9 replies to this topic

[Kshaniv]

What does the concept of hashgacha pratis (divine providence) entail? What does it mean? Does it conflict with the premise that we are supposed to make hishtadlus? What is/are the original source/s of this concept? Most importantly, how does it influence our lives as Jews?

[Rabbi Shapiro]

Here is a detailed treatment of the topic, which I once gave as a Shabbos Shuva Drasha.

In short, when you manage a business, for example, you have a goal, which is the success of the business, and the fate of the workers are dependent on what you need to make the business succeed. So if you need to lay off people, they get laid off. Who you decide to lay off and when to lay them off, also depends on what is best for the business. If you decide it is best for the business to move to Jersey, then the workers are going to have to move with you or leave. It is the business that your actions are focused on; what happens to the workers is dependent on what you want to do with the business.

That type of management of the workers is called Hashgacha Klallis. Your objective when determining the fate of any individual worker is not for the sake of the individual worker himself, but for the collective business.

Hashgacha Pratis would be when you are concerned about each individual worker for his own sake, not for the sake of the collective. When you determine the fate of an individual worker, you do not consider what is best for the business, but rather what is best for the individual worker.

Hashem's hashgacha Pratis works like that as well. Where animals, for instance, are concerned, Hashem is concerned not for each individual cow, but rather the species of cows in general, whose purpose is to serve mankind. So whe n Hashem determines whether a given cow should live or die, Hashem does not judge that cow as an individual cow, but rather Hashem looks at the species in general and sees whether we need more or less cows on the world to serve man. That would determine whether there is a cow epidemic or a cow population explosion. But Hashem does not care which cows live or die - it is the species that is His concern.

That is השגחה כללית, or השגחה מינית.

Not all humans, and not even all Jews, always have השגחה כללית. It's complicated, and I explained it on the .pdf linked at the beginning of the post. In short, the more you become the type of person for which the world was created - such as a Talmid Chacham - the more Hashgacha Pratis you merit, and the more you become the type of person whose purpose is a support role for those whose sake the world was created, the more Hashem makes your fate dependent on those others, who are the purpose of the world.

[Kshaniv]

I recall, although I don't have the exact reference, the Chovas Halvavos writing that sinning is a direct contradiction to bitachon. A sinner, he writes, cannot and should not put his trust in Hashem.

Is this what he meant? Since a sinner is not under hashgacha pratis, he therefore cannot expect Hashem to have his best interest (or any interest) in mind?

And here's a practical question: What's the minimum needed to be under hashgacha pratis rather than klalis?

[FS613]

Is there a recording to an mp3 file, of this particular Shabbos Shuva Drasha;

and if so, is there a link to it?

Thank you.

[Rabbi Shapiro]

I recall, although I don't have the exact reference, the Chovas Halvavos writing that sinning is a direct contradiction to bitachon. A sinner, he writes, cannot and should not put his trust in Hashem.

Is this what he meant? Since a sinner is not under hashgacha pratis, he therefore cannot expect Hashem to have his best interest (or any interest) in mind?

And here's a practical question: What's the minimum needed to be under hashgacha pratis rather than klalis?

Bitachon and Hashgacha Pratis are two totally separate topics. The Chovos Halevovos is talking about Bitachon. His opinion - not everyone agrees- is that although Bitachon can bring the Baal Bitachon many benefits, it does not do so for a wicked person who has Bitachon. The response Hashem gives to a Baal Bitachon is reserved for Baalei Bitachon that are not sinners.

As far as what you need to do to be under Hashgacha Pratis, Hashgacha Pratis is not a boolean, yes-or-no treatment. It is relative. Someone can merit more Hashgacha Pratis, some less, and sometimes more and sometimes less. But the general rule is, the world was created for Talmidei Chachamim. The reason why Amei HaAretz are allowed to exist is the same reason cows and tress exist - because the Talmidei Chachamim need them. Cows give milk and meat; trees give shade and fruits; and Amei HaAretz collect the garbage, build roads, and perform a myriad of functions that are necessary in order for the Talmidei Chachamim to operate.

In fact, that is why ignoramuses are called Amei HaAretz - the phrase means "people who take care of the land."

So the short answer is, you need to be a Talmid Chacham. (There is also another way to merit Hashgacha Pratis, even temporarily. When a person's mind is totally focused on Hashem, and that אין עוד מלבדו, Hashem, in return, focuses on that person.)

[Rabbi Shapiro]

Is there a recording to an mp3 file, of this particular Shabbos Shuva Drasha;

and if so, is there a link to it?

Thank you.

Sorry, there's no tape, as the Shiur was given on Shabbos.

This Shiur is similar. It was given for the boys in a local yeshiva.

[FS613]

1) Would a Jew merit Hashgacha Pratis, if he works full-time, and learns Torah part-time;

but he's a Shomer Torah U'Mitzvos, believes in the Torah and the 13 Ikarim, and he gives money to Kollelim?

2) Would a non-Jew merit Hashgacha Pratis,

if he fulfills the 7 Mitzvos of Bnay Noach, according to the Torah; he doesn't practice any other religion; and he helps Jews?

Thank you.

[Rabbi Shapiro]

Giving money gets you the reward for Torah, but not the Hasgacha Pratis of the Talmid Chacham.

However, there is an advantage of giving Tzedakah and supporting Torah scholars from a Hashgacha perspective as well. If people depends on a donor for their sustenance, then any damage is allowed to happen to the donor, Hashem considers the impact it has on those who depend on him. A person's life can be saved even if he deserves not to live, because if he does not live, others who deserve to be sustained will suffer. צדקה תציל ממות.

[FS613]

In a country where there are no Jews,

how would the life of a non-Jew, going about his business, affect the life of a Talmid Chochom, thousands of miles away?

What would be his purpose?

Thank you.

[Rabbi Shapiro]

It is impossible for human beings to calculate all the cause and effect variables necessary to answer your question. Think of those old science fiction stories where they would warn people who time-travel to the past not to dare interfere with anything in the past lest they retroactively change the course of history. Then some guy goes back in a time machine, steps on a frog or something, and when he returns to the present, the world is a radioactive wasteland occupied by glow-in-the-dark mutated tadpoles.

I cannot tell you how the existence of any given person place or thing affects the cosmic ecosystem. We just know that everything in the world has its place in the grand scheme. It's kind of like the physical world. They have no idea why sharks are important to us until they kill so many of them. Then they find out we have a shortage of scallops, because the sharks eat the cownose rays who eat the scallops and without the sharks the scallops get eaten up by the now out-of-control population of cownose rays.

How every individual element of the universe affects everything else is infinitely more complex than that and way beyond our ability to calculate. All we know is that there is an ecosystem, and everything has its time and place.