Video: Chance or God?

Torah Reading: Naso

HOT TOPICS

Home
» Blogs

Published: April 6, 2010

Give Tzedakah! Help Aish.com create inspiring
articles, videos and blogs featuring timeless Jewish wisdom.

Visitor Comments: 9

(9) Dave, April 8, 2010 6:27 PM

You are wrong

Of course, there's Divine providence but the way you make it out there is no free will. The true answer from many boos in Jewish literature kis that it is a little bit of both. G-d sometimes lets things happen even if He did not originally want things the way it turned out. For example, was 9/11 directed by G-d? Of course not but He def. let it happen and did not protect us for reasons only He knows. Choice was done by al Qaeda. The Providence was not stopping it. Indeed, a little bit of both.

(8) Paul, April 8, 2010 5:42 PM

Beautifully said

Beautifully said Lori

(7) Anonymous, April 8, 2010 12:03 PM

Soooo clear!

Thank you, Lori ,for your excellent work! You keep bringing enlightment into our lives. May the Almighty always bless you and your dear ones!

(6) Baruch, April 8, 2010 3:18 AM

"Both" is not necessarily theologically incorrect

Just because HaShem CAN micromanage the universe, doesn't mean that He does so at every level at every moment. Whie it certainly is NOT correct to speak of randomness and such, HaShem can choose to withdraw His direct intervention to any extent that He deems appropriate.

(5) mark shane, April 7, 2010 10:10 PM

The King of Kings is still the King

!00% Lori- there is NO free will and no such thing as chance...only our egos cannot accept that and when life's situations bring us to this conclusion we begin to live a life of faith. Chance, choice, happenstance are the fallback of the mind that refuses to see; that is until death is at the front door knocking for one.

(4) Anonymous, April 7, 2010 8:59 PM

Lori, Todah rabah!!!!

Funny, my favorite child memory is on Pesach, too, aside from the Seders at Bubbye and Zedye's with 'all' our family and using our best dishes and silverware, it was just my Dad, eating and drinking breakfast with me, the schmaltze fried matzoh and Manischewitz !!!! Baruch HASHEM!!!

(3) Anonymous, April 7, 2010 4:19 PM

God is the conductor

When we were being formed in the womb, it wasn't luck. God orchestrated us to have a head, a brain in that head, it wasn't just by chance that we have hands and feet, God placed a soul which everyone has concerting into one form, a body. We are awesomely and wonderfully made. When we are being formed there is order going on in the secret place. No one has anything to do with us being formed, except the mother eats, and that nourishes us. It's a wonder, a mystery how we grow into a human being. It's totally a God thing. God is in control when we are being formed, and it continues when we enter the world, when we leave this world and all the things inbetween to return to our Creator. We are the notes, each of us, in making beautiful music unto the Lord.

(2) SusanE, March 25, 2010 4:57 AM

There is No Good Luck and No Bad Luck.

Lori, that was a hard lesson for me to learn many years ago. There is no luck in the world. There is purpose, and pattern, and and a defining reason behind our everyday circumstances . I can't explain to you specifically why things happen but I know it isn't simply by chance. Things happen in all our lives that sometimes seem too good to be true. Events unfold that are so coincidental on so many occassions that we must know they are being staged and directed for our benefit. Luck has nothing to do with it. ----------------- When I studied with the Jehovah Witnesses, they didn't acknowledge luck. The words Good Luck weren't used. They know also, that all things are planned and are from G-d. Thanks for the affirmation. You can't have it both ways.

(1) Iris Moskovitz, March 24, 2010 3:26 PM

Never have words been spoken more true.

I am constantly seeing the hand of Hashem's guidance in all aspects of my life. If I would not have experienced certain moments of challenge, than I would not fully appreciate the times that seem to run ever so smoothly.

See All Comments

stub

About the Author

Mrs. Lori Palatnik

More by this Author >

Lori Palatnik is a writer and Jewish educator who has appeared on television and radio, and is the author of "Friday Night and Beyond: The Shabbat Experience Step-By-Step," "Remember My Soul - What to do in Memory of a Loved One," and co-author of "Gossip: 10 Pathways to Eliminate It From Your Life and Transform Your Soul." She is a much sought-after international speaker, having lectured in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Central America, South America, South Africa and Israel, including featured talks at Yale, Brown and Penn. She lives in the Washington D.C. area, with her husband, Rabbi Yaakov Palatnik. Lori is the Founder of The Jewish Women's Renaissance Project, an international initiative that brings over 1,000 women to Israel each year from ten different countries on highly subsidized programs to inspire them with the beauty and wisdom of their heritage. She is the busy mother of five children, ages 24 to 14; and her son, Zev, just finished serving as a sharpshooter in the IDF. Her weekly video blog, "Lori Almost Live" is a popular feature on aish.com, viewed by over 50,000 people each month.

Follow Lori on Twitter, @LoriAlmostLive

May 18, 2013 / 9 Sivan 5773

Chance or God?

It can't be both. Which one is it?

Visitor Comments: 9

Submit Your Comment:

About the Author

Related Articles:

LANGUAGES:

AFFILIATES:

SECTIONS:

EMAIL LISTS:

ABOUT:

FOLLOW US: