Excerpt Browser

This page displays the full text of excerpts.  When viewing a single excerpt, its “Share,” “Switch Article,” and “Comment” functions are accessible.

84

EXODUS | 14:21 wind — EXOD205 The supernatural events that are already ...

EXOD205 The supernatural events that are already part of nature are more miraculous because they are part of the original blueprint. While the talmudic source only alludes to this idea, the Midrash Bereishit Rabbah 5:5 states openly that all of the supernatural miracles were implanted in nature during the first six days of creation. Thus, the natural miracle does indeed demonstrate God's prowess even more than supernatural miracles do. The Talmud Ta'anit 7a expresses this concept most emphatically when it says that the (natural) miracle of rain is greater than the (supernatural) miracle of the resurrection of the dead. This idea is also demonstrated through the supernatural events in the Bible itself. The most supernatural miracle in the Bible is, one could argue, the splitting of the Red Sea. And yet, this supernatural event is brought about through very natural means, as the Torah describes the east wind blowing the entire night prior to the onset of the splitting of the sea. The Sefer Hachinuch Mitzvah 132 explains that God's greatness is enhanced by performing supernatural miracles through natural means. Other supernatural miracles in the Torah are also brought about through natural means. Each day, millions of Jews in the desert were fed by the supernatural means of the manna, as bread came from heaven. Exodus 16:4 Yet, the manna appeared in a very natural way, between two layers of dew on the ground each morning. Numbers 11:9. The Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 20 comments on this phenomenon that God purposely wanted to make a supernatural miracle (manna from Heaven) appear natural from the dew. Even at the end of the Torah, when God shows the entire land of Israel to Moses, God commands Moses to first go up to the mountain. Deuteronomy 32:49 It is clear that from Mount Nevo, the entire land cannot normally be seen and that God performed a supernatural miracle to allow Moses to see the entire land. Yet God asked Moses to go up to the mountain to see the land so that the supernatural miracle will appear to be brought about through natural means. Thus, in Judaism, contrary to the commonsense belief, natural miracles are considered greater and more miraculous than supernatural miracles.

Share

Print
Source KeyAMEMEI
Verse14:21
Keyword(s)wind
Source Page(s)173-4
Back To Top