[Avodah] [Areivim] shidduch statistics

[Zev Sero]

On Areivim, Micha Berger wrote:

> Seriously, though, every time I
> hear of someone making a se'udas hoda'ah for this yesh'uah or that, I
> thank HQBH for saving me from even needing a yeshu'ah. Every time my
> child crosses the street and there were no hidden cars, I got a bigger
> berakhah than that of the neighbor who thanks G-d their son healed.
> 
> Of course, without the stories of close calls and repaired problems, we
> wouldn't be able to. Who could possibly think of everything that could
> have gone wrong, but didn't. this might be the point of birkhas Gevuros
> and how gevurah is proven by "Mechayeh meisim..., someikh nofelim, rofei
> cholim, matir assurim..."

This reminds me of the Malbim's interpretation of the conversation between
Hashem and Moshe Rabbenu, in which Hashem tells Moshe "mi sam peh la'adam".
According to the Malbim, Moshe argued to Hashem that since he was not given
the gift of elocution, this must not be part of his shlichus, and therefore
it would make more sense for someone else to go; in other words he thought
that the default state of man is not to have any powers at all, and any
powers that a person was given are gifts that are necessary for his
shlichus, and therefore indicate to him what that shlichus is.  Hashem's
answer, though, is "mi SAM peh la'adam, o mi YASUM ilem o cheresh": "Who
GAVE man a mouth, or who MAKES him dumb or deaf?"  In other words, when
I created man I gave him a mouth; the default state of man is to have all
the normal faculties, whether he needs them or not, and nothing can be
inferred from his having them.  But when creating each individual,
I sometimes make someone dumb or deaf, and that is always for a reason,
which can be inferred and can guide him to work out what his shlichus is.
In your case, Moshe, I made you inarticulate precisely so that when you
come and speak eloquently in My name, everyone will know that I really
sent you.

Ad kan the Malbim.   It seems to me that the point you make about it
being a small miracle each time something goes right is reminiscent
of Moshe's hava amina.  But according to Hashem's answer it would follow
that crossing the road at the lights and not getting hit is simply the
normal way Hashem runs His world, and doesn't count as a miracle, even
of the "nisecha sheb'chol yom imanu" kind.  Rather, that phrase refers
to the times when there *is* a car about to run the light, or whatever,
and something happens to prevent it, so that it *appears* to you that
nothing special happened, but really "ein baal hanes makir benisso".
For example, R Akiva's daughter not getting bit by a snake every night
of her life was not a miracle at all; her not getting bit on her
wedding night appeared at the time not to be any different, but later
turned out to have been a miracle, and would have been so even if she
had never noticed the dead snake, and therefore the story had never
come down to us.

Kein nir'ah li.


-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                     - Margaret Thatcher