Our sages on daf TB Avodah Zarah 54 teaches an important truth about our world. “עוֹלָם כְּמִנְהָגוֹ נוֹהֵג וְהוֹלֵךְ-The world goes along and follows its course” (Sefaria.org translation)
In his book When
Bad Things Happen To Good People, Rabbi Harold Kushner explains that God
does not make exceptions for nice people based upon the above truth. He writes:
“One of the
things that makes the world livable is the fact that the laws of nature are
precise and reliable, and always work the same way. There is gravity: heavy
objects always fall toward the earth, so builder can build a house without
having his materials float away. There is chemistry: mixing certain elements in
certain proportions always yields the same result, so a doctor can prescribe
medication and know what will happen. We can predict when the sun will rise and
the set on any given day…
“Laws of
nature treat everyone alike. They do not make exceptions for good people or for
useful people…If Lee Harvey Oswald fires a bullet at Pres. John Kennedy, laws
of nature take over from the moment that bullet is fired. Neither the course of
the bullet nor the seriousness of the wound will be affected by questions of
whether or not Pres. Kennedy was a good person, or whether the world would be
better off with him alive or dead.
“Laws of
nature do not make exceptions for nice people. A bullet has no conscience;
neither does a malignant tumor or an automobile gone out of control. That is
why good people get sick and get hurt as much as anyone. No matter what stories
we are taught about Daniel or Jonah in Sunday school, God does not reach down
to and rub the workings of laws of nature to protect the righteous from harm…
“I don’t
know why one person gets sick, and another does not, but I can only assume that
some natural laws which we don’t understand are at work. I cannot believe that
God ‘sends’ illness to a specific person for a specific reason. I don’t believe
in a God who has a weekly quota of malignant tumors to distribute, and consults
his computer to find out who deserves one most or who could handle it best. ‘What
did I do to deserve this?’ is and understandable outcry from a sick and
suffering person, but is really the wrong question. Being sick or being healthy
is not a matter of what God decides that we deserve. The better question is ‘if
this has happened to me, what do I do now, and who is there to help me do it?’”
(pages 57-61)
Because the world goes along and
follows this course, we should not do anything stupid or reckless. “Anywhere
that the danger is established one may not rely on a miracle.” (Kiddushin 39b) We
should always take the necessary precautions.
No comments:
Post a Comment