Hashgacha pratis/ladder

 A message to the chareidi leadership in Israel that follow voodoo judaism!

Hashgacha Pratis isn’t God reaching down – it’s man reaching up.

In this week’s parsha, Yaakov sees the angels going up the ladder first, and only then coming down. And at the top stands Hashem – “nitzav alav” (Bereishit 28:13).

The Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 1:15) explains that when the Torah says God is “nitzav” (standing), it’s not about a body. It means God is eternal, unchanging, constant – absolutely steady, never moving, never changing.

So if God doesn’t change, how does personal hashgacha happen? How does God “get involved” in our lives?

The Rambam answers this beautifully in the exact same chapter: the torah says that  the angels go up first, and only then come down. A person has to climb – through thought, learning, prophecy– and only after that ascent does he bring something down-action to this world, to fix it, to teach it, to lead it.

That descent, says the Rambam elsewhere (1:10), is what the torah calls “God coming down.” In truth, it’s man who went up (mentally/prophecy)and is now bringing God’s light back into the world through revelation and action.

Yaakov’s dream isn’t showing some magical divine intervention. It’s showing the real mechanism: the tzaddik, the prophet, the leader – anyone created b’tzelem Elokim – climbs the ladder in his mind and soul, grasps God’s will, and then comes back down to change reality via action.

That’s hashgacha pratis in action.  

Not God moving.  

Us moving – and becoming the hands of heaven right here on earth.

Did the Akeida really happen? Does God really need to test us?

 

The Rambam in MN 2:41 says that whenever it says regarding a prophet that an angel spoke to him, it is always through a dream or a vision.

  החכמים ז"ל דיברו על כך במפורש ואמרו: "'וַיֹּאמֶר ה' לָהּ [שְׁנֵי גֹיִים בְּבִטְנֵךְ...]' (שם כה,כג) – על ידי מלאך" (בראשית רבה סג,ז). ודע שכל מי שנאמר עליו בפסוקים שדיבר איתו מלאך או שהגיע אליו דיבור מאת ה', לא היה דבר זה בשום אופן אלא בחלום או במראה הנבואה.

In this week's parsha, Genesis chapter 22, God speaks to Avraham and tells him to offer Yitzchak as a sacrifice.

וַיְהִי, אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, וְהָאֱלֹהִים, נִסָּה אֶת־אַבְרָהָם; וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, אַבְרָהָם וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי.  ב וַיֹּאמֶר קַח־נָא אֶת־בִּנְךָ אֶת־יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר־אָהַבְתָּ, אֶת־יִצְחָק, וְלֶךְ־לְךָ, אֶל־אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה; וְהַעֲלֵהוּ שָׁם, לְעֹלָה, עַל אַחַד הֶהָרִים, אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ

The next thing we read is that Avraham woke up in the morning and attempted to fulfill God's command until an angel tells him to stop.

וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר, וַיַּחֲבֹשׁ אֶת־חֲמֹרוֹ, וַיִּקַּח אֶת־שְׁנֵי נְעָרָיו אִתּוֹ, וְאֵת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ; וַיְבַקַּע, עֲצֵי עֹלָה, וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ, אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר־אָמַר־לוֹ הָאֱלֹהִים...וַיִּקְרָא אֵלָיו מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה, מִן־הַשָּׁמַיִם, וַיֹּאמֶר, אַבְרָהָם אַבְרָהָם; וַיֹּאמֶר, הִנֵּנִי.  יב וַיֹּאמֶר, אַל־תִּשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֶל־הַנַּעַר, וְאַל־תַּעַשׂ לוֹ, מְאוּמָה:  כִּי עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי, כִּי־יְרֵא אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה, וְלֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ אֶת־בִּנְךָ אֶת־יְחִידְךָ, מִמֶּנִּי.  

Now, did the vision ever end, or did all this happen—including his attempt to sacrifice Yitzchak—all as a vision? 

It would make sense that it was a vision, because at the end, when the angel speaks to Avraham, it would confirm that the entire event from beginning to end was all one vision. 

I know that there are many problems that arise with this theory, including: What kind of test was it if it was all a vision? And what reward does Avraham get for an Akeida that was just a vision? There are other problems with saying the Akeida really did happen. One of them is that, according to math and the Rabbis in Bereishit Rabbah, Yitzchak was 37 years old when the Akeida happened. In reality, he should receive more reward than Avraham. After all, he was the one allowing himself to be sacrificed despite not receiving the command or prophecy from God.

Now let's examine the word ניסיון, or test, according to the Rambam in MN 3:24:

"The sole object of all the trials mentioned in Scripture is to teach man what he ought to do or believe; so that the event which forms the actual trial is not the end desired: it is but an example for our instruction and guidance."

So if ניסיון is a lesson in how we—and future generations—should behave, then the fact that this was all a vision is not a problem. It would also explain why Yitzchak does not get credit for allowing himself to be offered as a Sacrifice. As regards why Avraham is rewarded for an act that he never performed, the Torah says twice—that an angel called out once when he was about to slaughter Yitzchak (if it was in a vision)—

וַיֹּאמֶר, אַל־תִּשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֶל־הַנַּעַר, וְאַל־תַּעַשׂ לוֹ, מְאוּמָה:  כִּי עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי, כִּי־יְרֵא אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה, וְלֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ אֶת־בִּנְךָ אֶת־יְחִידְךָ, מִמֶּנִּי. 

And again from the angel after he slaughtered a ram instead—

וַיִּקְרָא מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה, אֶל־אַבְרָהָם, שֵׁנִית, מִן־הַשָּׁמַיִם.  טז וַיֹּאמֶר, בִּי נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי נְאֻם־יְהוָה:  כִּי, יַעַן אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ אֶת־הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה, וְלֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ, אֶת־בִּנְךָ אֶת־יְחִידֶךָ.

I know this is far-fetched, but perhaps the sacrifice of his son is not what God is referring to when He says ולא חשכת את בנך את יחידך (notice that Yitzchak by name is never mentioned). Perhaps it is referring to sending his eldest, Ishmael, away so that Yitzchak can be the chosen one or the one to inherit the mission of Avraham. We saw in the previous chapter how much sending away his son Ishmael bothered and pained him. Yet he chose to do so because God told him. This may not have been an actual Akeida, but it definitely had similar emotional results...

It is to this sacrifice that God was referring in Avraham's vision.

We must differentiate between a test being the cause of the reward versus a lesson for future generations. The ten tests are lessons and not necessarily sources of reward.

What is divine intervention or Hashgacha Pratis?

 

In this week’s parsha, when Yitzchak asks Yaakov—whom he believes to be his brother Esav—how he managed to return so quickly with the prepared food, Yaakov answers as follows (Bereishit 27:20):

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יִצְחָק֙ אֶל־בְּנוֹ֔ מַה־זֶּ֛ה מִהַ֥רְתָּ לִמְצֹ֖א בְּנִ֑י וַיֹּ֕אמֶר כִּ֥י הִקְרָ֛ה יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לְפָנָֽי׃  

“And Yitzchak said to his son, ‘How is it that you found it so quickly, my son?’ And he said, ‘Because the Lord your God made it happen (hikrah) for me.’”

Yaakov’s response essentially means: “God arranged it for me that the food came quickly.” The word הִקְרָה (from the root ק־ר־ה) normally implies mere happenstance or coincidence. But when it is used together with the name of God—“הִקְרָ֛ה יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לְפָנָֽי”—Yaakov is saying that what might appear to others as chance was, in truth, the guiding hand of God.

The midrashim seize upon this answer and connect it beautifully to two earlier episodes: the Akeidah and Eliezer’s search for a wife for Yitzchak.

- At the Akeidah, after Avraham is stopped from offering Yitzchak, a ram suddenly appears caught in the thicket, ready to be sacrificed in his place.  

- When Eliezer prays at the well for a sign to find a wife for his master’s son, he explicitly uses the same root: הַקְרֵה־נָ֛א לְפָנַ֥י הַיּוֹם (“Cause it to happen [hakreh na] for me today…” – Bereishit 24:12).

The midrashim explain Yaakov’s reply to his father this way: “If God can ‘cause a ram to happen’ for the sake of His direct service (the Akeidah), and if He can ‘cause the right woman to happen’ at the well when one is seeking a spouse, then surely, when it comes to basic human sustenance—food—God will arrange for it to come quickly.”

These midrashim immediately remind me of the Rambam’s words in Moreh Nevukhim 3:51:

“When we have acquired true knowledge of God and rejoice in that knowledge in such a way that, even while speaking with others or attending to our bodily needs, our mind is wholly with God… when our heart is constantly near God even though our body is among people… when we are in the state the Song of Songs describes: ‘I sleep, but my heart is awake; it is the voice of my beloved knocking’ (Shir HaShirim 5:2)—then we have reached not only the level of most prophets, but the unique level of Moshe Rabbenu…”

In the very same chapter, the Rambam continues:

"I have just had a most amazing flash of light that will lose many a knot and lay bare many a divine mystery:In the chapters on providence, I explained that providence over any rational subject is in the measure of his reason. So providence is constant over an enlightened person whose focus on God is unbroken. But should that person's thoughts stray for a moment, he is cared for only while he concentrates on him.Providence recedes while he is distracted, although it does not leave him in the same state as someone who has never known such thoughts "

The Avot lived with an unbroken awareness of God, guiding every action by imitating His ways as revealed in creation. They viewed the world through lenses that revealed God’s will in everything—whether in direct worship through sacrifice or prayer, in finding a spouse, or even in the simple act of obtaining food. This is precisely the state the Rambam describes: constantly thinking of God, even amid daily life.

This is actually how the Rambam learns hashgacha pratis-man being aware of god and thereby choosing to imitate his ways. 

It is no wonder, then, that in next week’s parsha Yaakov dreams of the ladder with angels ascending and descending. The ladder symbolizes the prophet’s (and every Jew’s) task: first to raise the mind to God and His ways, and then to descend and bring that divine consciousness back down into everyday activities—transforming the mundane into the holy. This is the ultimate purpose of the mitzvot and of the rabbinic enactments such as blessings before eating, on seeing the new moon, on hearing thunder or lightning, etc.—to keep our hearts and minds focused on seeing and imitating God's ways in creation, at all times.

Shabbat shalom!

Is belief in God enough?

 Is Believing in God Enough?

I was reading פרשגן on this week's parsha, and he quotes an interesting insight from Nehama Leibowitz regarding Genesis 15:5-6:

"וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה, וַיֹּאמֶר הַבֶּט-נָא הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וּסְפֹר הַכּוֹכָבִים--אִם-תּוּכַל, לִסְפֹּר אֹתָם; וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ, כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ.  

וְהֶאֱמִן בַּיהוָה; וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ, צְדָקָה."

"And He brought him forth abroad, and said: 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou be able to count them'; and He said unto him: 'So shall thy seed be.  

And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.'"

In the last sentence, where it says "He counted it to him for righteousness," there is a debate between Rashi and the Ramban regarding who "him" refers to.

 According to Rashi, it refers to God counting Avraham as righteous due to his belief in Him. 

The Ramban interprets it as Avraham counting God as righteous. 

Nehama Leibowitz offers a fascinating insight into why the Ramban took this view. The Ramban was frequently debating Christians who claimed that "belief" alone in Jesus grants righteousness or entry into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, he did not want to understand this pasuk as God finding Avraham righteous solely based on his belief. In Judaism, belief without mitzvot or proper behavior is deemed worthless. Thus, the Ramban concluded that Avraham recognized the righteousness in God.

So, what exactly did Avraham find righteous about God in this vision of his children being compared to the stars?

 My interpretation is that, similar to the stars that  we see, which often appear millions or billions of light-years after the event, walking in the ways of God leads to positive consequences long after we're gone.

 This was Avraham's vision: he was told by God that the path and way of life he chose would result in his children continuing his mission and changing the world for thousands, perhaps millions, of years after he is gone. It is this capacity built into creation to have a positive impact on the world long after our time that Avraham attributed righteousness to God.

Shavua Tov!