We took a family to California. Not super surprisingly, there were some challenges. The flight didn’t take off for a couple of hours and when we finally landed, the car rental was closed and had not left pickup instructions.
A couple years ago, before having learned and started internalizing the concept of trusting in Hashem, we would have been a ball of nerves. Today, we were able to stay calm throughout, knowing that this was Hashgacha Protis, Divine Providence. We knew it will all work out for the good!
Below you will find my brother Rabbi Nechemia Schusterman's weekly email from this week on this topic about divine providence.
Autopilot and Self-Driving Cars
by Rabbi Nechemia Schusterman - Chabad of Peabody
These days we are being introduced to everything from self-driving cars, "smart" cruise control to autopilots for airplanes. Some are more comfortable with this technology, others feel that there really should be someone behind the wheel.
We all have something in common: how much control we can allow others or devices to have over areas of our lives and still feel safe and comfortable. At what point must we insert ourselves into the equation so we can feel the stability needed to operate our lives functionally?
Today (and yesterday, depending on when you read this) was a Chassidic holiday - Yud Beis/Yud Gimmel Tammuz - in which we celebrate the Previous Rebbe, the RaYaT'z from a certain death sentence in Soviet prisons. In his memoirs, the Previous Rebbe describes the incredible physical abuse he was forced to endure and revealed the tool that allowed to find the strength to get through it all.
He said that the teaching of Hashgocha Protis - individual Divine providence helped him get through it all. Let's go ahead and unpack that for a moment. Do you mean to say that G-d/Hashem is actively involved in EVERY SINGLE element of life and existence? I know that G-d created everything, but didn't he kind of leave things on "autopilot" of sorts and let trees grow and technology evolve, let AI do its thing, and Hashem kind of stayed in the background?
No, says the Baal Shem Tov, What this means is that Hashem is literally involved in every single part of existence.
- If you have a flat tire, that was G-d.
- If you win the lottery, that was G-d.
- If you see a nice sunset, that is G-d
Basically, whatever happens to you (even if humans were agents that helped it along) was all divinely orchestrated. He intended for this to happen, and in this challenge or gift, something positive and growth-oriented is implanted.
This is what fortified the RaYaT'z and his horrible stay in Soviet prison. His stay and even his painful hardships caused the Chassidim to work harder to keep his mission of spreading the wellsprings of Judaism and Hasidism going. His mistreatment caused more prayer on behalf of so many and ultimately led to even greater levels of the spreading of Judaism and Hasidism. Thus, the teachings of the BeSH'T got him through that terrible period.
So, back to our self-driving cars/airplanes, etc. The notion that self-driving truly means self-driving is in itself a misnomer. As those old yellow, triangle car stickers used to say, "G-D IS MY CO-PILOT. We always have a co-pilot whether we know it or not or admit it or not.
So, as another one of the car stickers used to say, "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON." because individual Divine Providence is real and we are never really alone.
Have a good Shabbos,
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman
P.S. No Services at Chabad this week