Q&A: Good and Evil, Divine Providence, and What Lies Between
Good and Evil, Divine Providence, and What Lies Between
Question
Hello Rabbi!
Lately I’ve been wondering how to relate to statements that, on the one hand, claim that in cases of disasters and evil one should not blame the Holy One, blessed be He, because “that’s how He created the world” and no evil comes down from Heaven, but on the other hand, when something happens on a large scale—for example, something that specifically benefits us—they claim that it comes from God. In your opinion, is it possible to hold both approaches without ending up in a contradiction? Beyond the fact that it doesn’t seem very intellectually honest to me (when it goes against you, it’s not God, and when it goes in your favor, it is from Him), is there any real substance to this, with support from the sources and from reason?
Answer
You’re completely right. There is room to reconcile it if we’re talking about human evil and natural good. I don’t think the Holy One, blessed be He, is involved here at all, for good or for bad.
Discussion on Answer
I’ve written about this more than once. It’s possible that every now and then there is intervention, though to the best of my understanding there are no indications of that whatsoever. Sporadic involvement. You can search the site.
But all these claims would also have been true in the time of the prophets.
What makes you think that back then He was involved?
Did something change in reality from the time of the prophets until today, such that there is less involvement?
That’s a point I’ve never understood in your argument.
You write that you’ve never understood, which means you’ve read what I wrote on the subject. Fine, then I have nothing to add. The matter was explained well enough.
And what about the possibility that God does sometimes intervene in our world and cause both good things and bad things to happen to us? Are there no situations with divine involvement??