrei. We work, build, plan, fight, and act responsibly within the natural order. But our foundation as a nation is the month of Nissan.

The month of miracles.

The sages often connect the name Nissan to the Hebrew word nes, “miracle.” Even the name of the month reminds us what kind of people we are. A people who begin counting not from creation, but from redemption.

From the very beginning of our existence, the Jewish people were taught that we are not a nation among nations in the ordinary sense. We are a nation founded on the knowledge that G-d can lift us beyond what seems possible.

And that is the point of two beginnings to the year. One marks the creation of the world. The other marks the creation of a people who would reveal that the Creator is not imprisoned within His world.

Tishrei tells us to respect nature. Nissan tells us never to worship it.

That is what G-d taught us then, and that is what Nissan continues to teach us now. Pharaoh had power and a huge army. The Jews had no leverage, no escape plan, and no path forward that made any sense.

And then G-d broke all the rules.

A slave nation walked free. The sea split. History changed.

3,338 years ago, when G-d appeared to Moses in Egypt and gave the simple instruction that the Jewish calendar would begin with this month, He was not only speaking to a generation of slaves. He was speaking to us in 2026 as well.

He was telling us who we are.

We are again surrounded by enemies who wish to destroy us. We again look at the size of the nations around us, at all the worldwide hate directed against us, and we wonder how such a small people keeps surviving, keeps rebuilding, and keeps standing at the center of history.

On the first day of this month of miracles, G-d gave us the answer. We are a nation built on miracles.

Over these last two years, since October 7th, we have seen that truth unfold again before our eyes. We have seen pain that broke our hearts and evil that shook us to the core. We have seen how vulnerable Jewish life can feel.

But we have also seen events unfold in ways that are hard to describe in ordinary language. We have seen enemies who seemed untouchable suddenly exposed. We have seen the pager operation that stunned Hezbollah and revealed just how deeply Israel had penetrated its systems. We have seen senior Iranian commanders killed in precision strikes that changed the battlefield in moments.

We have seen every last one of our hostages return back home, and we have seen thousands upon thousands of military missions over Iran, Lebanon and Gaza unfold with a level of precision that seems to defy the odds.

Yes, there is bravery. Yes, there is strategy. Yes, we have amazing intelligence and unbelievably committed soldiers. Yes, we see ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

But Nissan is not only about how bravely Jews respond. It is about how the Jewish story begins beyond nature and repeatedly escapes the limits of ordinary expectation.

So yes, we celebrate Rosh Hashanah, and yes, we live in the natural world. But Nissan reminds us that we belong to the Author of nature, to the King of all kings.

That we are a nation founded on miracles.

Rabbi Yankie & Chana Denburg

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)