Q&A: Divine Providence
Divine Providence
Question
Hello and thank you.
Does the Rabbi think there is room to distinguish between providence that runs counter to the natural order / interferes with free choice, and providence that operates as guidance? That is, it does not violate free choice, but rather adds a certain element to the overall set of factors that cause a person to act in a certain way, and accordingly the world also unfolds differently. And that, essentially, is also something one could pray for—for guidance from Heaven—even though a person does not cancel out his own judgment or all the natural factors that exist in the world.
Since we have seen that in the past the Holy One, blessed be He, supervised the world in an open and visible way, is there room to assume that this providence still exists today, only in a different form, rather than dismissing it entirely?
If you have already addressed this question, my apologies, and I would be happy for a reference.
Answer
There is no difference at all. Such guidance is also intervention, and as such it too contradicts the laws of nature / free choice. Without that guidance, something else would have happened here; that is, nature / free choice would have led to something different, and the guidance changed it.