<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Nov 21, 2007 5:38 AM, Marty Bluke <<a href="mailto:marty.bluke@gmail.com">marty.bluke@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>Meshech Chochma( Shemos 13:9)writes:<br><br>"Divine Providence is manifest for each Jew according to his spiritual<br>level as the Rambam explains in Moreh Nevuchim (3:18): Divine<br>Providence is not equal for everyone but rather is proportional to
<br>their spiritual level. Consequently the Divine Providence for the<br>prophets is extremely powerful each according to their level of<br>prophecy. The Divine Providence for the pious and saintly is according<br>to their level of perfection. In contrast the fools and the rebels
<br>lacking spirituality are in essence in the same category as animals...<br>This concept that Divine Providence is proportional to spiritual level<br>is one of foundations of Judaism..."<br><br>Today, this idea (that the Chinuch explicitly rejects) of hashgacha
<br>pratis on everything has taken hold. There is no question that it is a<br>very calming thought. You don't have to worry about chance occurrences<br>affecting you, everything is directly from Hashem. However, this was
<br>not the view of the overwhelming majority of the Rishonim.<br></blockquote></div><br>Re: Moznay tzedek and Amaleik<br><br>At the end of parshas ki Seittzei there is the juxtaposition of Business ethics and Amaleik.<br>
Questions:<br><ol><li> how does a failing of business ethics give Amaleik any power over us?</li><li>Aren't there anti-Semites all of the time, What's new about this situation.</li></ol>Speaking to my congregration - conisting of many survivors of the Nazi regime - I explained it thusly:
<br>The normal/usual situatoin is that there are ALWAYS anti-Semites out theer. BUT it is only when we fail to live up to the Torah standards of Business Ethics that Hashem ALLOWS them power over us [kind of hester panim due to our bad beahvior]
<br><br>Simlarly Ya'kov avinu was promised safe passing by HKBH but was afraid of "shema yigrom hacheit" But we know from Rambam et. al. that HKBH never takes away a POSTIVE promise? Shema yigrom might remove the higher level of protection that was required. [
e.g. vayhi chitas Elokim....] <br><br><br>L'havdil, many Evangelicals felt that 9-11 was a result of Hashem withdrawing His usual protection of America due to America's mis-behavior. So this idea of removing Protection in the face of Sin is a fiarly common concept.
<br><br><br><br><br>-- <br>Kol Tuv / Best Regards,<br><a href="mailto:RabbiRichWolpoe@Gmail.com">RabbiRichWolpoe@Gmail.com</a><br>Please Visit: <br><a href="http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/">http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/
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