[Avodah] The Elegant Answer to all Theological Questions

[Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer]

In a Friday morning learning group, we were sitting this morning and 
learning over the ma'aseh of Nakdimon ben Gurion in Ta'anis 19b. The 
members of the group were struggling with the issues the episode raises 
- viz., was Nakdimon relying on a miracle, why did he have to daven, why 
did Hashem answer so late, etc. - issues of bitachon, hashgacha and 
tefilla. Weighty stuff.

In responding to one of the questions as to why things couldn't just go 
right from the onset, one of the erudite members of the group, Reb David 
Bockman, said, simply:

"But then there is no story."

I was blown away. Those simple six words answer all the questions. When 
I expressed that response at first the other members thought I was being 
facetious. But I was, and am, not.

Think about it...