We continue with our pasuk that Hashem has nothing stopping him whether a small or big cause.
Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein, the great Mashgiach of the Ponovezh Yeshiva quotes the Hovot HaLevavot that we quoted previously, about the man in a desert who drinks bitter waters and then later finds an oasis. The man hadn’t realized that God could’ve given to him in a different way.
He says that believing in a Creator is not a complete Emuna. Any smart person can believe in that. It’s almost silly to believe that the world came into being on its own and all of the evolution theories.
All of the ancient philosophers believed in a God, and even today, in a world where using the word “God” is not legal, they’ll use the term, “a higher power,” or “a higher force.”
He says that all of the questions of the philosophers of old, and the deniers of today, regarding God’s supervision, boil down to Does God really watch and see? We Jewish people, who have experienced Yetziat Mitzrayim, are very close to Emuna. But with a little bit of thought, any one can realize this concept.
The main work, he says, is to realize the falsehood in the sibbot/causes, to realize that there is no cause in this world, other than God’s will.
But it’s not enough to realize this in your head. You have to really live your life that way. You have to realize that all the causes are nothing, and all of your strength and power is nothing. This is why we have tefillot and berachot.. to constantly put into our hearts the belief that nothing exists without God’s will. Everything is just a cover-up. This is the En Od Milevado concept.
A man recently told me that his wife had Covid. Her husband wanted to be on the safe side, so although she was only in her 40s or 50s, and didn’t really need it, he ordered an antibody drip for her. It was a little difficult to come by, and it cost a few hundred dollars, but the man decided to ship it from out of state, just to make sure his wife was safe.
It took a day to come, and by the next day his wife was already feeling better. He realized he didn’t really need it after all, but it was already on its way. Then, the next day, his elderly mother, who was medically compromised, was diagnosed with Covid, and she needed the drip. If he hadn’t ordered it for his wife the day before as a precaution, he would not have had it for his mother. Miracle of miracles. That is the way Hashem it makes everything happen. With causes. He’ll put it into your head to order something for your wife, something that ends up taking care of your mother. Why does God do this, asks Rav Levenstein? For one reason, it’s a test of Emuna. Someone might make the mistake of thinking, “It’s a good thing I ordered the drip or I wouldn’t have had it for my mother.” That’s a mistake. The reason that you ordered it is because God wanted that to happen. God has causes upon causes, and steps upon steps, in order to make things happen. Sometimes it’s in the most convoluted of ways. And it’s specifically that way, in order to give us the test of life, which is a test of Emuna.
This is something that we have to constantly pay attention to. We cannot get caught up in any of the intermediaries, not the doctor, nor the lawyer nor the shadchan. These are just causes that are covering up what’s making everything really happen.
And that is our pasuk- there is nothing stopping God
אן לה׳ מעצור להושיע ברב או במעט
Have a wonderful day.