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The supernatural nature of nature
Jewish World Review ^ | 12/12/'07 | Rabbi 'Avi Shafran

Posted on 12/12/2007 1:59:42 PM PST by Zionist Conspirator

It is a strange and disorienting panorama that Rabbi E. E. Dessler, the celebrated Jewish thinker (1892-1953) asks us to ponder: a world where the dead routinely rise from their graves but no grain or vegetation has ever grown.

The thought experiment continues with the sudden appearance of a man who procures a seed, something never seen before in this bizarre universe, and plants it in the ground. The inhabitants regard the act as no different from burying a stone, and are flabbergasted when, several days later, a sprout pierces the soil where the seed had been consigned, and eventually develops into a full-fledged plant, bearing — most astonishing of all — seeds of its own!

Notes Rabbi Dessler, there is no inherent difference between nature and what we call the miraculous. We simply use the former word "nature" for the miracles to which we are accustomed, and the latter one for those we have not before experienced. All there is, in the end, is G-d's will.

(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...


TOPICS: Apologetics; Current Events; Judaism; Theology
KEYWORDS: gd; nature; thesupernatural
A little gem from Rabbi Shafran to ponder as Chanukkah 5768 slips away from us.
1 posted on 12/12/2007 1:59:44 PM PST by Zionist Conspirator
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To: Alouette

Ping.


2 posted on 12/12/2007 2:00:56 PM PST by Zionist Conspirator ( . . . Vayo'mer "'Ani Yosef 'achiykhem 'asher-mekhartem 'oti Mitzraymah.")
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To: Zionist Conspirator

There are a few seeds in an apple, but how many apples in a seed?


3 posted on 12/12/2007 2:02:14 PM PST by RightWhale (anti-razors are pro-life)
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To: Zionist Conspirator

A thought I’ve often had myself. It is so pretentiously pious sometimes to articulate the sense of wonder and to give thanks for the simple things in life . . . but not when you are alone with God.


4 posted on 12/12/2007 2:05:21 PM PST by Greg F (Duncan Hunter is a good man.)
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