Divine Providence – השגחת ה'
ישעיהו נה:ח- [SD1]כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם ולא דרכיכם דרכי נאם יקוק:
I. Defining Divine Providence
What is השגחה?
Ramban, Introduction to SeferIyov
We must believe that God knows all individual creatures and the details of their lives. [This knowledge includes] the heavenly creatures and the sublunary creatures, their actions and thoughts, and the past, present, and future…After [proclaiming belief in divine knowledge] we affirm belief in divine governance and guardianship. We affirm that which the verse states, “Great in counsel and unfathomable in action, Your eyes are fixed upon all the ways of mankind...” (Jeremiah 32:19)
R. Chaim Friedlander, Emunahve-Hashgacha, p. 9
The word “supervision” (השגחה) includes two facets: (1) The first is to observe the object of supervision in order to assess the matter and understand what is going on with it. (2) The second aspect is a result of the first, namely to decide how to respond and what to do with the observations. God’s supervision is no different; it also has these two aspects. Firstly, God watches us, since He sees and knows all, as the verse says, “The Lord looked from heaven; He saw all the people” (Tehillim 33:13). Secondly, based on God’s observations and knowledge, He acts toward us and for us. Thus, providence has two aspects: awareness and response.
A brief history of belief in God and Divine Providence
Ramban, Commentary on Exodus 13:16
From the time that idolatry appeared in the world in the days of Enosh, religious faith began to be confounded. Some rejected [God] completely, saying that the world is eternal [and was never created]. They denied God and said He is not [existent]. And there were some who denied His knowledge of particulars, and said: “How can God know? Is there knowledge above?” (Psalms 73:11). And there were also those who admitted to God’s knowledge, but denied divine providence, thus equating man with the fish of the sea — who are not governed [with divine providence], and have no system of reward and punishment. Such people say, “God has forsaken the world” (Ezekiel 8:12).But, when God decides to reward a person or nation and performs a miracle for them and changes the nature of the word, it becomes clear that all of these philosophies are null and void. A miracle indicates that there was a God who created the world, knows what is going on, and is able to change it.
II. What God Knows
Rambam, Yesodei ha-Torah, 2:10
The Holy One, blessed be He, recognizes His truth and knows it as it is. He does not know with a knowledge which is external to Him in the way that we know, for we and our knowledge are not one. Rather, the Creator, His knowledge, and His life are one from all sides and corners, in all manners of unity.
Were He to live as life is [usually conceived], or know with a knowledge that is external from Him, there would be many gods, Him, His life, and His knowledge…
This matter is beyond the ability of our mouths to relate, [or our] ears to hear, nor is there [the capacity] within the heart of man to grasp it in its entirety.
Thus, He does not recognize and know the creations in terms of the creations as we know them, but rather He knows them in terms of Himself. Thus, since He knows Himself, He knows everything, for the existence of everything else is dependent on Him.
Rambam, HilchotTeshuva 5:5
One might ask: Since The Holy One, blessed be He, knows everything that will occur before it comes to pass, does He or does He not know whether a person will be righteous or wicked?
If He knows that he will be righteous, [it appears] impossible for him not to be righteous. However, if one would say that despite His knowledge that he would be righteous, it is possible for him to be wicked, then His knowledge would be incomplete.
Know that the resolution to this question [can be described as]: "Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea."
השגת הראב"ד:לא נהג זה המחבר מנהג החכמים שאין אדם מתחיל בדבר ולא ידע להשלימו והוא החל בשאלות קושיות והניח הדבר בקושיא והחזירו לאמונה וטוב היה לו להניח הדבר בתמימות התמימים ולא יעורר לבם ויניח דעתם בספק,ואולי שעה אחת יבא הרהור בלבם על זה.ואע"פ שאין תשובה נצחת על זה טוב הוא לסמוך לו קצת תשובה ואומר...אבל היא כידיעת האצטגנינים שיודעים מכח אחר מה יהיו דרכיו של זה והדבר ידוע שכל מקרה האדם קטן וגדול מסרו הבורא בכח המזלות אלא שנתן בו השכל להיותו מחזיקו לצאת מתחת המזל והוא הכח הנתון באדם להיותו טוב או רע,והבורא יודע כח המזל ורגעיו אם יש כח בשכל להוציאו לזה מידו אם לא וזו הידיעה אינה גזירה, וכל זה איננו שוה.
Cyril Domb, Divine Omniscience and Free Will,Tradition31:2
The view that God does not have foreknowledge of moral decisions which was advanced by ibnDaud and Gersonides (Levi ben Gershom) is not quite as isolated asRabbi Bleichindicates, and it enjoys the support of two highly respectedAchronim, RabbiYeshayahu Horowitz(ShelahhaKadosh) and RabbiChaimibn Attar(Or haHayimhaKadosh). The former takes the views that God cannot know which moral choices people will make, but this does not impair His perfection. The latter considers that God could know the future if He wished, but deliberately refrains from using this ability in order to avoid the conflict with free will.
אור החיים בראשית פרק ו פסוק ה
ואשכילך, כי ה' יכול לשלול הידיעה המושגת בידיעתו לבל ידענה, מה שאין כח באנוש לעשות זאת שתגיע אליו הידיעה ולא ידענה, והוא שרמז רמב"ם באומרו ואין דעתו של אדם יכולה להשיג וכו', כי איך אפשר שתגיע עדיו הידיעה מעצמה ותהיה מושללת מעצמה.והוא שאמר הכתוב (במדבר כג) לא הביט און ביעקב ולא ראה עמל...כי אינו בבחינת האדם שהידיעה הוא חוץ ממנו, לומר ימנע ולא ידענה, כי ה' הוא ודעתו אחד ואינו צריך לתת לב לדעת, שבזה נאמר דכשלא יתן לב לא ידע-לא כן, ואף על פי כן כביכול ישנו בבחינה זו דכתיב לא הביט וגו'. ומעתה נוכל לומר כי ה' בעת ברוא האדם שלל מהידיעה פשעי אדם לב' סיבות, א', לטעם הפשטי כי טוב ה' ולא יביט אל התיעוב וטעם זה לבד לא יספיק כיון שהוא צורך בידיעה לדעת מה יעשה והנמשך. אלא שיש עוד טעם ב' והוא שנתחכם לעשות ה' כן לבל תחול טענת הרשעים שיאמרו ידיעתו מכרחת, כיון שה' ידע כי פלוני זה יעבור על מה שעבר הדבר מעצמו יתחייב להיות הגם שה' לא גזר להיות כן, ומעתה אין עונש לרשעים כי לא מרשעים יצא רשע ובמה יפחד רשע ויחדל מעושק, לזה מנע ה' ידיעה זו של מעשה הרשעים.
III. How God does what He does: The Mechanism of General Divine Providence
Rambam, HilchotYesodeh ha-Torah 2:9
All of the entities of the world…from the primordial form to the smallest insect in the center of the earth – everything exists from the power of the reality of His absolute existence.
Nefesh ha-Chaim 1:2[D2]
The reason God is referred to as being “all powerful” is that the ways of God are not like those of flesh and blood. For when a person builds a house out of wood, he does not create the wood of his own ability. He just buys the wood that has already been created and assembles it into a building. Once he hascompleted it according to plan, he leaves it as it is, and it continues to exist.
Not so for God. In His infinite power, He created this world out of nothing. And ever since creation, theworld only continues to exist every day and every single second by virtue of the Divine force and pristine radiance infused into it according to His will. Were God to remove the force of His influence for even a second, it would all cease to exist. This is in line with the morning YotzerOhr prayer established by the Men of the Great Assembly: “He continually renews His creation each day, constantly.” That is, literally“constantly,” every instant and every second…
R. Chaim Friedlander, SifteiChaim, Emunahve-Hashgacha 1, p. 15
At each and every second, God, by virtue of His will, causes the entire creation to exist, from thesmallest creature to the biggest. So when we see a little fly alive and fluttering around, we shouldmeditate and think to ourselves that right now God is granting it life and the ability to move.
Likewise, people live and function at each instant only because God makes it so at each moment.
R. Moshe ChaimLuzzato, The Way of God, 2:5:3, p.205[D3]
God arranged all created things in a system of steps and sequences, this being the system that He desired. ..God thus first influences an angel, who in turn influences another angel at a lower level. This continues step by step until the final angel acts upon a physical thing. This can either sustain this thing, or bring about something new, all according to the decree ultimately emanating from God…God created a directing angel over everything that exists in the physical world…Thus, for example, there is a directing angel associated with trees, and its task is to strive to sustain these trees. When a decree is issued by God, however, the directing angel of the wind may be strengthened to the extent required by this decree. The angel of trees can then be pushed aside, and some of his trees torn up by the wind…
There are angels assigned to oversee the laws of nature, and strengthen the various aspects and processes of the physical world. Above them are the angels involved in carrying out decrees concerning reward and punishment, and according to such decrees, these can prevent the angels of nature from functioning…God Himself oversees all things, above and below…
Rambam[D4], ShemonehPerakim 8:6
We maintain that God already expressed His will in the course of the six days of creation, and that things act in accordance with their nature from then on…That explains why the Sages found it necessary to say that all the supernatural miracles that have occurred [in the past] and all those that we are promised will come about [in the future] were already designated to come about in the course of the six days of creation, when the miraculous events were implanted in the nature of the things involved in them. And when these miraculous events come about at the proper time, they might seem to have been instigated right there and then, but in fact they were not.
IV. How much God actually does: SpecificDivine Providence in Chazal
Chulin 7b
R. Chanina said: No person stubs his toe below [i.e., in this word] unless it has been decreed so in Heaven.
BereishitRabbah, 10:7
Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow.'
Erchin 16b
How far does the definition of suffering extend? Rabbi Elazar said: [For example,] whoever has a garment woven for him but it does not fit him properly... Even if they intended to mix [one’s wine] with hot water, but instead they mixed it with cold, or [they intended to mix his wine with] cold water, but they mixed it with hot water... Mar the son of Ravina said: Even if his shirt was reversed. Rava, or some say, RavChisda, or some say Rav Yitzchak, or some say, a tanna, taught: Even if one extended his hand into his purse to take out three coins and two came in his hand.
BereishitRabbah 79:6
R. Shimon ben Yochai and R. Elazar, his son, hid in a cave for thirteen years during a period of persecution, and they sustained themselves by eating carob…After thirteen years they exited and sat at the entrance of the cave. They saw a hunter hunting birds. When R. Shimon would hear a heavenly voice declare, “Free! Free!” the bird would escape from the hunter’s trap. When he would hear the heavenly voice declare “Death” the bird would be trapped and captured. R. Shimon proclaimed that these heavenly voices serve to teach that “even a bird isn’t captured without a decree from heaven; how much more so, the life of a person.
V. How much God actually does:Individual Divine Providenceafter Chazal
Animals vs. Humans
Radak, Tehillim 145:17
This is a matter of great confusion among the scholars, for there are those that say that when a lion devours a sheep, or any similar such instance, it is a punishment from God for the devoured. In this vein I have found a statement of our Sages, “When Rabbi Yochanan would cast his nets into the sea to catch fish, he would say, ‘Your judgments are as the vast deep’ (hence implying that God will judge which fish will be caught).” Yet others say that there is no reward or punishment for any creature other than mankind. But we say that other creatures do in fact have reward and punishment, but only insofar as they relate to the dealings of mankind.
Rambam on Human Individual Divine Providence
Rambam, MorehNevuchim, 3:17
There are four different theories concerning Divine Providence:
First Theory.There is no Providence at all for anything in the Universe; all parts of the Universe, the heavens and what they contain, owe their origin to accident and chance; there exists no being that rules and governs them or provides for them. This is the theory of Epicurus, who assumes also that the Universe consists of atoms, that these have combined by chance, and have received their various forms by mere accident. There have been atheists among the Israelites who have expressed the same view; it is reported of them: "They have denied the Lord, and said he is not" (Jer. v. 12). Aristotle has proved the absurdity of the theory…
Second Theory. Whilst one part of the Universe owes its existence to Providence, and is under the control of a ruler and governor, another part is abandoned and left to chance. This is the view of Aristotle about Providence…Aristotle sees no difference between the falling of a leaf or a stone and the death of the good and noble people in the ship…In short, the opinion of Aristotle is this: Everything is the result of management which is constant, which does not come to an end and does not change any of its properties…But that which is not constant, and does not follow a certain rule, as e.g., incidents in the existence of the individual beings in each species of plants or animals, whether rational or irrational, is due to chance and not to management; it is in no relation to Divine Providence.
Third Theory. This theory is the reverse of the second. According to this theory, there is nothing in the whole Universe, neither a class nor an individual being, that is due to chance; everything is the result of will, intention, and rule. It is a matter of course that he who rules must know [that which is under his control]. The Mohammedan Ashariyah adhere to this theory, notwithstanding evident absurdities implied in it; for they admit that Aristotle is correct in assuming one and the same cause [viz., the wind] for the fall of leaves [from the tree] and for the death of a man [drowned in the sea]. But they hold at the same time that the wind did not blow by chance; it is God that caused it to move; it is not therefore the wind that caused the leaves to fall; each leaf falls according to the Divine decree; it is God who caused it to fall at a certain time and in a certain place; it could not have fallen before or after that time or in another place, as this has previously been decreed. The Ashariyah were therefore compelled to assume that motion and rest of living beings are predestined, and that it is not in the power of man to do a certain thing or to leave it undone...A duty would thus be imposed upon us which is impossible for us to carry out, and it is even possible that we may suffer punishment when obeying the command and receive reward when disobeying it…
Fourth Theory. Man has free will…All acts of God are due to wisdom; no injustice is found in Him, and He does not afflict the good. The Mu’tazila profess this theory, although they do not believe in man's absolute free will…some persons are born with defects, although they have not sinned previously, is ascribed to the wisdom of God, it being better for those persons to be in such a condition than to be in a normal state, though we do not see why it is better; and they do not suffer thereby any punishment at all, but, on the contrary, enjoy God's goodness. In a similar manner the slaughter of the pious is explained as being for them the source of an increase of reward in future life…
Fifth Theory[D5]…The theory of man's perfectly free will is one of the fundamental principles of the Law of our Teacher Moses, and of those who follow the Law. According to this principle man does what is in his power to do, by his nature, his choice, and his will…All species of irrational animals likewise move by their own free will[D6]…Another fundamental principle taught by the Law of Moses is this: Wrong cannot be ascribed to God in any way whatever; all evils and afflictions as well as all kinds of happiness of man, whether they concern one individual person or a community, are distributed according to justice…as is said in Scripture, "all his ways are judgment" (Deut. xxxii. 4); we are only ignorant of the working of that judgment…"There is no death without sin, no sufferings without transgression." (B. T. Shabbath, 55a)...
But they contain an additional doctrine which is not found in the Law; viz., the doctrine of "afflictions of love," as taught by some of our Sages. According to this doctrine it is possible that a person be afflicted without having previously committed any sin, in order that his future reward may be increased; a view which is held by the Mu’tazilites, but is not supported by any Scriptural text…
[Rambam’s opinion]...In the principle which I now proceed to expound I do not rely on demonstrative proof, but on my conception of the spirit of the Divine Law, and the writings of the Prophets…In the lower or sublunary portion of the Universe, Divine Providence does not extend to the individual members of species except in the case of mankind…I do not believe that it is through the interference of Divine Providence that a certain leaf drops [from a tree], nor do I hold that when a certain spider catches a certain fly, that this is the direct result of a special decree and will of God in that moment…Divine Providence is connected with Divine intellectual influence, and the same beings which are benefited by the latter so as to become intellectual, and to comprehend things comprehensible to rational beings, are also under the control of Divine Providence, which examines all their deeds in order to reward or punish them. It may be by mere chance that a ship goes down with all her contents, as in the above-mentioned instance, or the roof of a house falls upon those within; but it is not due to chance, according to our view, that in the one instance the men went into the ship, or remained in the house in the other instance: it is due to the will of God, and is in accordance with the justice of His judgments, the method of which our mind is incapable of understanding. I have been induced to accept this theory by the circumstance that I have not met in any of the prophetical books with a description of God's Providence otherwise than in relation to human beings…Divine Providence is related and closely connected with the intellect, because Providence can only proceed from an intelligent being, from a being that is itself the most perfect Intellect. Those creatures, therefore, which receive part of that intellectual influence, will become subject to the action of Providence in the same proportion as they are acted upon by the Intellect.