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For a religious Jew, every act and event is by the Hand of God

Reader comment on item: Did Divine Intervention Fell Ariel Sharon?

Submitted by Ken Besig (Israel), Dec 31, 2007 at 05:50

To understand these poll results, one has to understand the mentality of a religious Jew; I consider myself to be one, so I'll try to explain what our thinking is. The poll question really consists of two parts however, one going as to cause and one trying to explain motive, unfortunately only one answer could be given and that clouds the issue, but there really are two questions and thus two answers involved.

The first question asks if God is responsible for human tragedy. For a religious Jew, every event and every act is of divine origin, that is, guided or caused by the Hand of God. That is, if a tsunami hits Southeast Asia and kills three hundred thousand innocent people, it is an act of God. likewise, if two Israeli soldiers on a walk are shot to death by Palestinian terrorists, this too is an act of God. Similarly, if I were to win the Lottery to fully recover from a potentially lethal illness, I would consider these acts to also to be acts of God. Thus, for a religious Jew to believe that Ariel Sharon's first and second strokes were an act of God is perfectly reasonable.

Okay, that said, we come to the second part of the poll question, why did God choose to strike Ariel Sharon down? Of course, there is no, and can be no serious, answer to that question, since no human being, religious or secular, Jewish or not, can fathom the ways and the reasoning of the Almighty. Indeed, since as religious Jews we are commanded to simply accept the Divine Fiat for what it is, we must also acccept that all that which God does or causes to happen is for the best.

This includes by the way, the tsunami victims, the murdered Israeli soldiers, or perhaps a bus full of religious Jewish schoolgirls struck and killed by a train at an unmarked rail crossing several years ago. Even including the stroke which incapactitated Ariel Sharon and since God did not stop the disengagement, or cause it to be stopped, this must have been for the best also.

Thus, while Ariel Sharon was struck down by the Hand of God, we have no idea why God caused this to happen, and anyone who claims it happened for this or that reason has no idea what he is talking about. That person, whether Pat Robertson or the spiritual leader of the Shas Party Ovadia Yosef, is either simply speculating or has given free rein to his own bigotry and prejudices.

The fact is that Ariel Sharon was morbidly obese and living an incredibly stressful lifestyle which literally begged for him to be hit by heart disease or a stroke, and the real wonder was that it hadn't happened sooner. Was Divine Intervention involved, well of course it was; and did God strike Sharon down because of his politics and the disengagement? No one knows or can know, but I personally doubt it. I doubt it because if God were really striking down evil doers or bad politicians on a routine basis and as a direct result of their evil acts or bad policies, there probably wouldn't be enough people left alive and healthy to bury the dead or care for the sick and wounded.

All the best

Submitting....

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Reader comments (31) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Poo to Pat [90 words]Peter HerzJan 31, 2008 09:09119366
Where's Divine Intervention when you really need it? Like with Olmert, the Jewish anti-Christ? [35 words]DrRJPJan 3, 2008 20:55117477
Read the Book [198 words]AbijahJan 5, 2008 12:34117477
apples and oranges [232 words]John W McGinleyJan 2, 2008 15:41117365
You said: "... what is wrong with an Israel being dominated by religious Jews?"... [213 words]YnnatchkahJan 3, 2008 02:54117365
Pat Robertson [120 words]Bart WillruthJan 2, 2008 09:12117333
Mixed feelings about Pat Robertson's comments [254 words]Rachel GarberDec 31, 2007 15:46117235
"Divine Intervention" [249 words]Chef MikeDec 31, 2007 14:18117226
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! [151 words]DrewDec 31, 2007 11:11117220
"Religiousity" of Israelis [292 words]Daniel BaireyDec 31, 2007 07:05117207
For a religious Jew, every act and event is by the Hand of God [555 words]Ken BesigDec 31, 2007 05:50117204
To Ken Besig [192 words]AbijahJan 5, 2008 13:11117204
1PAT ROBERTSON [68 words]DAVID R. GROESBECKDec 30, 2007 20:08117166
God laughs at the nations:Psalm 2 [381 words]MichaelDec 30, 2007 19:36117160
Robertson may be right about God. If he is, he is negligent; complicent even [218 words]SteveDec 30, 2007 18:31117156
Judgment or Coincidence? [279 words]Roy WeinbergDec 30, 2007 17:31117150
DIVINE INTERVENTION [23 words]MJDec 31, 2007 10:35117150
Judgment or Coincidence? [558 words]JaneMar 5, 2008 04:37117150
Pat Robertson arrogance [186 words]janusz KowalikDec 30, 2007 16:47117145
Not "Dividing" but Sub-Dividing The Promised Land [89 words]Mike RamirezDec 30, 2007 15:16117138
Divine intervention and Pat Roberston's remark on Ariel Sharon [144 words]Eugene McCarleyDec 30, 2007 14:46117135
Reaction of secular Israelis [60 words]Yaakov WatkinsJan 2, 2008 00:47117135
Sharon's "Sin" [49 words]Dan FriedmanDec 30, 2007 13:53117131
Scandal of Scandals! [307 words]David SabghirDec 30, 2007 13:31117129
You said it so well. And, critics to Pat Robertson come as a shot Israelis' and Jew's feet [299 words]YnnatchkahDec 31, 2007 00:54117129
Reply to ynnatchkah [343 words]David SabghirDec 31, 2007 18:42117129
DESTINY [117 words]MJDec 30, 2007 12:51117124
Now Olmert has prostate problems [54 words]James BurkeDec 30, 2007 12:38117119
Warriors vs. Politicians [232 words]Moshe MonesDec 30, 2007 12:38117118
Divine Intervention [135 words]Marvin KravetskyDec 30, 2007 12:29117117
I Love Pat Robertson. [170 words]YnnatchkahDec 29, 2007 22:23117101

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