All in Hashgacha

Hashgacha Pratis (Part 6): Ramban’s Position On The Matter

Devir Kahan
Hashgacha

Thus far in our studies of Hashgacha Pratis we have seen the very basics, and then moved on to Rambam in order to explain the  concept at length, in its various details. Being the “supreme rationalist” that Rambam is often painted as, some might write his position off as being just that — merely a “rationalist” perspective on the matter; sterile and devoid of all emotion. The fact of the matter is, however, that far from being unique in his approach to Hashgacha Pratis, Rambam is in fact quite normative amongst the Rishonim. Indeed, we shall now examine the perspective of Ramban (Nachmanides), the “supreme Kabbalist”, on the topic of Hashgacha Pratis so as to compare his perspective on the matter to Rambam’s. After all, Rambam and Ramban are two of the absolute greatest and most revered of our sages. If both the “rationalist” and the “Kabbalist” giants of the Rishonim agree on the matter, it is safe to assume that such is the proper Jewish tradition and view of the matter...

Hashgacha Pratis (Part 4): Rambam’s Overview

Devir Kahan
Hashgacha

Before we begin this installment in our series, I would like to explain our general approach, and give a little bit of an overview for the series so as to better understand what we are doing, and how we are doing it. We have thus far explained the very basic fundamentals of Divine intervention: it applies to homo sapiens only, and not animals, plants, or inanimate objects. We have also seen that one’s Divine protection is commensurate with his or her righteousness and knowledge of God. A more intense study of sources is now needed in order to fully understand and elaborate on these ideas. As such, we shall endeavor to do the following: We shall see Rambam’s approach to Hashgacha Pratis first, and then see Ramban’s fully formulated opinion on the subject as well, based on Rambam. These two sources alone will explain most everything on the subject that we need. We shall then fill in all of the gaps, address additional opinions, seeming contradictions, and closely related topics, and then give an overview and conclusion...

Hashgacha Pratis (Part 2): There Is No Affliction Without Sin

Devir Kahan
Hashgacha

We left off last time with the following overview of the topic of Hashgacha from the Sefer HaChinuch:

  • There is no Hashgacha on inanimate objects.
  • There is only general Hashgacha on animals (species).
  • Only Homo Sapiens have Hashgacha on every entity, and every detail.

But this is all only as far as schar v’onesh/reward and punishment is concerned. That is all the Chinuch deals with. For now, I’d like to flesh out this point about reward and punishment just a bit more.

We turn now to Rambam’s Guide To The Perplexed 3:24 to see his words on the subject...

Hashgacha Pratis (Part 1): Even A Leaf From A Tree?

Devir Kahan
Hashgacha, God

Here begins what I hope will become something of a mini-series on the topic of Hashgacha Pratis. Literally translated, it means “Detailed Supervision”, but it is otherwise known as “Divine Intervention” or “Divine Providence”. The question at hand is how often, and in what way, God intervenes in the world. When does God get involved in our state of affairs? Without getting too involved too quickly, it is enough to say that such a topic is, of course, fundamental to Judaism, and a proper understanding of the topic is of great importance. It is this that we endeavor to achieve in this series...