Where Have All the Miracles Gone?
Question
Why doesn’t God perform “open miracles” for us today the way He did in the days of Moses? I’ve heard that He indirectly performs miracles (saving us from the destruction of our nation in the Spanish inquisition and the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, the Six-Day War…) but if He really wants us to follow His commandments why doesn’t He simply come and tell us that He’s still around?
Answers
Yours is an excellent question that I’ve heard from countless students over the years. I’ve heard and discussed with students a number of answers to this question, and here’s the answer I think is the most correct and clearest. Please let me know what you think about it.
When the Biblical generations experienced miracles, they were impressed and showed their recognition of God’s hand by living according to God’s word. The miracles taught a lesson to a People prepared to learn. They possessed a pure and wholesome faith.
Today, however, if such miracles were to occur, we would explain them away scientifically. We would lose sight of the miracle and be satisfied with some natural explanation. So, what effect would miracles have today? Miracles are a means of communication, and communication requires two sides. When we are ready for miracles and when we can recognize one when it hits us, we will have them.
Our Sages teach us to “Praise Him for each breath we draw.” We are supposed to be grateful for each heartbeat, for all of our vital functions, and, for that matter, all of the day-to-day workings of nature. This teaches us that there are miracles all around us, even if they occur seventy times a minute. “But it’s perfectly natural” is the usual rhetoric. Yet, this is exactly the point. The ordinary, the natural and the commonplace are as much the works of His hands as the Splitting the Sea and Creation itself.
Science seeks the natural in the supernatural; whereas the Torah shows the supernatural in the natural.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team