Science Will WIN

This is the slogan by Pfizer, the first company to roll out a vaccine to the Coronavirus plague.  

They are right. Science will win.  

The Talmud calculated the exact duration of a month to the millionth of a second. In 1990, NASA calculating the length of a month, missing the number our Sages gave by 6 millionths of a second.  

Ten years later, science eventually got it right, exactly matching the length our Sages derived from the Torah given to us over 3,300 years ago.  

We thought the earth was flat.  

It was the Zohar that maintained that the earth, and all the heavenly bodies surrounding it, are spheres. Over time science caught up, eventually confirming what G-d told us in the Torah over two millennia before Columbus was born.  

The world isn’t made up of independent forces, but of related forces that make up a greater whole. Energy and matter are related, says Einstein. The Lubavitcher Rebbe predicts that ultimately, someone will prove how even energy and matter are One, for all existence is One. 

Because G-d Himself is One.  

From the time man discovered fire to the latest treatment for COVID-19, science has been “winning” by catching up to Hashem.  

We should do the same.  

Hashem Will Win 

When the first wave of coronavirus hit, we all locked down.  

Leaders across the planet diverted massive amounts of resources to finding a cure. In the meantime, we were told to wear a mask, stay away from large crowds, and maintain 2 meters distance from one another.  

Everybody attributed this to a sickness originating in Wuhan, China that got out of control.  

Not a single leader told us the truth:  

This is a Divine Decree from the King of the Universe over His world and the inhabitants He rules over. It is a plague sent by our Creator to shake us into repentance.  

Not a peep from the Christian world.  

Not a murmur from the Islamic world.  

Not a sentence by the political leadership of Israel, on the Land He watches over from the beginning of the year to the end.  

Even opposition leaders never came out for G-d.  

Neither did the Haredi parties and national-religious parties – they had nothing to say about G-d’s role in this.  

Only real tzaddikim like Rabbi Arush, the spiritual leaders of the generation, have been practically screaming this truth from the rafters, trying to get us to take heed. 

Hashem, in His mercy, gave us another chance. By June things “settled down.” Restrictions eased and it looked like life might get back to normal. We all hoped that this entire sordid story would end up being a few miserable months out of our lives. We still didn’t acknowledge the reality – that this came from Hashem in order to push us to make changes to our life and return closer to Him.  

As the Days of Judgment neared, we didn’t get it – so, the plague came back.  

This time more violently. We went back into lockdown. No Rosh Hashanah in Uman. No Yom Kippur. Sukkot in isolation.  

Like our Patriarchs who were shepherds, we would be alone all day to contemplate what was happening and where it was coming from.  

Humanity Will Win 

Once again, everything returned to normal. We  even  made vaccines to try to end this nightmare.  

We should have said “With G-d’s help, thank G-d, the plague has ended.” 

But instead we said “Science will win – and without G-d’s help.” 

But did science win? Can we overturn G-d’s decree without His help? 

Let the media decide this one: 

Even with a vaccine on the shipment trucks, the entire world is entering a lockdown. This plague has returned with a fierce vengeance. 

This might just be our last chance.  

After exhausting our economy. After suffocating for an entire year. After suspending our children’s education and our “normal life” for 12 months, we might have nothing to show for it.  

It would be like surviving the Holocaust only to find out that the Nazis still control Germany! 

We must do something to spin a silver lining into this darkest of clouds.  

Each of us must tell Hashem:  

YES, it came from You.  

YES, we must make changes.  

YES! The world will never be the same – so we must never be the same.  

Rabbi Arush teaches in The Garden of Emuna that anything bad which happens to us is a whisper from Hashem to inspect our deeds and repent. If we don’t listen, the whisper will become a hum. If we continue to ignore G-d’s message, it will intensify into a deafening roar.  

It is up to each and every one of us to ask Hashem what He wants us to change in our daily life and to do it. To admit to G-d that He alone did all this, and to ask Him to help us understand – why.  

As Rebbetzin Jungreis a”h, don’t ask “why” in the past tense – why all this pain and suffering? You must ask why in Hebrew – in the future tense! In Hebrew, there are two words for “why” – lamah and madua. Hidden in the words are the questions we are supposed to ask whenever troubles befall us: 

Why – lamah? L’mah? For what? For what purpose? 

And why – madua? Mah yodea? What am I supposed to learn from this? 

Each of us must do everything we can do to merit His lifting of the decree. To recognize that Hashem is sending us messages as a people, and also as an individual in our specific circumstances. To remember that Hashem loves us with such a love, like an only child! So if He wants to give us every good in the world, and He suffers personally with our pain – then if He is sending us all this suffering, then it must be good. It must be serving a good purpose. And there must just be no other way to get us to listen – so the sooner we get the point, the sooner Hashem can turn off the loudspeakers. 

It is up to us to do everything we can so Hashem doesn’t need to speak to us using a larger mouthpiece.   

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his wife and children. Since moving to Israel in 2002, David has discovered Torah, writing hi-tech, hiking, coding ReactJS Apps, and hearing stories about the Land of Israel from anyone excited to tell them. Check him out on Highway 60 or email him your favorite Israel story at:  

david.ben.horin@spreadyourenthusiasm.com.