Dear Kollel,

The Gem. says here that ''No one bangs his finger unless it is decreed by Heaven''. Yet I have heard that there is a concept that someone may be in a place where a group was decreed for tragedy, G-d forbid, and he may receive the same fate only because he was ''in the wrong place at the wrong time'', as it were.

Since there were Jews who miraculously were not present at the World Trade Center that fateful morning in Sept. even though they usually were, and others who were not so unfortunate. Is it possible to say that some were lost only because Hash-m had His reasons for those buildings to be destroyed (possibly because He had a message to send to the world, or other reasons of course only known to Him), and had they not been there they would have been spared?

Whatever light you can shed on this in light of this Gemara in Chulin is greatly appreciated.

Yitzchok Gesser

The question relates to "Devarim b'Rumo Shel Olam," matters that are far beyond human intellect. See Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei ha'Torah 2:12, and Hilchos Teshuvah 5:5, and Hasagos ha'Ra'avad there.

It is axiomatic that Hash-m runs the universe with Hashgachah Pratis and that there has to be Sechar v'Ones, reward and punishment, to the last detail, as per the Gemara in Chulin 7b. There are numerous other conclusive verses and teachings of Chazal which confirm this (although it must be self-evident to any Ma'amin that it could not possibly be otherwise).

[The Rambam, however, in Moreh Nevuchim 3:17 does make a distinction between individual human and animal species on the one hand, and individual animals on the other (see attached translation), but I find this distinction difficult to follow.]

Hash-m also decides where each person will be born, what characteristics he will be born with, health, wealth, good looks, neighbors, environment, etc. We cannot possibly question why this should be. It is all part of the Divine plan. So, too, why should some of us live in peaceful times and areas whilst others live through turbulent times of war, oppression, inquisition, crusades, Holocaust, and terrorism; why is Reuven blessed with longevity, whilst Shimon dies in adolescence, etc.

What is clear, however, is that within the constraints imposed upon each human being, he or she has the Bechirah, the power to choose, to raise or lower his or her level. Each has his own Nisayon and must deal with it vicissitudes of his life accordingly. A rich person has the test of wealth, a poor person has the test of poverty, etc.

In the end, everyone gets their just desserts, but very likely only in Olam ha'Ba. This is the whole concept of Tzadik v'Ra Lo, Rasha v'Tov Lo. Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak once put it beautifully. Each gets what he really wants. The Rasha does not believe in the afterlife, so he wants all of his reward here and now and is not prepared to wait for the distant future in which he does not believe. The Tzadik, however, wants to preserve his reward for an everlasting period, and is quire prepared to forego the few crumbs of pleasure which he could have had for a comparatively minuscule period of time in this world, in order to reap eternity, Nitzchiyus, in the World to Come (see Avos 4:17).

There are so many different and conflicting factors that Hash-m has to take into account in determining His Divine Hashgachah in any particular instance. See Derech Hash-m of the Ramchal, II:B:11 (copy attached, and I have outlined the important parts; in particular, towards the end, the case of the singing ship is precisely that of your question regarding the World Trade Center).

You raise the case of being in the "wrong place at the wrong time." Presumably, you are referring to the Gemara in Bava Kama 60a: "Keivan she'Nitan Reshus l'Mashchis, Eino Mavchin Bein Tzadik l'Rasha. V'Lo Od, Ela she'Maschil Min ha'Tzadikim Techilah" -- "Once permission is given to the agent of destruction, he does not distinguish between a Tzadik and a Rasha. Moreover, he begins with the Tzadikim."

It could be that this is simply one of the aforementioned factors that a Tzadik has the function of atoning for his generation and for the Tikun ha'Olam. See Ramchal, ibid. (p. 72, attached).

See also Drashos ha'Ran, Drush 3, towards the end (copy attached), and Michtav me'Eliyahu, vol. 4, p. 86 (attached) and p. 121. (See also Toras Moshe of Alshich, beginning of Parshas No'ach , who makes a distinction between Hash-m Himself, and when He sends His Shali'ach, one of the Mal'achim.)

At all events, the absence of Havchanah is not a Chisaron in Hashgachah. It is itself a part of the Hashgachah because, as Rav Dessler wrote, it is just that it looks like Teva, but it is not so in reality. It is just that it is one facet of the overall running of the world (as per the Ran and Ramchal, mentioned above). The person caught up in it, or escaping from it, however, will certainly have his true judgement sorted out by Hash-m in Olam ha'Ba.

Looking at it in the above light, there is, in reality, no contradiction between Chulin 7b and Bava Kama 60a.

All the best,

Joseph Pearlman