Rabbi Bentzion Shafier
When Seeing is Not Believing
Several years ago, as I sat down to learn with a not yet religious young man, he turned to me and said, “All of the miracles we have been studying about are very impressive. From the Ancient Egyptians being smitten with the plagues to the Splitting of the Sea, I am very taken by it all. The problem is that it happened so long ago. I don’t need all of that to happen today though; if only G-d would show me just one miracle, I would believe in Him.”
I asked him if he thought miracles make a person believe in G-d. “Of course, anyone would believe if they had seen the type of miracles mentioned in the Bible.” I paused and then went on to say, “I have one simple question. Why didn’t the Ancient Egyptians believe in G-d?” “What do you mean?” he piped up. “The Egyptians were wicked; they were the ones who wanted to kill the Jews!”
I continued to challenge the young man. “I understand, but they experienced the very same miracles that the Jewish nation did. They lived through the entire ten plagues. They saw the same manifestation of G-d ’s hand as the Jews did, yet the vast majority of them never came to any recognition of the dominion of G-d. Quite the opposite, until the bitter end, most of them denied G-d. If it’s true, as you say, that miracles make a person believe in G-d, how could a nation live through such obvious and clear miracles and not believe?”
Let’s travel back to Egypt and slowly, scene by scene, go through what it must have been like to be an Egyptian living at that time.
Let’s picture Anwar, a simple, reasonably honest, hardworking landowner, standing in the hot sun. Along comes his friend Nachmad.
“Hey Anwar, did you hear what’s going on?” “No, what?” “Well, this tall, majestic Hebrew named Moses came walking into the palace with his brother Aaron, and started threatening King Pharaoh.” “That’s not a smart idea,” responds Anwar. “I remember what happened to the last guy who tried that.” “But anyway, he says that G-d sent him to tell Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go.”
“Which G-d sent him?” Anwar asks. “Not one of our g-ds,” replies Nachmad. “Moses is talking about this super G-d, who he says created the heavens and earth and runs everything.” “Oh, come now Nachmad, everyone thinks that their g-d is the best.”
“No, no, you don’t understand. He started performing all sorts of miracles. First he threw his staff to the ground and it turned into a snake. Then he put his hand in his coat and it came out white with leprosy. Then finally, he threw water on the ground and it turned into blood. And lastly, he threatened that if Pharaoh doesn’t let the Jewish people go, this G-d of his is going to turn all of the water in all of Egypt into blood!”
“Nachmad, do you really believe that?” “Well, I may or may not. But I’ll tell you this much, Pharaoh sure took him seriously.”
Now, Anwar worshipped his fair share of idols in his day. Yet, not wishing to take any chances, he made sure to store away a couple extra barrels of water just in case.
On the appointed day at the appointed time, lo and behold, all of the water in Egypt turned into blood. It was not just the water in the Nile River. All the water in the sinks, the bathtubs, the barrels, the basements, and the fields turned into blood. It wasn’t merely red colored water either, but bona fide, smelly blood.
Anwar happens to have a few Jewish slaves, one of whom is working in the fields that day. While watching all of this, Anwar says to himself, “I may not be all too smart, but even I can tell that something unusual is going on here.” He calls over his Jewish slave, who is happily drinking a glass of cool fresh water.
“Hey Isaac, come here.” “Yes, Master.” “Let me have some of that water you are drinking!” The Jewish slave hands the cup of water over. But as the cup passes from his hand into the hand of his Egyptian master, it turns from water into blood. “Hey, take that back!” Anwar screams. Isaac takes back the cup, and it turns back from blood into water. “Now give me that!” Anwar yells. Again, no sooner does the cup leave Isaac’s hand that it turns back into blood. This goes on back and forth, water, blood, water, blood, water, blood.
Finally, Anwar thinks for a moment and says,“Now listen here, you and I are going to drink at the same time. As I put my lips to the cup, you are going to do the same. And remember, no tricks, understand?” They both stand there, lips pressed against the cup. “Ready. One, two, three...!” Anwar shrieks, spitting out blood, while Isaac drinks clear, fresh water.
This is a very impressive feat. It isn’t every day that all of the water in Egypt turns into blood. Everyone in Egypt clearly and directly saw that Hashem was the One who controls nature. How does water change from one state to another depending upon who holds it? This phenomenon was seen by every Egyptian man, woman and child. There was no room for doubt because of the clarity of that which they saw. And yet they didn’t come to believe in G-d.
What is even more perplexing is that Hashem specifically performed such dramatic miracles for the sole purpose of making it clear that there is a G-d who controls and runs the world. Hashem could have taken the Jewish nation out of Egypt in any manner He chose; yet he chose to use miracles to achieve this end. This was to be one time in history that Hashem would show His dominion over nature, so that all future generations should be able to refer back to that moment as a basis for their belief.
Yet, the Egyptians did not come to that belief. They lived through the many miracles and still refused to accept the compelling proof that it was all the hand of G-d. The question which thus begs is how could intelligent, reasonable people see such clear manifestations of G-d and not believe in Him?
The answer to this speaks to the very core of how emunah, belief in G-d, works. How in fact, asks Rav Elchanan Wasserman hy”d, can the Torah command us to believe in G-d? If I already believe in Him, then what need is there for a command? And if, to the contrary, I do not believe, how does giving a commandment help? It is a deep-seated feeling that one has within their heart. It wouldn’t help to say, “Heart, believe. I command you to believe!” What then are we required to do to bring about our emunah?
Rav Elchanan explains that the Torah isn’t simply commanding a person to believe in G-d. The mitzvah is rather straightforward in a different regard: be honest. We are commanded to look at the world, its beauty, its diversity, and its complexity, and honestly ask ourselves, “Do I really think this all just happened? Could it possibly have just occurred by itself?”
All too often, our personal agendas and biases get in the way of our thinking. We conclude that if we accept the fact that Hashem exists, we will be required to abide by a set code of laws and practices that will inhibit us from acting freely as we want and when we want. It is easier and more convenient to put G-d aside and live a life without any commandments.
The mitzvah of emunah it thus to put aside these agendas and, with an honest, open, and critical eye, focus on this one question: Is there a Creator of this world? Once this is established, one can begin to see the hand of G-d. Miracles by themselves will not change people, so long as they insist on staying firmly rooted in their old ways of thinking and feeling.
The Torah means to instruct us to put away all of our preconceived notions, and to approach this from an intellectual vantage point. If you have a discussion with someone, and they say, “Prove that G-d exists!” their real intention will determine whether you will be successful in talking to them. If what they mean is, “I am open; I have questions and honestly want to hear the answers,” then it is a simple matter to show such a person the hand of G-d in our infinitely complex and integrated world. But, if they are really saying, “I don’t want to believe in G-d! I find it hard to change my perspective on life, and I don’t want to hear what you are saying;” then there is little chance you will convince them. The most logically compelling arguments and the most irrefutable facts won’t move them. And that is because, deep down, what they are really saying is, “My mind is made up and I already know that I’m unwilling to believe.”
That is why the Ancient Egyptians didn’t believe in G-d. Despite having seen miracles that were undeniable, and in fact form the underpinnings of our emunah as a Jewish nation, they saw and didn’t believe. G-d grants us the ability to believe what we want to believe. And that is why, even if we were to witness miracles today, we wouldn’t necessarily change our position. In short, people believe what they want to believe. The choice is ours.
