2022/5782

A Compelling Question: Why Does Hashem Not Perform Open Miracles Today?

TABC Talmid David Rabbani poses a most compelling question.  Hashem, as recorded in Melachim I Perek 13 (not to mention Sefer Shemot) makes a flurry of Nissim Geluyim/miracles involving violations of the laws of physics, in an apparent attempt to redirect Yerovam ben Nevat at a pivotal juncture in our history.  Our generation seems to be in sore need of an open revelation from Hashem – so why does Hashem not do this?  

Hashem Prefers Maintaining the Natural Order

Let us try to answer based on a number of foundational Mekorot.  The following episode recorded by the Gemara (Shabbat 53b) illustrates that Hashem wants the world to function in a natural manner.  

There was a very poor man whose wife had died after having given birth to a child.  The widower became frantic, as he had no financial resources to hire a wet-nurse to feed the baby.  Hashem made a miracle, and the husband grew breasts from which he nursed the baby.  Rav exclaimed, “What a great man this must be that he merited such a great miracle!”  Abaye, however, declared that just the opposite is true – if Hashem disrupted the natural order instead of providing him with resources in a natural manner, the man must be on a low spiritual level.  Based on Abaye, our challenge in life is to discover Hashem hiding behind the natural processes of life.  A miracle performed within the fabric of our daily lives is deeper and more significant than a miracle that disrupts the delicate balance of the world’s natural order.

Hashem Prefers NOT to Have an Ironclad Argument 

In one of the most striking passages in the entire Talmud, the Gemara (Shabbat 88a) states (translation from the William Davidson Talmud): 

The Torah says, “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lowermost part of the mount” (Exodus 19:17). Rabbi Avdimi bar Ḥama bar Ḥasa said: the Jewish people actually stood beneath the mountain, and the verse teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, overturned the mountain above the Jews like a tub, and said to them: If you accept the Torah, excellent, and if not, there will be your burial. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: From here there is a substantial caveat to the obligation to fulfill the Torah. The Jewish people can claim that they were coerced into accepting the Torah, and it is therefore not binding. Rava said: Even so, they again accepted it willingly in the time of Ahasuerus, as it is written: “The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them” (Esther 9:27), and he taught: The Jews ordained what they had already taken upon themselves through coercion at Sinai.

Strikingly, the Gemara expresses strong objection to presenting an ironclad argument on behalf of Hashem and Torah (this is how the Meshech Chochmah to Shemot 19:17 understands this Gemara – he views the image of Hashem holding a mountain over our heads as metaphorical).  Rather, finding one’s way to Hashem and Torah through natural means is strongly preferred.  Discovering Hashem through events like that recounted in Megillat Esther, where Hashem subtly tilts events in our favor instead of overtly interfering in the natural process, is a far more authentic path to the divine.  

Hashem seeks a relationship with us and not mere compliance.  A connection flourishes only when both sides make a choice to enter the relationship.  Coercion is antithetical to a healthy and proper relationship.  

Ramban – The Sacred Obligation of the Jewish People to Publicize Hashem’s Presence

The Ramban (Shemot 13:16) directly addresses our question and offers an eye-opening answer.   Ramban answers that Hashem has delegated to us the job of publicizing His existence and involvement in the world.  Since Hashem will not split the Red Sea or perform the ten plagues in every generation, it is our job to gather and retell these great stories.  Ramban explains that this is the reason for stressing the exodus from Egypt not only at Passover but every day of the year.  The commandments commemorating the exodus from Egypt and all the divine spectacles that accompanied it are meant to refute the claim that Hashem is powerless.  He has entrusted the Jewish people of each generation, His “witnesses”, (Yeshayahu 43:10) with the sacred task of continuing to publicize and preserve these divine wonders.  Indeed, when we recount the details of the exodus from Egypt each year on the Seder night, it is as if we are experiencing the miracles ourselves. 

We believe that this huge statement made by Ramban expresses three central ideas: Our partnership with Hashem, our role as the Torah’s “companion volume”, and the incomparable miracle of Jewish survival, all based on the following foundational Mekorot: 

Partnership with Hashem

Midrash Tanchuma, Parashat Tazri’a:

"Once the evil [Roman governor] Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva, 'Whose deeds are greater - God's or man's?'  He replied, 'Man's deeds are greater.'  Turnus Rufus asked him, 'Is man then capable of creating heaven and earth, or anything like them?'  Rabbi Akiva replied, 'I was not referring to the sphere beyond man's ability, over which he has no control.  I refer to those creations of which man is capable.'  He then asked, 'Why do you circumcise yourselves?'  Rabbi Akiva replied, 'I knew that that was the point of your question, and therefore I answered in the first place that man's deeds are greater than God's.'  Rabbi Akiva brought him grains of wheat and some bread, and said: 'These grains of wheat are God's handiwork, and the bread is the handiwork of man.  Is the latter not greater than the former?'  Turnus Rufus answered him, 'If God wanted you to perform circumcision, why did He not create the child already circumcised while still in the womb?'  Rabbi Akiva answered, 'Why do you not ask the same question concerning the umbilical cord, which remains attached to him and which his mother must cut?  In response to your question - the reason why he does not emerge already circumcised is because God gave Israel the commandments in order that they would be purified by performing them.  Therefore David HaMelech wrote, 'Every word of God is pure (or, purified).'"

The Mitzvah of Brit Milah reflects a core mission of humanity, the completion of creation.  Rav Soloveitchik (Halachic Man page 101) explains that Hashem deliberately refrained from completing creation.  Hashem charges Adam with the job of “conquering” the world (Ramban to Bereishit 1:28).  Our job is to complete Hashem’s world.  

In the spiritual as well as the physical realm, Hashem has left the world incomplete.  Hashem deliberately obscures Himself.  Our job is to complete it by announcing Hashem’s presence to all. Hashem hides behind the proverbial “latticework”, and leaves it to announce “behold here is Beloved standing behind the wall, overseeing from the windows, peering through the latticework (Shir HaShirim 2:9).   

The Jewish People as “The Torah’s Companion Volume” 

Yeshayahu HaNavi (43:10) strikingly quotes Hashem proclaiming that we Jews are no less than His witnesses!  We Jews are perfectly suited to serve as Hashem’s witnesses, since approximately three million of our ancestors witnessed first-hand the great miracles of the exodus from Egypt and the revelation at Mount Sinai.  These three million people included many skeptical individuals who often fought and challenged Moses, except at Sinai when they received the Torah.  These millions of Jews related this precious tradition, which has been sacredly protected by every generation, until it has reached our very hands. 

The Incomparable Miracle of Jewish Survival

Rav Yaakov Emden states in the introduction to his commentary to the Siddur - The ongoing miracle of the survival of the Jewish People is a greater miracle than Keri’at Yam Suf:  Our telling the story of the Ten Makkot is in itself a greater testimony to Hashem’s ongoing involvement in the world than were the Ten Makkot themselves!   

The Torah’s Predictions Fulfilled

We can add to our answers by unpacking another poignant statement of the Ramban.  Ramban states that Hashem’s presence is publicized when the Torah’s predictions are fulfilled.  This is especially true when they are contradictory! 

There are numerous examples of Torah promises that have been fulfilled.  The fulfillment of these promises demonstrates that the Torah is the product of a divine author, because these predictions have been realized against all reasonable odds.  A human author could never have anticipated that such unlikely situations would materialize thousands of years after they were initially recorded.  

We present a full discussion of the Torah’s fulfilled prophecies in our work “Reason to Believe: Rational Explanations of Orthodox Jewish Faith”.  A few examples are the Torah’s prediction that the Jewish People will survive forever, there will always be Jews who observe Torah, the Jewish People will be small in number but bring Bracha to the entire world, and that the Jewish People will be exiled but eventually returned to their land.  

Conclusion 

David Rabbani’s question is the catalyst to unlocking some of the most central messages of Torah Hashkafah.  We believe that these many answers satisfy those who pose the same question as David.  

We consider, on the other hand, why Hashem chose to perform open miracles in Mitzrayim, to Yerovam ben Nevat, and with Eliyahu HaNavi and his Talmid Elisha.  We suggest that Hashem regarded these overt miracles to be necessary in the infancy and younger years of our nation to launch our Emunah on a national level.  

However, once such miracles were in place, we transitioned and matured, as stated by the Ramban, from recognition of Hashem through overt miracles to connection through subtle divine actions, Nissim Nistarim.  Shabbat 88a presents Nissim Nistarim as the far superior means of forging a deep and meaningful connection with our Creator.