Q&A: Providence in Israel’s Wars
Providence in Israel’s Wars
Question
Hello Rabbi!
Following a discussion I had with friends in the army, most of whom are not religious, about “divine intervention” in Israel’s wars, and in light of the Rabbi’s comments on prayer/providence, I wanted to ask the Rabbi’s opinion:
Is there a way to explain the many victories of the State of Israel, against all odds, without saying that there was help from Heaven or divine intervention (or any similar formulation, a miracle within nature…), or is everything attributed only to tactical and strategic advantage? True, this is a question without practical ramifications, and the army trains and does not rely on miracles… It is well known that universities around the world do not teach Israel’s wars because they have no way to explain the victories. What is the Rabbi’s view?
And on the same topic, if there really is no divine intervention at all, what is the purpose of a prayer assembly held when Israel is in distress, such as during wars or for hostages, Heaven forbid? Are we asking the Holy One, blessed be He, to depart from His usual way and intervene, or does it have an effect even without a change in the way the world is governed?
Of course, these matters are beyond our understanding when it comes to comprehending God’s ways, but I would be glad to know how the Rabbi sees these things.
Thank you very much and all the best!
Answer
Hello L.,
In my opinion there is certainly a way, and many people do so. No less well than with any other war. I do not necessarily see providence or miracle here.
By the way, why does the army train at all? After all, the Holy One, blessed be He, will help, no? Well, of course we forgot the excuse of “human effort.”
As for the myth that universities do not teach the victories here, I have no idea where you got that nonsense, but it is surely part of some kind of religious propaganda. Utter nonsense.
Indeed, when people pray they are asking for intervention. It seems to me that usually it does not happen.
Discussion on Answer
And what does that text say? Did they train? They simply went out to fight, and the Lord did what was good in His eyes.
I didn’t say there is no need to train, and not only because of “human effort,” but because one does not rely on a miracle; I think there is a distinction. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is “the One who gives us strength to achieve victory.”
I’m not an expert in the history of wars around the world, but victory in situations like those Israel has faced is not something ordinary.
The quote I brought is something I heard from someone who was in that course at a university in the U.S.; I don’t remember from whom right now. But that’s not the point.
True, one can explain everything rationally, just as there are those who took pains to explain the biblical miracles as natural phenomena, but why insist on saying the other side too—that the Holy One, blessed be He, has completely removed His providence? When did providence change? True, today there are no open miracles, but why not say that the Holy One, blessed be He, acts through nature? I don’t see “divine intervention” as something that never happens; maybe it is hidden, but does it really never happen at all?!
There is a natural way to explain everything.
Or at least that is the basic assumption of modern science.
If you depart from that assumption, there is no way at all to identify a miracle. Any miracle that happens today will be treated as an observation requiring explanation. If it is in a “higher” domain (in terms of the level of reduction to physics), then it is not hard to find an explanation, because the field is flexible anyway. The “lower” the domain, the harder it is, but even if no explanation is found, the observation will simply wait for a theory that explains it and receives empirical confirmation. Thus, for example, a cosmologist (and I am deliberately giving an example from a field in which it is impossible to perform an adequately empirical experiment) who receives an observation that does not fit the theory will never dismiss the observation as a miracle.
Again, I understand that everything can be explained according to science, but why is the Rabbi also driven to explain it that way? Is it so far-fetched to say that there is divine intervention (I don’t like that term…) as the Jewish people have been accustomed to throughout their history?
I didn’t say it never happens, only that it doesn’t seem to happen. In ordinary life that is certainly not the case, but exceptional cases can always exist. Whenever you test the laws of nature, they work. When there is divine intervention, it is always a deviation from the laws of nature.
You call it forcing the explanation, but I call your approach forced. To me, the talk about divine involvement is self-deception. Almost all of us live within the scientific worldview and believe in it. When you take a painkiller, it reduces a fever whether you prayed or not. That is why people invent “human effort” and other funny excuses. No one really believes that any particle in the universe moves contrary to the laws of physics. Even if we saw it with our own eyes, we would not believe it. Larger systems are nothing but collections of particles, and therefore it is not likely that a large system works differently.
“If we saw it with our own eyes, we would not believe it.” Meaning, in practice you will never believe in a miracle, only in its possibility.
Indeed. It is hard to imagine a situation in which, upon encountering an event, I would declare it a miracle. But I think it is still possible (in a sufficiently extreme case). It seems to me that such a situation can be judged only when one actually experiences it.
Why does the army train at all? After all, the Holy One, blessed be He, will help, no?
It says explicitly:
And when Joab saw that the battle was set against him in front and behind, he chose from all the picked men of Israel and arrayed them against Aram. And the rest of the people he placed in the hand of Avishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. And he said: If Aram is too strong for me, then you shall come to my rescue; and if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. Be strong, and let us strengthen ourselves for our people and for the cities of our God; and the Lord will do what is good in His eyes.