Thank you very much!
A question on a similar topic, but related:
Is there an obligation (or even a need) to recite the blessing of thanksgiving after danger?

These things are explained in detail in the trilogy. I explained there that even according to my approach there is room to give thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He, but not for a specific event (because He is probably not involved in it), rather as an opportunity to thank Him for the creation of the world as a whole.

Rabbi, isn’t that dodging the issue? Meaning, if the Sages already obligated us to recite the thanksgiving blessing, then we use it to thank God for creating the world, and that way it fits with my worldview. It sounds a bit forced.

That’s really not dodging the issue. The Sages instituted it, and as far as I’m concerned there’s no reason to abolish it, even if they themselves did not understand the Holy One’s involvement in the world the way I do.

What I meant by the word “dodging” was that there seems to be a determination here that is not really necessary (according to the Rabbi’s view), but what can we do—our Sages established it and we are obligated to it. I won’t abolish it (as said, there’s no need to / it does no harm if it exists), but at least with the words I say: “Who bestows good upon the guilty, and who has bestowed every good upon me,” I’ll intend something else (the creation of the whole world and the conditions that brought me into the world).

Seemingly, according to your view, since thanking for the creation of the world is always a good thing, and that is the intention one can have in this commandment, one could recite it whenever it comes to mind to thank for creation, and it would not be a blessing in vain.

But if we stick to the Sages’ determination that limited the blessing to the four well-known cases (which were expanded to any life-threatening situation), and we stick to that intention (gratitude for the creation of the world), the connection between the boundaries of the commandment and its intention seems weak to nonexistent—but at least it would make sense in my head.

Rabbi, a few more small questions on the same topic:
A. Is it permitted to pray for the elevation of a soul?
B. Is there an obligation to say “Blessed is the true Judge”? Where does that obligation come from?

With God’s help, on the eve of the holy Sabbath, “and He loved you and blessed you and multiplied you,” 5780

To the questioner—greetings,

Maimonides already taught us that the essence of a person’s reward for his good deeds is the elevation of his soul, so that it may merit to know God in the best possible way. The main reward is given to a person in the World of Truth, where the spirit is freed from the shackles of the body. The good a person receives in this world is an incentive, improved “service conditions” that help him acquire his spiritual perfection.

For that reason, even in the prayer composed by the Men of the Great Assembly, the requests for material needs are woven into a framework that makes clear that the foundation of foundations is the aspiration for the spiritual elevation of the community and the individual. We place at the head of our aspirations things “not of this world”: to follow in the footsteps of Abraham, who called out in God’s name to the whole world; to reach a state of the “Garden of Eden before the sin,” which will return in the “revival of the dead”; and to attain holiness like that of the ministering angels.

But even in the continuation of the prayer, which returns us to our reality in this world, it is clear that everything begins and ends with the elevation of the soul of the individual and the public. Only after asking for understanding, repentance, and healing of the soul do we ask for redemption (from the suffering of exile), healing, good livelihood, and the ingathering of the exiles. And immediately we return and focus on the spiritual elevation of the nation: the restoration of justice and spiritual leadership by the righteous and the pious, the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the kingdom of the House of David, the favorable acceptance of our prayer and service, and the peak of peaks: the light of God’s countenance bringing peace, within our souls and within all human society.

In short: the main point of prayer is for the elevation of the souls of the individual and society, and from within that we also ask for suitable material conditions that will make it easier for us to attain that elevation.

With blessings, Shatz

Since the main “elevation of the soul” of a person is in the world of souls, and since the whole collective is one organism, a person’s prayer for his fellow can also be effective—especially in the state of “a son brings merit to his father,” where the father, through his personal example, education, and encouragement to his children, is a cause of their good deeds, and their merits justly assist the elevation of the parents’ souls in the World of Truth.

In paragraph 3, line 2
…for the elevation of the soul of the individual and the public, …

Shoel,
A. Why not?
B. Why not? Because the Sages instituted it.

A. Thank you very much for the answer (and also to Shatz, for the enlightening explanation).

B. Honorable Rabbi, seemingly this is a mistake from the outset about the perception of reality, and Jewish law doesn’t operate that way. After all, what is the connection between the true judgment of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the fact that Reuven murdered Shimon?!
And even if we say the reason changed but the enactment was not nullified (although that doesn’t sound reasonable), still, why is there no room to use halakhic authority at least to freeze the law? (Like in Column 101?) This is a commandment that really causes pain (not long ago a friend of a good friend of mine passed away, and he truly could not bring himself to recite this blessing, which caused him distress).
In short, the matter seems puzzling to me. To bless the Holy One, blessed be He, because of human errors after suffering was caused—and all this because of the formal authority of the Sages?
I would appreciate your answer.

First, it is not necessarily a mistake. There may have been a policy change over the generations. Second, the reason for the blessing remains, and I see no reason not to recite it. And someone for whom it is difficult should make the effort. Commitment to Jewish law is not a picnic.

Wow, thank you very much for following the threads. I really appreciate it.

A. I said it could be that it’s not a mistake, and clearly in the period of the Mishnah there was more individual providence. But still it’s obvious that the vast majority of things that happened happened by the force of physics and not through the Holy One’s intervention. If we take murder as an example, does the Rabbi not agree that in the overwhelming majority of cases the murdered person “perished without justice”?
B. What does “the reason for the blessing remains” mean? In what sense?
C. Obviously we don’t abolish Jewish law “just because it’s hard.” But if it lacks logic (or at least is mistaken), and as a result we cause people difficulty, is there no room to abolish the blessing (if we decide it was based on an error) or at least freeze it (if we really decide that such a change occurred over the generations)?

A. What does the majority have to do with it here? If the Holy One is involved, then even when He decides not to intervene, that too is His decision.
B. As I explained. To thank the Holy One for the world He created, within which what happened to me happened.
C. But it does not lack logic.