[Avodah] God's Answer was "NO"

[Richard Wolberg]

HM wrote:
I have heard this Hashkafic statement more times than I can count. And  
I have a problem with it.

  When someone says he prays for something and wasn't answered, he  
means that he did not get the results he prayed for. If for example a  
parent prays that  a certain treatment to succesfully remove save a  
child from a serious disease, and then that child dies, is saying that  
the prayer was answered in the nefative the right thing to say?

  Of course it was answered in the negative. The parent realizes that.  
The child died!

  When an indvidual says his prayers weren't answered, he means that  
what he was praying for was denied. Telling a greiving parent who lost  
a child that his prayers were indeed answered but in the negative is  
not going to make him feel any better. What exactly is the point of  
saying that?

  One of the purposes of prayer is that we can change the 'mind' of  
God. If we Daven, God will hear us and cure the patient. If the  
patient then dies, is it appropriate to say that God answered our  
prayers? I don't think so. I can't imagine a greiving parent who after  
losing a child will say God answered his or her prayers!


First of all, I would NEVER tell anyone who prayed for a loved one  
that God's answer was "No."  That would be cruel and pointless. But to  
follow your logic, how is it any less cruel to tell a parent that God  
just didn't answer the prayer. The same problem still exists. God does  
what He wills, not what we will. At times, He answers our requests and  
at times He doesn't for only reasons He alone knows. To say His answer  
was "No" is just as good as saying He didn't answer them, period.  
We're really talking semantics and avoiding the much larger  
theological puzzle. The ultimate answer is that we have no answer and  
IMHO, the more people come up with different reasons, is grasping at  
unknowable straws. The only time a theory assumes ultimate authority  
is when it can be proven. That's where faith comes in.

ri
  
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