Q&A: Are Prayers Answered
Are Prayers Answered
Question
On page 260 of the book No Man Rules the Spirit, the Rabbi wrote that the Sages thought divine intervention was not only miracle but also nature. In contrast, today we know that this is not so. What changed? What do we know that they did not know, or what did they believe differently?
Answer
I explained it. The Sages thought there were gaps in the laws of nature, meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, could choose among different options, all of which were “natural.” Today we know that this is not so. To this day there are quite a few rabbis who think that divine involvement within nature is possible, meaning that it is not even a hidden miracle, but something that is not a miracle at all.
Discussion on Answer
Even if there are such things (and I’m really not sure), these are extremely rare events that appear only in very specific contexts. But in any case, it is irrelevant to us, because even if quantum theory allows several different possible futures, the choice among them is according to the quantum distribution, and if the Holy One, blessed be He, intervenes and chooses a particular future, that is intervention that changes nature.
That I understood. But what made them think that an external action is still nature, and how did we come to know that the gaps are no longer part of nature?
They are not claiming that an external action is nature, but rather that divine involvement within a gap is not a deviation from nature. That is, in their view, what actually happened does not contradict the laws of nature, because it was one of the options that nature itself allows. But according to our current knowledge there are no gaps in the laws of nature, meaning that given a particular state there is only one option for the next state (aside from quantum theory, which I explained is not relevant here).
Regarding gaps in nature, I’ll just mention that about two months ago a discussion was raised here about the possibility that today there are quantum phenomena in nature that could change major events.
https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%94%D7%A9%D7%A4%D7%A2%D7%AA-%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%A2%D7%9C-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%90%D7%95%D7%AA-2