Q&A: Everything Is from Heaven
Everything Is from Heaven
Question
Hello,
I wanted to ask about trust.
If someone’s car tire gets a puncture, is that specifically intentional—that God wanted it to happen to that person at that time—or is it due to natural causes?
And is there a difference between a puncture that happened on its own and one that a neighbor or some other person did intentionally?
Answer
In my view, in neither case is it the Holy One, blessed be He. We’re talking either about a natural occurrence or about something a human being did. The whole thesis of trust and human effort is nonsense; even if people repeat it again and again, it does not cease to be nonsense. I’ve written about this a great deal, and you can search here on the site: divine involvement in the world, the problem of evil, and trust and human effort.
Discussion on Answer
I have no idea what his view is. If you write it out, we can discuss it.
In the Rabbi’s view, the basic principle of Duties of the Heart, Gate of Trust, by Rabbenu Bachya is not correct?