Q&A: Personal Providence, Quantum Theory, and Illness
Personal Providence, Quantum Theory, and Illness
Question
Hello Rabbi, regarding free choice: why can’t one argue that God intervenes in places where there is no free choice at all, and also no statistical change—such as illnesses, viruses, things that in reality are hard to test and observe? For example, I have a friend who got cancer as a child and recovered (thank God?) and said that surely he got it from the Holy One, blessed be He.
Here too, the attempt to detect a change in the statistics doesn’t work, since the statistics of cancer are constantly changing, and science itself does not even clearly know when the immune system will lose or succeed in overcoming the disease.
The same question could be asked about quantum theory, although one could say that if He intervenes at point A, necessarily that would come at the expense of B, otherwise there would be a change in the statistical nature of reality. But regarding illnesses, I’m interested in what the Rabbi has to say.
Thank you very much
Answer
I didn’t understand what a statistical change is or what its connection is to us. In my view, there is no indication of God’s involvement, although one should not rule out sporadic involvement. You should read my columns that deal with this. The question of whether or not there is a statistical explanation is not connected to divine involvement, but rather to our ability to detect it.