A \u201ctheory\u201d is a logical presumption about what\u2019s going on behind the scenes to explain a continuing confusing phenomenon in the world. Some theories are mere guesses and some are educated<\/i> guesses that are more likely to be true, though not necessarily so.<\/p>\n
Suppose, for example, a friend and I found ourselves in a strange and foreign environment after travelling for a long time (and not knowing where we were going). \u201cWhere are we?\u201d one of us would say. \u201cI have a theory,\u201d I might say. \u201cEveryone around us seems to have Eastern features, they seem to be eating foods favored by Chinese people, and they seem to be engaged in Chinese practices. I\u2019m thinking we must be in China.\u201d So my theory would be that based on what we see all around us, we\u2019d come to be in China in fact.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait a minute,\u201d my friend might say. \u201cMaybe we\u2019re in Chinatown in San Francisco?\u201d After all, most people there have Eastern facial features, eat Chinese food, and are engaged in Chinese practices, too. \u201cMy theory is we\u2019re in Chinatown\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Well, both would be reasonable theories, except for the fact that no matter how far we went we couldn\u2019t see a sign of anything that San Francisco is famous for. So it seems that my theory — that we were in China after all — is the more reasonable one. Besides, I happen to read Mandarin, and I read about everyday things that would be typical of life in China going on there day after day, so based on my expertise, my educated<\/i> guess would be more conclusive, though not absolutely certain, since, who knows, maybe we were whisked off to Japan in an area where a whole swath of Chinese people lived and still spoke and wrote about home a lot. We were simply not privy to all we\u2019d need to arrive at the absolute truth.<\/p>\n
Along the same lines, suppose a large number of things were simply and entirely inexplicable in life, and a friend and I were trying to explain what lie behind them. \u201cMy theory is that what\u2019s going on is all circumstantial and by chance,\u201d my friend might say, \u201csince that often happens\u201d. I have a hunch that things aren\u2019t so chancy, based on my studies and years of ruminations, and I offer the idea that there\u2019s \u201csomeone\u201d behind all of this who\u2019s purposeful, omniscient, and omnipotent. I could be wrong, but I really believe that, so I\u2019m sticking to it. My friend offers no other theories, and no one else knows for certain (since one would have to be omniscient himself to know after all), so we\u2019re left in that position.<\/p>\n
The holiday of \u201cPurim\u201d itself is named after the lots<\/i> (purim<\/i> in Akkadian) that were cast to determine the fate of the Jews (see Esther 3:7). As such, by not mentioning God it seems to offer proof for the theory that life — its political machinations, its causes and effects, its outcomes, etc. — is<\/i> chancy, and is rooted in \u201cthe throw of the dice\u201d. After all, there doesn\u2019t seem to be a purposeful, omniscient, and omnipotent being anywhere to explain it.<\/p>\n
What we people of faith believe, though — based on the thinking and ruminations of the best of us, to say nothing of direct revelation — is that the best theory of all behind everything that happens here is<\/i> in fact the existence of just such a Being, God, who, while hidden, is still behind it all. So while not offering that theory itself the Book of Esther was included in Tanach<\/i> to underscore the idea that God does indeed control life\u2019s machinations, and that belief in Him is in fact the most viable theory of all.<\/p>\n
(c) 2013 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/p>\n ———————————————————-<\/p>\n AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here<\/a> at a discount.<\/p>\n You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here<\/a> at a discount as well.<\/p>\n Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).<\/p>\n Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence<\/a>\u201d and \u201cRamchal<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A \u201ctheory\u201d is a logical presumption about what\u2019s going on behind the scenes to explain a continuing confusing phenomenon in the world. Some theories are mere guesses and some are educated guesses that are more likely to be true, though … Continue reading