Q&A: Providence
Providence
Question
I’m opening a new question even though I already asked this, because you replied to me there, but then I asked again and wasn’t answered, and you explained to me that I wasn’t clear, so I’ll try again. I understood that the Rabbi’s view is that nowadays there is no intervention in creation. I argued that nowadays, if God does intervene, He has to hide it, because otherwise free choice would be nullified. You answered me that in the past there were miracles, and despite that people still sinned. I reply that in the past there was a special impulse toward idolatry, but more than that: today, if laboratory experiments were to show, with unequivocal proof, that there is divine intervention in creation, free choice would be nullified, because the miracle would always remain, unlike in the past, when there was a miracle and the next day they forgot. In short, today people stick to clear facts. You’ll still ask: okay, so there isn’t any proof, but proof that there is intervention, right? But one has to take into account that if there is evidence that there is such intervention, then the fact that we don’t see it is at least not proof against it, because God is כביכול forced to hide His intervention. Happy holiday, and sorry if I’m not clear. You wrote to me several times that I’m not clear. I’m trying, but apparently not enough, so forgive me for that.
Answer
You are very optimistic about our generation. Many would tell you that I am the best proof against your claim. Open miracles are done for us (the establishment of the State, the ingathering of the exiles), and I do not recognize them. But beyond that, at the sin of the golden calf there were very open and extremely powerful miracles, and the Jewish people sinned immediately. Why do you assume that today this couldn’t happen? In my opinion, it easily could.
Beyond that, even if you were right in that argument, in practice there is no indication of miracles, so I see no reason to assume they exist. I did not write that this is evidence against God. Maybe you didn’t notice, but I do believe in Him.
Discussion on Answer
I’ll answer one more time, and that’s it. These excuses do not help at all. If you had reached the conclusion that there is providence and you were struggling with why we don’t see it, then maybe there would be room for such explanations. But if you have no reason to assume it exists, then these explanations change nothing. By the same token, you could say that nowadays there are five-winged demons. We just don’t see them because the Holy One, blessed be He, doesn’t want to frighten us. Therefore there are five-winged demons. Thus it is proved.
I devoted column 243 to this.
Have a good week. Let me ask differently: if the Torah said that God answers prayers, and you didn’t have the excuse that today His policy has changed—suppose it said that this never changes forever—would you accept that He is playing hide-and-seek with us?
Maybe.
So now what I said can be accepted. I didn’t say that I have a reason to assume there is providence; rather, I neutralized the question that today we see the opposite of what is written in the Torah. But you keep coming back and telling me: but there is no evidence that there is divine intervention in creation. Correct, there is no evidence—but your answer is more far-fetched than mine, especially since if I’m right, then there is no need for your answer.
I think I referred you to column 243. We’ve exhausted this.
You’re simply ignoring a new argument. In your column you didn’t raise the claim that nowadays, if God intervenes, He is forced to intervene secretly, in a way that cannot be tested. You can disagree with me, but don’t refer me to the column—it’s not relevant. It’s possible that even in the past the intervention was in that way, and if so, the claim is that today is no different from the past in any way. Your whole ability to contradict what is written is based on the theory that God changed His mode of governing. But if there is a better explanation—that He really does intervene, and the moment you start checking, you won’t find anything, because that is the only way He can intervene without preventing free choice for someone who wants to deny—then your proof from reality has fallen away. Now you’ll go back and say: why not believe there are demons that nobody sees? That’s demagogic nonsense, because this is written in the Torah, and that is not.
The proof from the sin of the golden calf is not a proof, because the impulse toward idolatry is a different kind of impulse; you discussed that in your book. And what you write about the miracles of the founding of the State is also not proof, because it can’t be tested in a laboratory. Now, I didn’t say that you don’t believe. I understood from you that the reason you think there is no intervention in creation today is because you don’t see it. But if God doesn’t want to show it so that free choice won’t be lost, then there’s no reason to say that His mode of governing has changed. In short, in your set of considerations I didn’t see that you bring in this datum, that today specifically there is hidden providence.