Nature and Miracle
טבע ונס
God created the world in such a way that He generally guides it through nature, and sometimes through miracles. Nature operates within an orderly framework of laws that can be understood, whereas miracles break through the order of nature. The difference between nature and miracle exists only from the human perspective: the order of nature seems to man self-evident and self-sustaining according to the laws embedded in it, and therefore miracles impress him more, since they reveal the power of God, which overcomes the order of nature. But from the Creator’s perspective there is no difference between them, for God gives life to everything, to nature and to miracle alike. By His will He determined that the world would operate according to the laws of nature, and by His will He determined that at times it would operate in a way that breaks through those laws, which we call a miracle. Therefore, what is called a miracle can also be called nature, in the sense that the miraculous mode of guidance too has an order that the Creator established (Maharal). Conversely, nature too can be considered a miracle, since it exists only because of God’s will; it is just that on a superficial view it seems that God guides the miracle openly, and nature in a hidden way. Thus the natural order can be called hidden miracles, as we say in prayer: “Your miracles that are with us every day” (Ramban, Shemot 13:16).
With this in mind, let us look again at the world. God created the world with wisdom, that is, in such a way that it operates through laws called the laws of nature. And God created man in the image of God, that is, with the ability to choose and to create, and thereby to influence his own life and the life of the entire world and advance it toward its rectification and redemption. In general, the rectification and redemption of the world are meant to take place through natural means, for in this way man understands the laws by which the world operates, and knows that every action he takes has an effect on what will happen to him and to those around him. If he chooses to add good, he will add good to himself and to those around him; if he chooses evil, he will harm himself and those around him. If he learns a profession, he will be able to find work. If he works honestly and diligently, he will merit a good livelihood. If human beings develop science, they will merit greater prosperity. If a husband respects, loves and gladdens his wife, and the wife acts likewise toward her husband, they will merit a good and happy life, and will be able to raise and educate their children properly. If he is good and loyal to his friends, he will merit good and supportive friends. Beyond this, if he studies Torah and observes its mitzvot, he will merit to express the image of God within him in the finest way, and will be a partner with God in advancing the world toward its rectification and redemption. Thus God created nature as the most fitting framework for revealing man’s strength and talents.¹
Notes (1)
- Many have written that God wished to guide His world through nature because it is the best way for man; we will bring a few of their words. Rambam (Iggeret Teḥiyat Ha-metim) explains that one should understand the world with wisdom in a natural way, and only “that which has been clarified to be a wonder and cannot possibly be interpreted otherwise – then we will need to say that it is a wonder.” Ramban, Devarim 20:9: “It is not His desire to change the nature of the world, except when there is no other way of rescue, or to make His Name known to His adversaries at times, as was the case with the splitting of the Sea of Reeds and the like.” Sefer Ha-ḥinukh 546, on the mitzva of the parapet: “For God created His world and built it upon the foundations of the pillars of nature,” and therefore man must beware of the dangers common in the world. Derashot Ha-Ran (Derush 8): “The first premise is that the desire and will of God, may He be blessed, is to maintain the order of the world as much as possible, and that nature is precious in His eyes; He will not change it except for a necessary need.” The Akeidat Yitzḥak (Bereishit, Sha’ar 3) explains that if God guided His world miraculously, “there would be no place for the existence of human free choice, which is the foundation of man, nor any entry to reward and punishment, which is the secret of his purpose, as will be explained.” Maharal (Gevurot Hashem 64): “For nature is fitting for the guidance of the world, and it is a guidance of truth, and the righteous, insofar as they are righteous, desire truth and do not desire that the world depart from the order of truth.” R. Kook explained (Ein Aya, Shabbat 2:193–195) that man grows mostly through his actions in the natural way, and when the miracle is emphasized, the fact that God gives life to nature is ignored (see further there, Berakhot 1:101). Among the Rishonim there were those who preferred to explain miracles naturally, because they held that nature is the perfect order God established for His world, and the need for a miracle indicates a deficiency, as it were, in the creation God created, or a change, Heaven forbid, in the Creator (see R. Moshe Narboni in his commentary on the Guide 2:29; Ha-emuna Ha-rama 6:9 by R. Avraham ibn Daud; Ralbag in Milḥamot Hashem, Treatise 6, part 2, chs. 9–12). In response, Maharal explained (Gevurot Hashem, Second Introduction) that miracles too have an order: God determined that at times He would guide the world by a higher order, and therefore miracles do not undermine the orders established by the Creator. So too writes R. Kook (Ein Aya, Berakhot 9:1), and so I explained above. See also Yisrael U-teḥiyato 14; Orot Ha-kodesh III, Musar Ha-kodesh §22 (pp. 28–29); Shemona Kevatzim 7:78. In nature too there is a miracle, in the sense that God created it and it exists only by God’s will. So writes Malbim (Tehillim 93:1, and elsewhere). And so R. Tzvi Yehuda explained (Siḥot Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehuda, Ki Tavo 3, 4): “All of nature is a great miracle; the miracle is the soul of nature.” In addition, in nature too there are orders that are not understood, which in a certain sense are like a miracle for us. That is, even though the world operates according to the laws of nature, which man can investigate, understand and use for his needs, man cannot grasp with his intellect all the hidden secrets of nature. Even in our day, when science has developed greatly and a multitude of discoveries have been revealed before our eyes, with the help of which we have greatly improved our living conditions, there are still countless discoveries yet to be made. Apparently we will never be able to understand all that is hidden in the laws of nature completely. This includes the fact that we are unable to predict the future. Understanding the laws does allow us to predict more things, but since life is made up of countless areas that influence one another, in practice we have no ability to predict the future. For example, understanding genetics helps to know which people have a tendency to contract certain diseases, but since a person’s health is also affected by his soul, by the environment in which he lives, and by other factors, we cannot know whether in practice he will contract those diseases. It turns out that even within the nature that is understood by the intellect, there is a hidden dimension that is not understood, and it resembles a miracle. See Orot Ha-kodesh I, p. 106, “Ha-mistoriyut Ve-ha-bina.” So too in Shemona Kevatzim 7:35, on God’s guidance through the laws of nature, in which too there is a miraculous nature, and they are in supreme balance so as to enable man to rise up.