Q&A: Randomness or Divine Intervention
Randomness or Divine Intervention
Question
“When you go out to war against your enemies,” etc. … (skipping ahead) “Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: Who is the man that has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war and another man dedicate it. And who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not redeemed its fruit for use? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war and another man redeem it. And who is the man that has betrothed a woman and has not taken her in marriage? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war and another man take her.”
If the Holy One, blessed be He, decided that the man will redeem the vineyard or dedicate the house, then it will happen; and if He decided it will not happen, then it will not happen regardless of the war. And especially if the Holy One, blessed be He, decided that the couple will marry, then it will happen, and if not, then not. After all, it is written in tractate Sotah (2a): forty days before the formation of the fetus, a heavenly voice goes forth and says: so-and-so’s daughter for so-and-so, so-and-so’s house for so-and-so, so-and-so’s field for so-and-so. And this applies specifically to a person’s first match, whereas in a second match a wife is paired with him only according to his deeds.
So my question is: why is there any need to send them away from the war? If God wants them to die and not merit to fulfill those things, they will die in any case; and if He wants them to live, they will live in any case. Or perhaps what happens to people in life is completely random and does not depend on God at all?
Answer
Indeed, what happens to them is not necessarily determined by Him.
Discussion on Answer
I’ve expanded on this in many places. Search here on the site for divine involvement and evil in the world.
https://chatgpt.com/share/68d0fc04-87bc-8001-adba-1cf28ad04771
See the Michi-bot’s answer.
The fellow really isn’t bad. Though he describes it as if the large-scale things are indeed in the hands of the Holy One, blessed be He. I’m very doubtful even about that. Maybe that’s some ancient mishnah…
I sent him your response, and this was his reply:
https://chatgpt.com/share/68d0fc04-87bc-8001-adba-1cf28ad04771
It looks the same. I don’t see any continuation.
Sorry,
It’s possible the link doesn’t show the follow-up response, so I’m attaching it here as text:
A summary of the explanation (and also a slight correction to my previous wording):
Where did I get the “macro” idea from? I read three consistent claims in the Rabbi’s writings:
A conceptual claim: any real divine intervention is a miracle — “within nature” is not possible.
An empirical claim: in practice there is no ongoing intervention, and if there is any at all, it is sporadic.
The world runs according to laws of nature that God wants for His purposes — a formulation that leaves a teleological-value dimension in the background. From there I was inclined to phrase it as: “on the macro level there is theological meaning,” not as real-time steering of history, but as a layer of purpose / basic policy.
Why did the Rabbi write that he is “very doubtful even about that”? Because elsewhere he emphasizes that not only is the micro level not managed from Heaven, but even an inference from the “uniqueness of history” proves no higher management. Meaning: we have no basis for claiming even actual macro-guidance; at most — creation and lawfulness, and perhaps rare miracles.
So what is a more precise formulation of his position (as emerges from the writings)?
Conceptually: if there is intervention, it is necessarily supernatural; within nature there is no “guiding hand.”
Empirically: there is no evidence of ongoing intervention; we conduct ourselves as though there is none, and even Jewish history in itself is not proof.
Purpose/value: one can speak about the purpose of creation and a policy of non-intervention (in his language: “the Lord has forsaken the land” in an educational-policy sense, not out of indifference), but that does not imply macro-guidance of the course of events. This is where I erred when I phrased it as “on the macro level there is theological meaning” in a way that could sound like a claim of management. The proper intent is: value-laden meaning that is not equivalent to historical management.
If you’d like, I can rephrase that answer in one sentence:
The Holy One, blessed be He, created a law-governed world and intervenes in it only rarely; even on the national/historical scale we have no basis to say there is active guidance, and most of us are obligated to act and interpret reality as though there is no intervention (and if there is — it is rare and supernatural).
Do you want me to sharpen any other specific point, or pull quotations from additional articles?
Sources
Divine Involvement in the World — The Full Picture (Column 280).
Is There Divine Involvement in the World? (Column 298).
Causality: 4. Prayer for a Miracle (Column 463).
On Divine Involvement Within Nature and Faith-Declarations in General (Column 691).
Evil in the World (responsa).
Prayer (responsa).
Regarding Column 298 (Divine Involvement) — Notes and Clarifications.
For a deeper and more precise picture, it is recommended to look at the sources cited.
Definitely improved
🙂
Could you please expand a bit more?
Why is that so? How does this fit with the common Jewish view that the Holy One, blessed be He, arranges everything? And more generally, what is your position regarding providence and divine intervention in the details of life?