. . . and Then There Was Nature

Last time we discussed the origins of the supernatural; the aspect of God known as רחמים or יקוק.

We turn now to nature.

Hashem decided that Man could not live within a world where God’s presence was continuously and imminently felt. Instead, He created a world that – more or less – could run by itself. He created nature and its rules.

According to nature, if you throw something up, it will inevitably fall down. The question of whether that particular object “deserves” to fall down is meaningless, everything must fall down. Likewise, if a man’s boat capsizes in the middle of the sea, the laws of nature decree that that man must die.

But just as there are laws of nature, including gravity, so too there are laws of nations that govern when nations will rise and when the fall. And there are “laws” that govern how people act and interact.

Have you ever noticed that the name “א-לוקים” is plural? What does it mean? אל can mean not just “god” but “judge”. In other words, "א-לוקים" means “the powers”. This name of God refers to God acting through the system of natural laws/powers that he set in motion. Systems that function without direct, divine intervention.

People tend to think of דין as being synonymous with שכר ועונש (reward and punishment). But in essence, they’re not. דין refers to a passionless set of rules that apply regardless of extenuating circumstance. Thus, the מידה of דין and the מידה of א-לוקים are one and the same.

Most people’s lives, most of the time, are governed by this attribute.

But, as we’ll see next time, there are systems in between the benevolence of רחמים and the faceless nature of דין.