Man’s Hidden Hand in History

The wisest of all men said: “Trust in GOD with all your heart, And do not rely on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3,5). Pretending one fully knows the reason or implications of historical events smacks of both hubris and oversimple thinking. Big questions, like why bad things happen on an individual or global scale, are made more difficult by the presumption we can fully understand these happenings. This is certainly true prospectively, while events are unfolding, but even in retrospect, looking back with hindsight, one should not profess to have unlocked the meaning of History. Identifying the causation of the horrors of the Holocaust, as Divine retribution for some moral or religious laxity, or, on the flip side, as a Heavenly act meant to lead to the founding of the State of Israel is not within man’s right or his capability. Rarely, we grasp the WHAT of history, but never the WHY. Echoing Solomon’s wisdom, the grittiest of all men teaches us: “A man’s got to know his limitations.” (Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry/Clint Eastwood), Magnum Force (1973)).

At the same, Man must recognize his own power. In reality, good and bad things generally happen, because people do them. Where to place the fulcrum balancing hashgacha versus bechira, Providence and free will, has challenged religious thinkers for millennia. Commentators on the Torah are bothered by the seeming contradiction where responsibility for the failed reconnaissance mission of the meraglim lies. In Bamidbar, God commands the sending of the Spies: “And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying, Send thou men, that they may spy out the land of Kena῾an…” (13:1), while in Moshe’s retelling in Devarim, “And you came near to me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land…” (1:22), the people are squarely blamed. As in most cases of trying to land responsibility, the answer probably lies somewhere in between.

The spies were ultimately sent “על פי ה׳”, (Num 13,3), by the word of God . This term , I believe, is intentionally vague, and critical in describing the notion of man’s ability, and obligation to make choices, and God’s response in kind. We find that the Israelites’ travel, and the waystations they stopped at, as being על פי ה. This is equally true regarding the marching of the Jews of the Exodus, prior to the decree to wander and die in the wilderness  (Num9:20) and, of the recalled travel log of their children, bound to enter the Land after a 38 year detour (Num 32:2). All of this journey, including the unplanned trek in the desert decreed after the Sin of the Spies, was somehow defined as על פי ה, even if the People’s poor decisions led them there. In the words of Shimon ben Lakish (Makkot 10b): “man is lead down the path he wants to go”. The usage of פי ה, the word or the mouth of God, is telling, representing the outward communication of Divine demands, rather than the greater cosmic meaning. Though history marches “by the word of God”, man can only guess as to God’s will, רצון ה. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord (Is.55:8). 

Even with the benefit of revelation, the cards are far from crystal clear. In biblical times, kings would, on rare occasions of national import, consult the Urim V’Tumim, a mysterious oracle worn and mediated by the High Priest. “And he shall stand before Elazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of the Urim before the Lord: by his word על פיו shall they go out, and by his word על פיו they shall come in…”Num (27:31). Whose word guides the people, Elazar the priest or the God’s (see Ibn Ezra)? The answer may be both. In the telling of the events of פילגש  בגבעה, the tragic civil war waged in the aftermath of a heinous crime committed in the town of Givaah. In planning their attack against Binyamin, the combined Tribes of Israel asked of God: “ ‘Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Binyamin?’ God said, ‘Yehuda  shall go up first.'” (Judges 20:18) The attack was an utter failure, with huge casualties of  the Yehuda led coalition. The Talmud (Yoma 73b) answers our rightful indignation of God’s approbation of the failed charge, by examining the Israelites’ query.  The question asked was not whether Israel should wage war, rather  who should lead the charge, given their own decision to declare war. While the attack may have been  על פי ה, the Israelites’ presumption that the war was justified and  ברצון ה was yet untested.  

We are certainly living through interesting, challenging and miraculous times.  Somehow within a matter of months, Israel suffered its greatest tragedy in modern history on October 7th, leading to a terrible war in Gaza; somehow in the aftershock, when the dust began to settle, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the long standing Syrian dictatorship were decimated an  Israel launched a stunning campaign over the skies of Iran. We neither have the understanding nor the hindsight to fully grasp the magnitude of the events occurring around us. The facts are that just as the calamity of October 7th occurred by human error in the face of human evil, the subsequent successes were by the hands of brave, dedicated men and women. How and why this cascade unfolded in such a dramatic, shocking way, we must, humbly and with gratitude, leave to God. Man rolls the dice, though he does not run the casino. God  can answer our queries, Man just needs to make sure he asks the right questions.