[Avodah] A Guten Chodesh

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Jul 07, 2013 at 09:15:09AM -0400, cantorwolberg at cox.net wrote:
: I have a question, not at all intended to be contentious or naive,
: and certainly not original. We are
: assured over and over in Tanach that we will survive all
: odds. Therefore, for a believer, why would
: it be an absolute miracle, when we already know and have been promised
: by the Almighty, Himself?

Someone replied, but unfortunately the email got lost en route to my
editor. In the future, don't put personal information like your phone
number in an email headed for the web! You just introduce delays or a
chance for me to mess up.

Anyway, whomever it was pointed out that there is no neis greater than
seeing Hashem's promise fulfilled.

To which I would add: The miraculous is when we see the world as a
good place, as obeying the higher laws of morality, even if it requires
violating the more mundane laws, those of physics. The difference
would make it a neis nigleh rather than a neis nistar.

The Maharal (2nd introduction to Gevuros Hashem) makes this idea a
centerpiece of how he understands miracles. Miracles are not a change
from the Divine Plan as though nature were imperfect. Nor are they ad
hoc. Rather, a person who elevates themselves to a plane where they
deserve miracles sees the world from that perspective and those laws
apply to him. Even as other things -- perhaps contradictory things --
are experienced by others! Shemesh beGiv'on dom -- only in Giv'on,
everywhere else the sun continued moving.

REED ties this to the concept of 4 olamos, and identifies the "higher
plane" with being on a level that ethical/moral law is more absolute
imposes his perception on his reality.

http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/02/rav-dessler-on-reality-and-perception.shtml
w/ an erratum at:
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/02/rav-dessler-on-reality-and-perception_22.shtml

But back to where we started... Miracles are davaqa when we can see how
G-d's plan is fulfilled -- even WRT details He let us in on.

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Zion will be redeemed through justice,
micha at aishdas.org        and her returnees, through righteousness.
http://www.aishdas.org
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