Unusual Disasters

“And they were for a sign” (Numbers/Bemidbar 26:10) 
 

When unusual disasters strike Jews, especially when this happens in a extraordinary fashion, specifically in places where it is common to make extra efforts to protect oneself from such misfortune, it becomes worthy to contemplate that the very fact that it did nevertheless occur, proves that this event comes from Divine Providence from our Merciful Father, Who is the Omnipotent and Almighty, and Who does this specifically in an unusual and unnatural fashion, in order that we may understand that nothing is coincidence, but rather to inspire us to return to Him and to be worthy to redemption. 
 

Tzaddikim explain this concept with the following amazing parable: 
 

A child was once hiking in the woods with his father, and his father warned the child not to let go of his hand, so he would not get lost among the trees in the big woods. However, when the child saw a beautiful bird wandering in the woods, chirping in a beautiful voice, he violated his father’s words and let go of his hand, and pursued the bird for a great distance. 
 

After a while, no longer seeing his father, the child understood that he was all alone in the forest. He thought to himself that his father would be very angry at him for violating his instruction, to the point where he did not want him anymore, and that the father would decide not to look for the son, and instead abandon him in the forest. This broke the child’s heart very much. He sat on the ground amidst feelings of despondency and depression, filled with fear that wild animals in the forest would attack him. 
 

Suddenly, the child felt a strong blow to his back. He realized that it came from a cane or stick and therefore could not have come from an animal. It must be his father who struck him with the cane in his hand. At that moment, the child’s heart was filled with joy, because he was no longer alone the and that his father had found him and hitting him was a sign that his father loved him, worries about him, and wishes to educate him. 
 

The father continued to hit his son with several blows to punish him for running away, because of his fear that his beloved son might get lost again before they left the forest, and he felt that this might be the only way to frighten him from repeating his blunder again. The wise child understood that this was for his own benefit, so he stood up joyously, and they embraced one another in a loving manner. The child took hold of his father’s hand strongly, and his father took him out of the forest. 
 

The moral of the story is that when we are drawn to follow after the Yetzer Hara and distance ourselves from our Father in Heaven, and He wants us to return and hold strongly to Him, then He strikes us with such troubles that are not usual, in order that we should understand from this that these troubles are not coincidental, erroneously thinking that this could be because Hashem is hiding His Face from us and does not protect us because He does not want us. On the contrary; just the opposite is true. He Himself strikes us to inspire us to return unto Him in order that we should be worthy to be taken out of the exile. 
 

This is that which King David said to Hashem “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff comfort me” (Psalms/Tehillim 23:4), that when I feel Your rod and staff striking me, this comforts me because I know that “You are with me”. 
 

Along these lines, the Gaon Rebbe Yonason Eibeshutz zt”l explained in his Sefer Yaaros Devash (1:11) that which is written, “A Psalm of David when he ran away from his son Avshalom” (Psalms/Tehillim 3:1), that King David sang a song when his son Avshalom was pursuing him in order to kill him, because it is so unnatural for a son to be so cruel against his father, and from this David recognized that this sorrow came upon him from Divine Providence by Heavenly decree in order to atone for his sins. 
 

We also see this concerning the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, because it was unnatural for Jerusalem to be conquered, as it is written “the kings of the earth and all of the inhabitants of the world could not believe that an enemy and tormentor could enter the gates of Jerusalem” (Lamentations/Eichah 4:12). It could only be a miracle that the gates of the city could be breached by Nevuzaradan with such a minor strike, and similarly our other historical troubles have been supernatural, in order to inspire us to repent. 
 

This was a source of comfort that Hashem never abandoned the Jewish People, as the verse says “the hands of merciful women have cooked their own children, they became comforted by this” (Lamentations/Eichah 4:10), that such a sorrow is so unnatural that this could be a source of comfort for the people that everything comes by Divine Providence. 
 

Similarly, in the time of the Holocaust, scholars of history had a difficult time understanding how the modern world could have produced such an evil party that could have conquered such strong countries and massacred millions of Jews. It becomes obvious that it is difficult to explain this in a natural manner, because the truth is that this was a supernatural decree from Heaven. 
 

Similarly, it is told that one tzaddik was in a German Concentration Camp and he lost his wife and children there, Rachamana Letzlan, but when he heard people ask “where is Hashem?”, he answered, “Hashem is here! I see Him here more than I ever saw Him before, because these events prove that the world does not follow in a natural form!” 
 

This is a tremendous fundamental concept that we need to contemplate. When we are rescued from an unnatural trouble, we are used to saying that this is a “Nes”, a miracle from Heaven, which is a term that means a sign, which demonstrates the Creator’s Divine Providence. However, we also need to understand that unnatural troubles themselves are also a “Nes” from Heaven. 
 

This is what we find in our Parshah, after Scripture teaches us about what occurred after the rebellion of Korach and his assembly, that the earth opened its mouth and fire consumed a portion of the Bnei Yisrael, and Scripture comes to tell us why this decree of death did not come in a natural manner, “and it was for a Nes (sign)”, these things came to demonstrate a miraculous sign, a supernatural Nes, and this is a sign that Our Father in Heaven is calling us to be inspired to Teshuvah, and through this we will be worthy to Redemption.

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