Category: Natural Order

Classical Torah on the Natural Order

In a recent edition of a NYC area English language Chareidi newspaper, an article on the subject of bitachon (faith) claims there is no teva (natural order), no natural cause/effect relationship, involved in our success whatsoever…the very outward actions one is forced to perform are in exact contradiction to one’s s

Classical Torah vs. Chareidi Torah: the Natural Order

In a recent edition of a NYC area English language Chareidi newspaper, an article on the subject of “bitachon” (faith) claims “there is no teva (natural order), no natural cause/effect relationship, involved in our success whatsoever…the very outward actions one is forced to perform are in exact contradiction to one’s spiritual goal…tefillah is the only reliable and potent hishtadlus“.

We can rely on several medieval Torah authorities to help the author of that article escape the artificial intellectual conundrums that Hareidi/Chassidic philosophy has created in the author’s mind.

In Derashos HaRan Derush 8, the Ran explains that “it is the will and desire of Hashem, blessed be He, to maintain the natural order of the world to the extent possible, and because nature is precious in His eyes, He does not alter it save for circumstances of pressing need.”

On the Torah verse “by the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread” (Genesis 3:19), the great medieval commentator Radak wrote:

“Man will have to be fatigued by a variety of strenuous activities before finally being able to consume bread. He has to plough, to sow, to remove weeds, to cut the grain, to thresh the kernels in their husks, to winnow, to grind the kernels into flour, to knead the dough and to bake it.”

Ran’s Torah philosophy opposes the popular notions we have been fed of Chassidic rebbes and other “miracle workers” constantly performing some kind of miracles. Instead we are taught by Ran that Hashem avoids performing miracles whenever possible.

Once one accepts that a natural order (including cause and effect) exists by the will of Hashem, the Chareidi/Chassidic conundrum disappears. Hashem has created a natural order that is precious to Him. Man is allowed by Hashem to utilize that natural order to produce Man’s needs. There is no contradiction at all in the fact that Man must exert himself, within the natural order, to produce Man’s needs.

Tefillah serves as method to thank Hashem for creating the natural order that allows Man to continue to exist, without miracles being required.

But Man’s continued existence does require him to perform the necessary exertion ( hishtadlus ) within the natural order.

A Natural Order Exists

The increasing emphasis in Judaism on esoteric Kabbalistic cosmologies that basically negate the existence of the Universe by morphing it into God has tended to suppress any beliefs in a scientific order to the Universe.There are many valid Torah sources that emphasize the existence of a natural order that most Jews a

A Natural Order Exists

The increasing emphasis in Judaism on esoteric Kabbalistic cosmologies that basically negate the existence of the Universe by morphing it into God has tended to suppress any beliefs in a scientific order to the Universe.

There are many valid Torah sources that emphasize the existence of a natural order that most Jews are subjected to. Regrettably there seems to be a trend in the last few hundred years to ignore or suppress such viewpoints.

“…the majority of the Israelite nation save an elite few, without a doubt are under the control of nature and the heavenly forces…similar to other living creatures who are not subject to God’s providence individually, but only in terms of their species…”
(Sforno, commentary on Leviticus 13:47)

“Hashem wants the natural order to remain functional…he thus allows idol-worshippers to naturally prosper in their idol worship, and even a righteous saint might be impoverished and afflicted, if nature so imposes.”
(Maharal, Commentary on the Pesach Haggada, at the word “Hallelukah”)

A belief that most Jews are subjected to the natural order does not in any way have to promote atheism or negation of belief in Hashem’s providence over the world. On the contrary, the very existence of life in this world including man’s own existence depends very much on an intelligent Creator performing an enormous level of fine tuning of the physical laws and constants to allow us to exist.

Traditional Judaism placed a strong emphasis on a person’s requirement to guard their lives from random or natural misfortunes. The earlier rabbis, unlike many of the Kabbalistic “preachers” nowadays, believed that most people are subject to the natural order. This citation from Sefer Hachinuch sums it up well:

“To remove obstacles and misfortunes from our surroundings, on this (Torah) says to make a guard-rail around your roof…so that no one will fall there…on this we say to make a wall and a fence near every obstacle. Hashem directs all the matters of man, and everything good or evil that He degrees is based on man’s merit or guilt…even so man must guard himself from all the random occurrences in this world because God built a world based on Nature, and decreed that fire burns and water extinguishes the flames…God gave man daas to guard himself from injuries…man is obligated to use his wisdom to guard himself from random occurrences…the majority of mankind in their sins do not merit a great deliverance, so the Torah commanded them to guard their surroundings so that random deaths don’t occur…whoever relies on a miracle then a miracle won’t be done for them etc etc.” (Sefer HaChinuch, Parshas Ki Tsetseh, Mitzvah 538)