Q&A: What Is the Boundary Between Human Action and the Creator’s Action in the World?
What Is the Boundary Between Human Action and the Creator’s Action in the World?
Question
In which areas of our lives can we say that we truly act by our own power, and therefore the credit for what is done belongs fully to us — and in which areas does it only seem to us that we act alone, while in fact that is not so?
For example, in the blessing “Who brings forth bread from the earth,” we bless God for the bread, even though He does not actually “bring” bread out of the ground — after all, it is the human being who plows, sows, harvests, grinds, and bakes. If so, why is the act attributed to God?
And likewise regarding the request for rain — we know that rain is the result of a natural physical process of evaporation and condensation, so what is the meaning of praying for rain in an age when we understand the scientific mechanism?
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. It’s obvious that a person acts, and it’s obvious that without the Holy One, Blessed be He, it would not happen. So what is the question?
Discussion on Answer
I explained. He does indeed bring forth bread from the earth. Without His creating the world, the sea, the soil, the plants, and the laws of nature that make it possible for us to grow it, it would not happen.
Alright,
according to that, did He also desecrate the Sabbath that I desecrated?
In confession, am I supposed to confess sins that God committed?
That strips all meaning from our actions…
We don’t call someone, without whom something wouldn’t have happened, the one who did it.
For example, the doctor didn’t operate on anyone — rather the factory that made the surgical instruments did, and it didn’t either, etc.
Alright, this is the stage where I’ll rely on your own abilities to find an answer to these very difficult questions.
It’s a broader question, but I’ll narrow it down to the blessing “Who brings forth bread from the earth.”
He doesn’t bring it forth.
The farmer brings it forth.
What am I supposed to think when I recite this blessing?
Or with “He makes the wind blow and the rain fall”?
He doesn’t make the wind blow and He doesn’t make the rain fall.