Man’s Plans vs. God’s Plans
讜讬拽专讗 专讘讛 (讜讬诇谞讗) 驻专砖讛 诇讛
讗诐 讘讞拽讜转讬 转诇讻讜 讛讛”讚 (转讛诇讬诐 拽讬讟) 讞砖讘转讬 讚专讻讬 讜讗砖讬讘讛 专讙诇讬 讗诇 注讚讜转讬讱 讗诪专 讚讜讚 专讘砖”注 讘讻诇 讬讜诐 讜讬讜诐 讛讬讬转讬 诪讞砖讘 讜讗讜诪专 诇诪拽讜诐 驻诇讜谞讬 讜诇讘讬转 讚讬专讛 驻诇讜谞讬转 讗谞讬 讛讜诇讱 讜讛讬讜 专讙诇讬 诪讘讬讗讜转 讗讜转讬 诇讘转讬 讻谞住讬讜转 讜诇讘转讬 诪讚专砖讜转 讛讛”讚 讜讗砖讬讘讛 专讙诇讬 讗诇 注讚讜转讬讱.
Leviticus Rabbah 35:1
“If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments” (Leviticus 26:3). This bears on the text, “I considered my ways, and turned back to Your decrees” (Psalms 119:59). David said: “Sovereign of the Universe! Every day I used to plan and decide that I would go to a particular place or to a particular dwelling-house, but my feet always brought me to synagogues and houses of study.” Hence it is written, “And turned back to Your decrees.”
I have such good intentions when I start off my day or my week. I carefully plot out which errands I will do when, which items on the to-do list to take care of, which friends and family I will get to spend time with or at least call back. It is thoughtful planning: “considered,” to use David’s phrase in the midrash.
But then life intervenes. One of the kids gets sick, or the babysitter quits (again), or there’s a crisis at work, and the whole plan goes out the window. “I used to plan and decide,” as David says, how I would spend my time鈥攂ut in the end, my feet took me where they would. In the end, as David declares, I learned to go with the flow and see the out-of-control march through daily life as part of a Divine plan. I turned back to You.
“If you follow My laws,” there will be a reward, our parashah tells us. We will reap some benefit that we would not experience if we were to choose a different lifestyle or set of beliefs. I do not understand the reward as something Divinely given; I think it is a reward we create for ourselves. We who choose a life of faith are “rewarded” with a sense of calm and assurance as we walk through our days鈥攕omething that those who hold other beliefs cannot experience in the same way. One of the rewards of faith is the sense that wherever we end up鈥攁nd I’m guessing it’s not always as lofty as the synagogues and houses of study that the midrash envisions David frequenting 鈥� it was the place where God meant us to be.
