BITACHON-----hashgacha pratis vs. klalis

MistakesHelp16 Posted - 06 July 2008 15:46

---

A few years ago I learned a k'li yakar in Chumash class, and it was about hashgacha pratit. I may be wrong, but I distinctly remember learning that not everyone merits hashgacha pratit...only the tzadikim. Nonjews and Jews who are not tzadikim only merit hashgacha klallit. Is this true, or did I totally misconstrue the whole k'li yakar??

If it is true, how does someone facing hardships cope with knowing that they may not even be worthy of hashgacha pratit, and the awful time they are going through may be random, and could have happened to anyone? (As opposed to it being "bashert" to them for their soul to be the best it could be)

MODERATOR Posted - 07 July 2008 10:46

---

The Ramabm, and others, say something similar.

What they mean is- for most people, hashgacha works according to the "normal workings of the world", or what we would consider normal. Hidden Hashgachah, which might not even be noticed. For most people, things will continue in their normal way- the way most people view them.

For tzadikim (who would anyway view everything as hashgacha pratis,) Hashem goes "out of His way", so to speak, to provide hashgacha, even changing the normal order of things. They aren't bound to the normal rules of the world. And if you asked them, they wouldn't even see any natural order, only the work of Hashem.

MistakesHelp16 Posted - 16 July 2008 12:00

---

does this mean that a tzadik who views everyday events as hashgacha pratit is actually experiencing hashgacha pratit? or is he just viewing it that way?

Are you saying that we all have the ability to view our everyday occurrances as hashgacha pratit because they are there? or because by us viewing it, it seems to be there to us?

Also, should a person in a hard time tell themselves that Hashem wants this to happen to them? or that their own neshama chose it to better their soul's quality?

MODERATOR Posted - 16 July 2008 12:31

---

The way we view the world - tht is the way the world becomes. And the better our understanding of ain od milvado - that nothing in the world happens except the ratzon hashem - the more ain od milvado becomes apparent. The more we see through the illusion of nature the more nature disappears and the ratzon hashem shines through.

The more we gain daas - i.e. a sensory clarity - that oil burns not because ti is oil but because Hashem said it should burn, the more vinegar will burn for us like oil; the more we gain daas that it is not the serpent that kills but the sin that kills, the more the serpent cannot kill.