Monday, November 17, 2008

Two kinds of miracles

Hi,

"There are two types of miracles:

"1) A person is walking on the road and thieves fall upon him, and HaShem saves him from their hands, and he then gives praise and thanks to Gd;

"2) Gd protects a person such that thieves do not see him at all, and he does not see them. In this he benefits additionally, in that he is saved from anxiety and fear."

(R' Yechezkel Panet, Mareh Yechezkel, Parshat Chayyei Sarah)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

2 comments:

  1. Interesting. I once heard that when one walks under a tree and a bough doesn't break and fall on his head, that's a miracle. Do thieves exist as HaShem's agents for meting out punishment? How about Nazis, Hamas, Hizbullah, etc.?

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  2. As the gemara notes and the Rambam amplifies (in his Hilchot Teshuvah, Laws of Repentance), wicked people end up serving Gd's purpose, but Gd's purpose does not require that they be the ones to do it.

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