When tragedies and troubles befall the Jewish people, we are commanded to fast. These fast days aren’t only for a limited amount of time, rather we continue to fast until rachamim (mercy) is shown from heaven.
And from the Rabbi’s words, we should fast on any great trouble which befalls the community, until mercy is shown from heaven…
What is divine mercy? And in what way does it save us from disaster? As we saw in a previous post, aren’t we saved from disaster by changing our patterns of thought and thereby removing the disaster from ourselves (as the Rambam said in the previous halachot)?
Mercy is an example, of ascribing to God a certain trait. In the Moreh hanevuchim (1:54) the Rambam explains that the function of these descriptions is not to tell us something about God (since God is one, and doesn’t actually have attributes), rather it is a description of God’s actions in the world. Mercy, anger, kindness and the like, are all descriptions of the natural world. We observe certain patterns in the world, and imagine that if they were caused by a human being, this is the personality trait which they would reflect. These patterns exist in the divine governance of nature in general and of the human domain in specific
For the case of mercy the Rambam gives an example of developmental biology1:
For example, when we perceive the gentleness of His governance in the development of an embryo, and the generation of its faculties, and in the one who cares for it after birth, all of which prevent it from dying or destruction, and protect it from all harm, and which assist it in its necessary actions - and these actions, if done by us come as a result of a softness and emotional affect, which is mercy - we say of God ‘merciful’. As it says: “Like a father is merciful to his children…” (Tehilim 103:13) and “and I will pity them, like a father pities his children” (Malachi 3:17); not that God, who is beyond this, is affected or soft, rather His action is modeled like that of a father to their child
To summarize, when studying developmental biology we are getting a glimpse of how God runs the world. The prophets give us a metaphorical lens through which to view this study, which is mercy.
What is the idea which is manifest in the care of a parent for their child? One major component is patience in dealing with the immaturity of the creature. When a parent cares for the child, the child isn’t held to the standards of an adult, rather they are given many chances to develop and mature at their own pace. The same thing happens in the development of an embryo, it isn’t expected to immediately care for its own survival, rather it is given the time needed to mature in the safe environment of the womb. Elsewhere2, the Rambam explains that we can see a similar pattern in God’s governance of the Jewish people.
But this leaves a question. What is the purpose of these metaphors if they don’t actually tell us anything about God?
The Rambam explains later in that chapter:
And it is appropriate for a leader, if they are a prophet, to imitate these attributes, and they should express these actions in a measured way, not only as a result of emotion.
In other words, the purpose of these metaphors is to teach us how to live and to lead. By using the divine attributes as the basis of our behavior and leadership we increase goodness and blessing for ourselves and our people. The Rambam expands on this in Hilchot Deot:
We are commanded to follow these middle ways, which are the good and straight ways, as it says: “you shall go in His ways”.
This is how they interpreted this Mitzvah: “Just as He is called ‘gracious’, so you should be gracious. Just as He is called ‘merciful’, so you should be merciful. Just as he is called ‘holy’, so you should be holy.” And this is how the prophets used all of these attributes, ‘slow to anger’, ‘great in kindness’, ‘righteous’, ‘straight’, ‘unblemished’, ‘heroic’, ‘strong’ and similar cases - in order to inform us that these are good and straight ways, and a person is obligated to guide themselves on them, and to imitate them according to their ability.
And how can a person accustom themselves to these traits, to the point that they become well established in his personality? They should do the actions which emerge from the middle way again and again and again, constantly repeating them, until these actions become easy for him, and the traits become established in his being.
And since these names, by which we refer to God are the middle way, which we are obligated to follow, this way is called “the Way of Hashem”, and it is the one which our Father Avraham taught his children, as it says: “Since I know him, in order that he command his children and household after him to maintain the way of Hashem, to do rightness and justice.
And one who goes in this way brings good and blessing on themselves, as it says: “In order that Hashem will bring on Avraham, everything which He said”
In summary, by learning to perceive God’s actions in nature through ethical metaphors, we learn to train ourselves to act ethically. Mercy is a central example of this, in which we are called on to act with patience for the immaturity of those under our guidance, allowing their slow gropth to perfection and maturity.
We can now return to our original question. What is the role of God’s mercy3 in rescuing us from disaster? How does our own responsibility to remove the source of disaster interact with God removing it?
If we think about the meaning of mercy, the implication is clear. We are the immature creature, needful of God’s care. Even if we correct our ways, we are only taking the first steps towards living a wise and ethical communal life. We hope that those steps will be sufficient for removing the troubles, giving us the space and time to mature to the next stage - this is hope of the fast day, that God have mercy.
The story of the Hashmonaim is a good example of this4. The Kohanim who led the Jewish people against the Greeks had major flaws (as expressed, for example, in centralizing political power with the Kohanim), however, the world was such that their incomplete knowledge of God was sufficient to defeat the Greeks, and restore sovereignty to the Jewish people. This gave an opportunity for the next generations to continue on the Teshuva path, to improve ethically and to deepen their knowledge of God5.
This idea of mercy serves as an important corrective to the arrogance that we might feel, based on the idea that we are the cause of removing our troubles. We could easily fall into the trap of thinking that “Because of my reighteousness, Hashem brought me into the land, to inherit it” (Devarim 9:4). While it is true that we have free will and can remove our problems, we shouldn’t overestimate our righteousness or our independant capabilities. Instead, we should appreciate living in a world where there are opportunities for removing troubles even for people, like ourselves, who, at best, have only very incomplete clarity. This is the goal of a fast day, to try and turn around our corrupt and foolish ways sufficiently, that with God’s mercy, it is enough to remove the calamity.
During this war, in our current time of trouble, this is our responsibility. We must identify the mistakes that led us here, and to correct them, instead of just doubling down with our old concepts and vision. Instead of rushing ahead, we should stop and ask ourselves where we6 are deluded, and respond to the situation with a new perspective. If we honestly call out to God while changing our path. Then we can hope that he show mercy and that even a limited teshuva will be sufficient for a full salvation.
This point is worth noting, as it points to one of the key objectives of studying science as part of our avodat Hashem. Namely, understanding nature as divine actions, which serve as a paradigm for our ethical system. But this idea deserves its own post.
The Rambam explains in Moreh Hanevuchim 3:32 that the same pattern we observed in developmental biology is seen both historically, in not leading the people towards the land of Pelishtim, which would have forced them into a war before they were ready, and in the system of Mitzvot, allowing for Korbanot to accommodate their pagan ways of thinking which they had taken from Egypt, allowing them to be redirected towards God, since the people weren’t ready to do without them altogether.
Patiently guiding according to the immature needs of the creature
As the Rambam says in the laws of Hanukkah (3:1): “until the God of our ancestors had mercy on them, and saved them from their (the Greek’s) hand”. The story of Purim is another good example of this pattern.
Unfortunately, the opportunity was wasted with the second generation becoming Sadducees (with Queen Shomtzion unsuccessful in reversing this trend), and the fourth generation fighting a civil war for personal power culminating with inviting the Romans in to settle their affairs.
Yes WE, if we just blame everyone else (other parts of society, the political party we opposed, the leftists, the rightists, the secular, the charedim, the settlers, anyone who isn’t us) for not doing what we thought was right the whole time, we are not starting a path of teshuva.