Q&A: Despair Without Providence
Despair Without Providence
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I looked around the site a bit and saw the Rabbi’s view on free choice. Honestly, it’s a somewhat depressing view and it creates a feeling of loneliness in the world. It’s a bit hard to think that everything is up to me and that there is no guiding hand when things are difficult. I understand the point that serving the Creator for my own interests is not the goal, but still it’s a little hard to ignore that fact.
I’d appreciate some help. To be honest, I’ve been going through a bit of a crisis of faith lately.
Answer
I didn’t understand. I assume you mean my view on providence, not on free choice. Every person who grows up has to understand that his parents no longer rescue him even when things are hard. Now he stands on his own feet.
Beyond that, I assume this is not a total abandonment. I would guess that in a situation where everything could go completely to hell and all hope would be lost (for the whole world or for the Jewish people), He would intervene. Beyond that, I assume that keeping the commandments itself improves the world in some sense, and that too is an excellent reason to engage in it and be committed to it.
And one more somewhat philosophical point. Assuming I am right (for otherwise you would have no reason to go into a crisis), then even before you became aware of this, the Holy One, blessed be He, was not helping—you just perhaps didn’t notice. If so, your situation is probably not so bad, because from your perspective it was a situation good enough to serve God and live with joy. So what changed? I simply opened your eyes to the fact that the situation is good in itself and not because the Holy One, blessed be He, intervenes and helps. Alternatively, if the situation is hard, then it was hard before too. So why is the illusion that the Holy One, blessed be He, helps (without your actually feeling it) better for your state of mind?
There can of course be psychological explanations for these difficult feelings, but I am usually in favor of philosophical therapy: to make philosophy rule over psychology, and not let it and its deceptions influence us.
Discussion on Answer
As I said, this is only a psychological difficulty. What difference does it make what I say about God’s help? The question is whether a person feels help or not.
I did not say that this is impossible for Him or beyond His power. Of course it is possible for the Holy One, blessed be He, to override free choice. He gave it and He can take it away, and the same is true of suspending the laws of nature. But it seems to me that He almost never does so (except perhaps in rare cases that I do not notice).
Why really? Simply because it can’t be detected? Or just because it isn’t plausible?
This is not a question of a priori plausibility. We simply do not see involvement. The world operates according to fixed laws, and I have not seen any deviation from them. Controlled experiments also do not reveal deviations from the laws. From this comes the accepted assumption that if a particle in the world moves, it is because a physical force acted on it, and without that it would not move. Therefore it seems that in practice the Holy One, blessed be He, does not intervene, although of course He can do so.
With God’s help, 18 Elul 5778
To Jacob — greetings,
If the Holy One, blessed be He, had, God forbid, announced that He had “abandoned the earth,” then there would be reason to panic. But the Holy One, blessed be He, explicitly declared, “For the Lord will not forsake His people,” and His policy is not open to change, as it is written: “I the Lord have not changed, and you, sons of Jacob, have not been consumed.” Maimonides already explained in the Guide of the Perplexed (Part III, chapter 17 and onward) the existence of individual providence over everyone who possesses intellect, both from the sacred writings and from the principle of justice, which requires appropriate recompense for a person according to his choice. And Maimonides established providence as one of the principles of faith (in his introduction to the chapter Helek).
The main reward is the spiritual refinement reserved for a person even after the body perishes, but in this world the person who does good merits reasonable conditions that enable him to prepare spiritual provisions for the banquet hall (as explained in chapter 9 of the Laws of Repentance). In his Commentary on the Mishnah at the beginning of tractate Peah, Maimonides explains that in matters where a person brought benefit to others in this world, he is entitled also to “eat the fruits” in this world, besides the “principal” — the refinement of his soul — which is reserved for him in the World to Come.
Do all you can and strive for the good, and “faithful is your Employer” to assist you and give you the conditions that will enable you to reach the goal of refining the soul!
With blessings, Shatz Lewinger
In the last paragraph, line 1:
Do all you can and strive for the good, …
You can always deny the views and believe in providence.
That way at least you won’t be despairing. Unless something else is pulling you in the direction of despair.
It’s a little hard to deny views when the evidence supports them.
The evidence is that the world cannot be predicted in advance.
And even more so, even its present state cannot be known.
So it is not correct to say that choice is free and thereby hint that it is somehow different from everything else.
Everything is free.
The difficulty is trust in God. When you really need something, or help from the Holy One, blessed be He, it is hard to accept that there is no one helping. In addition, what about all those who are in distress and expect help? Does God have no relationship to them? I myself am in a good situation, but are there some people for whom it would actually be justified not to serve the Creator?
One point I thought about in terms of dualism: if it is possible for the spirit to overcome the tendencies of the body, then it should also be possible for the Holy One, blessed be He, to override free choice and supervise your choices. (It seems to me similar to connecting to Maimonides’ Active Intellect).