The Torah repeatedly warns us that if we behave inappropriately, we will suffer misfortune, and if we behave appropriately, we will enjoy success. If we suffer the very misfortunes that the Torah identifies as a result of sin, may we attribute those misfortunes to our sins? Or is such attribution an arrogant assumption of prophetic power?
Similarly, if we enjoy success, may we attribute it to our righteousness, or is this too an unwarranted presumption of access to knowledge reserved for the Divine?
I'm not so sure I understand the question: if the Torah says "if/when you do A, B will happen," it seems no arrogation to say that "since B has clearly happened, we understand it was because we did A." What's hard about that? I don't "get" the connection to prophesy.
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ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the fact that A leads to B in no way implies that B necessarily comes from A. Second of all, are you willing to attribute all success to good deeds, and all misfortune to bad deeds?
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