חדש באתר: עוזר בינה מלאכותית המבוסס על כתביו ושיעוריו של הרב מיכאל אברהם

Q&A: On Lack of Harmony in Reality

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Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.

On Lack of Harmony in Reality

Question

Hello Rabbi, and happy holiday!
I wanted to ask you a question that has been bothering me for quite some time. Just for clarification, I belong to the Religious Zionist camp, and I have no intention of raising difficulties just for the sake of it. I simply came across a question that occurred to me and gives me no peace of mind, and I have been trying to provide myself with an answer without any success, so I turned to you in the hope of finding a response.
So here it is: I searched quite a bit, I think, and did not find in Judaism a rational answer to non-harmonious phenomena in reality. Just to be safe, since I do not know whether “lack of harmony” is the precise term to describe the phenomena in reality that I mean, I will give a few examples.
Not long ago, at home in the fruit basket, I found two bananas sharing the same peel, something apparently unusual in the natural order. Another example: not long ago I read online about a brown-and-white panda bear, and that it is the only one in the world. These phenomena and others like them appear, seemingly, as unusual occurrences in the natural order of the world, something that could indicate a lack of intelligent design.
Another type, somewhat different in definition, of non-harmonious appearances in reality—I suppose they can be called that—is things that do not deviate from the natural order, yet in some sense seem unplanned, like random side effects that are hard to attribute to the product of an intelligent designer.
Again, I will give a few examples: connected eyebrows, bodily secretions, itching on the body, beauty marks. Maybe at first these examples raise a slight chuckle, but after some thought it is hard to attribute all these phenomena to parts of an intelligently designed system. These phenomena, again apparently, testify to a lack of planning or intelligent intervention in reality, since it is hard to ascribe to them an intelligent image.
And just for clarification, I do not expect Judaism to provide an answer for every specific “non-harmonious” case in reality. I do not expect to receive a spiritual explanation for why two bananas share one peel, or why sometimes there is itching on the body. But I do expect to receive a general rational answer to the phenomenon of “lack of harmony” in reality. What role does this serve in our world?
If I compare this to the phenomenon of evil in the world, for example, then I do not expect to receive a specific answer to why the Holocaust happened (and there is no such answer, nor should there be), but on the other hand I do receive in Judaism a rational and comprehensive explanation for the role/meaning of evil in our world in general (a little visible good, hidden good, atonement for sins, etc.).
I would be glad to know and hear from the Rabbi whether there is a rational theistic explanation for the phenomenon of lack of harmony in our world—preferably from a Jewish source, if there is one.
 

Answer

As I understand it, there is no point in looking for a causal explanation here. The world develops according to the laws of evolution, and these dictate the formation of all kinds of creatures. The Holy One, blessed be He, created the laws, but does not necessarily intervene in their ongoing operation.
The same is true regarding evil; I have already written here several times that this is the explanation. See, for example, here: https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%94-%D7%98%D7%95%D7%91-%D7%90%D7%95-%D7%A8%D7%A2/

Discussion on Answer

Noam (2018-04-01)

I read the link you sent about evil in the world, but the question still remains: why does the Holy One, blessed be He, act in the world according to the laws familiar to us, which among other things create useless or non-harmonious phenomena?

Isn’t it to be expected that if our world is planned by an all-powerful intelligent Creator, then the world would be composed only of entities that have purpose and meaning? Why would the Creator choose to establish a system of laws—in this case, the laws of evolution—that would produce, among other things, meaningless products? If His intelligence is unlimited, why would He not establish a system of laws that would allow the “evolutionary” process to produce only results with meaning and purpose, and without “side effects”?

Michi (2018-04-02)

I have already written here several times (and it is also mentioned briefly in the link above) that even the Almighty cannot create a system of laws that does not exist. He cannot create a round triangle or a square whose diagonal is shorter than its side. Now, if you challenge Him by asking why He did not make a better system, you are apparently assuming that there is a better system of laws. How do you know that? Maybe there is no system of laws that would do everything the current system does, but without what you called the non-harmonious parts. The burden of proof is on the questioner.

Noam (2018-04-03)

Understood, thank you very much, Rabbi!

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