by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine

Let’s say a miracle man would arrive in town. The locals would be duly impressed by his talents and expertise. But what if he started sharing a message which differed from Torah and mitzvos? I contend that the Jews would opt out. Do you know why? Because miraculously speaking we are unbelievers.

The Torah (Devorim 13:2-5) describes a case where a “holy man” might appear and perform signs and wonders to buttress his vision to abandon Torah and belief in Hashem. The Torah warns us not to trust his miracles. We are told that Hashem might allow someone to do wonders through a variety of occult or spiritual forces, “to test you, to see if you really want Hashem as your G-d,” or will you quickly excuse yourself from Him if you perceive the opportunity.

Interestingly, the Rambam (Yesodey HaTorah 8) writes that Jewish people do not believe in Judaism because of the miracles that Moshe performed. “The miracles that Moshe performed were done not for purposes of trust or faith but because of their functionality.” The people needed food, so Manna was provided. The people needed to escape, so he split the sea. The source of our belief in Moshe and in the Torah he instructed us is that we were present as a people at the great revelation at Sinai when we heard Hashem speak to Moshe in our presence. We then witnessed how Moshe repeated the mitzvos to us. Our faith in Moshe’s Torah is based on the truthfulness of instruction. But miracles in Judaism are not facilitators of faith.

Nevertheless, the human being craves the miraculous. We continue to describe the rags to riches dream as someone who wins the lottery, even though we know that 99% of the people who go from rags to riches and stay there for any significant period of time do not do so as a result of winning the lottery. A far more accurate picture of success is one who perseveres day in and day out until he is blessed with a few successful opportunities. But advocating perseverance and trustworthiness, as Judaism does (Talmud, Niddah 70b), doesn’t have the same flair as dreaming of a miraculous win of the lottery.

Sometimes miraculous thinking even makes its way foolishly into our daily decision making. I recall an instance where a stockbroker intern was instructed to buy shares for a customer, and accidently mistook GE for GM, and bought the wrong stock. One would expect that he would get at least a warning for his grievous mistake. But when the stock market gyrations made his decision the better “gamble” he was applauded for his “magic fingers.” Somehow, the miraculous is exotic and exciting, even if the miracle worker is actually displaying feeble judgment or skill.

This is not to say that Jews don’t believe in miracles. We do. But as the Rambam describes it, we believe in functional miracles, not miracles to show us how to lead our lives. When we need G-d’s help (which is all the time) we know that He cares about us, and salvation- both hidden and miraculous- come from Him.

Perhaps one reason that Jews are so skeptical about proving things from miracles is because we recognize that we ourselves are a miracle. It is said that when one Emperor asked his philosophers for a miracle that he could see, they replied, “The Jews, your majesty, the Jews.”  Torah and the Jewish people may not appear to be the exotic miracle that some people think of when they talk of wondrous miracles. But Torah is the permanence of a message that can carry the human being through all life cycles and through all environments both good and bad.

Perhaps, as is the case with honor, those who pursue it will find it elusive. One who strives for the miraculous will find values that are remarkably short lived. But those who say, “Miracles are functional. We get them when we need them, but our faith is not based on them,” are granted miracles with such frequency that they themselves become synonymous with the imagery of miracles and with the Hand of the Divine. It is that miraculous Hand that will guide the destiny of mankind and of each individual until the end of time.

© 2014 by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine