Jüdisches Denken zu Schemuel I 2:9

Events in this world to help or hinder the acquisition of perfection: However there is another factor that comes into play according to the ways of judgement and reward. And that is that the Supreme Judge decreed that - as a result of man's own actions - He, may He be blessed, will assist to make the achievement of his perfection easier for him and to save him from obstacles, as the matter is stated (I Samuel 2:9), "He guards the footsteps of His faithful." Of course, there are many levels in this: As one will find that the principle of justice will allow, that according to the actions that one person has already done, the Creator, may He be Praised, will help him a little; and someone else who He will help more, such that He will greatly help him achieve perfection; and still someone else that He will help even more. And likewise the opposite: One who already according to [the ways of] justice is fit not to be helped from the Heavens, however perfection is not made more difficult for him; and another whose judgement goes out, such that obstacles are increased for him, so he will require strength and toil in order to achieve it; and there is yet another - who is a complete evildoer - from whom all the ways of improvement are sealed and will be pushed off in his evil. And there are many, many fine details in all of these things. And so note that it is possible that a man merit that successes in this world are decreed upon him to help him in his service, so that it be easier for him to accomplish the perfection he seeks, and that no obstacles get in his way. And it is [also] possible that losses and troubles be decreed upon him according to his deeds, to stand like a wall in front of him and intervene between him and perfection - to the point that he will need more toil and discomfort to bore through that burrow and make efforts, regardless of all of his preoccupations, to nevertheless accomplish his perfection. And the opposite with an evildoer: It is possible that successes will be decreed about him to open the gate of perdition in front of him, that he be pushed off through it. But it [also] possible that troubles be decreed about him to prevent him from the evil that he intended to do. And that will happen when the Supreme Director will know that it is not appropriate for that evildoer to do it for whatever reason. And [about] this did David pray (Psalms 140:9), "Do not, O Lord, grant the desires of the wicked; do not let their plan succeed." And behold He, may His name be blessed, does all of these matters in His amazing wisdom; everything according to what is appropriate for the collective of His creatures, as I have written. And He judges creatures in all of their circumstances according to what they truly are - meaning to say, one who is in a state of comfort and is negligent in his service is not the same as one who is in a state of duress and preoccupied by the pressures upon him and, so, does not achieve perfection. Hence their judgement will surely not be the same. Rather each one will be judged according to what he truly is - whether inadvertent or volitional; whether he is forced or does it willingly. And He, may His name be blessed, knows the truth of all words, deeds and thoughts, and judges them accordingly.

Consider how the action of Divine Providence is described in reference to every incident in the lives of the patriarchs, to their occupations, and even to their passions, and how God promised to direct His attention to them. Thus God said to Abraham, “I am thy shield” (Gen. 15:1); to Isaac, “I will be with thee, and I will bless thee” (ibid. 26:3); to Jacob, “I am with thee, and will keep thee” (ibid. 28:15); to [Moses] the chief of the Prophets, “Certainly I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee” (Exod. 3:12); to Joshua, “As I was with Moses, so I shall be with thee” (Josh. 1:5). It is clear that in all these cases the action of Providence has been proportional to man’s perfection. The following verse describes how Providence protects good and pious men, and abandons fools; “He Will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail” (1 Sam. 2:9). When we see that some men escape plagues and mishaps, whilst others perish by them, we must not attribute this to a difference in the properties of their bodies, or in their physical constitution, “for by strength shall no man prevail”; but it must be attributed to their different degrees of perfection, some approaching God, whilst others moving away from Him. Those who approach Him are best protected, and “He will keep the feet of his saints”; but those who keep far away from Him are left exposed to what may befall them; there is nothing that could protect them from what might happen; they are like those who walk in darkness, and are certain to stumble. The protection of the pious by Providence is also expressed in the following passages:—“He keepeth all his bones,” etc. (Ps. 34:21); “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous” (ibid. ver. 16); “He shall call upon me and I shall answer him” (ibid. ver. 15). There are in Scripture many more passages expressing the principle that men enjoy Divine protection in proportion to their perfection and piety. The philosophers have likewise discussed this subject. Abu-nasr, in the Introduction to his Commentary on Aristotle’s Nikomachean Ethics, says as follows:—Those who possess the faculty of raising their souls from virtue to virtue obtain, according to Plato, Divine protection to a higher degree.

An excellent idea presents itself here to me, which may serve to remove many doubts, and may help to solve many difficult problems in metaphysics. We have already stated in the chapters which treat of Divine Providence, that Providence watches over every rational being according to the amount of intellect which that being possesses. Those who are perfect in their perception of God, whose mind is never separated from Him, enjoy always the influence of Providence. But those who, perfect in their knowledge of God, turn their mind sometimes away from God, enjoy the presence of Divine Providence only when they meditate on God; when their thoughts are engaged in other matters, divine Providence departs from them. The absence of Providence in this case is not like its absence in the case of those who do not reflect on God at all: it is in this case less intense, because when a person perfect in his knowledge [of God] is busy with worldly matters, he has not knowledge in actuality, but only knowledge in potentiality [though ready to become actual]. This person is then like a trained scribe when he is not writing. Those who have no knowledge of God are like those who are in constant darkness and have never seen light. We have explained in this sense the words: “The wicked shall be silent in darkness” (1 Sam. 2:9), whilst those who possess the knowledge of God, and have their thoughts entirely directed to that knowledge, are, as it were, always in bright sunshine; and those who have the knowledge, but are at times engaged in other themes, have then as it were a cloudy day: the sun does not shine for them on account of the cloud that intervenes between them and God.