Many people think that the snow melts when the sun comes out and the world becomes warm. They say that this is nature. But the pasuk states (Tehillim 147:16-18) "He gives snow like wool... He sends His word and melts them..." The snow doesn't melt from the sun; it melts from Hashem's decree. "He sends His world and melts the snow."
Similarly, everything occurs by Hashem's hashgachah. There is no concept of nature acting on its own, chalilah. The rules of nature conceal what is truly happening.
The Sfas Emes (written by the Rebbe of Brezhan zy'a, beginning of Noach) writes in the name of the Saraf, Rebbe Uri of Strelisk zy'a, that when a person thinks that the reason water extinguishes fire is because Hashem created this nature, he still doesn't have emunah sheleimah. Rather, emunah sheleimah is to believe that each time water and fire meet, the Creator yisbarach shemo commands that this water should put out this fire.... Without this command, the fire wouldn't be extinguished by the water...
We find a similar concept in the Igros Chazon Ish (35). He writes "Nature is Hakadosh Baruch Hu's constant desire." The difference between miracles and nature is that miracles are when Hashem chooses, for a short time, to act in a certain way. Nature is the standard path with which Hashem leads the world, but both are examples of Hashem's will. Also, nature is that Hashem desires it and leads it with hashgachah pratis.
It states at the beginning of the parashah, "He called to Moshe and Hashem said to him..." According to the standard way a pasuk is written (and according to the standard way people speak), "Hashem" should be written at the beginning of the pasuk, like this: "Hashem called to Moshe and said to him." Why does it say "He called to Moshe and Hashem said to him..." Also, why is "Vayikra" written with a small alef?
The Beis Avraham explains that the small alef tells us that you can read Vayikra with or without the alef. With the alef, Vayikra means calling. Without the alef, Vayikar means happening. The pasuk is saying when things happened to Moshe, he understood that Hashem was speaking to him. He knew that things don't happen by chance, chalilah.
The Mabit (Beis Elokim, Shaar HaTefillah 16) writes, "In galus, a person should contemplate that whatever happens to him in this world is all from Hashem. [In fact] when we are in galus, Hashem's hashgachah upon us is greater than when we live in our land, with our kingdom. Only, in galus, Hashem's hashgachah upon us is in a concealed manner, until the sinners among us find reason to doubt that perhaps it didn't happen from Hashem. We see this happening in our times... But the wise person will understand and know that whatever happens to us in galus, for the individual and the community, it is all Hashem's hashgachah upon us."
We must remember that even those matters that appear like nature are all Hashem's hashgachah pratis.
Stories Illustrating Hashgachah Pratis
1. Two people came to Rebbe Uri of Strelisk zy’a, saying that they wanted to become his chassidim. Rebbe Uri replied that he only accepts people into his group who possess emunah sheleimah. "Do you believe that everything happens with hashgachah pratis, that even matters that seem trivial and unimportant are from Hashem? For example, do you believe that even the place where a stalk of straw falls was destined from heaven?" They admitted that they weren't on this level and left. Some days later, they returned and said that they do believe that everything is b'hasghachah pratis, including the most trivial matters. Rebbe Uri asked, "What made you change your minds?" They replied, "When something major occurs in the world, we always believed that it is certainly from Hashem and not by chance. We understood that major things couldn't have happened by accident. However, after giving it more thought, we realized that even the most important matters in this world can be considered insignificant in comparison to Hashem's endless greatness. Nevertheless, we are certain that these 'major' events happen with hashgachah pratis. So, by the same token, we can believe that even matters that seem trivial to us were planned and destined by Hashem."
2. Reb Nochum Yasser zt'l once said to his friends, "I heard a bas kol this morning." His friends asked him what he meant. He told them that he couldn’t find his shoes when he woke up in the morning. "I felt like a bas kol was telling me that my mission now is to search for my shoes. Ten minutes later, I heard another bas kol. It said to me that I didn't have to search for the shoes anymore, because I had already found them. Indeed, when one believes that everything is bashert, he knows that all situations and obligations, challenges and tests that come his way are precisely what Hashem wants him to go through at that moment. He can consider it like hearing a bas kol, telling him to deal with this issue."
3. The holy Rizhiner zy'a sent money to Eretz Yisrael to build the "Tiferes Yisrael" shul in the old-city Yerushalayim (known as "Reb Nisan Beck's Shul"). When the beis medresh was completed, an artist from chutz l'aretz was brought in to paint and decorate the walls of the shul. The neighborhood children would come to the shul to watch the artist at work and would laugh because they didn't see any beauty or design in his artwork. The artist drew a line here, a circle there, using one color here and another color there. On one wall, he poured a generous amount of black ink, and next to it, he placed an orange spot. The children would say, "We could have done a better job. Why did they have to bring an artist from chutz l'aretz to scribble on the walls?" One day, after months of work, the artist said, "In two days, I will finish my artwork, but I can't work when children are jumping around. I need silence so I can concentrate." So, for the next two days, the beis medresh was locked, and the artist completed his work. He connected all the loose lines, filled in the ink where needed, and everything became gorgeous. When the children were permitted back into the beis medresh, they were astounded by the beauty they saw. There were pictures of fruit trees, flowers, and other beautiful scenes, which they previously thought were merely scribbles and sketches on the wall. The children realized that the artist knew what he was doing all along, only they failed to recognize its beauty until it was complete.
Chazal (Brachos 10) say "There is no artist like our G-d". (This is based on a pasuk in Shmuel [1, 2:2], "There is no artist like our G-d.") Why is this a praise for Hashem? From the story we just told, it is understood: A person looks at the world, and he thinks about what happens to people, including himself, and wonders, "Where is the beauty of the world? There is so much strife and hardship! Here's a person who lacks parnassah, there's a person who struggles with shalom bayis," and so on. We tell him, "Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the great artist. You're looking at only half the picture. Give it some time, and when the picture is complete, you will see that there are no abstract lines, random circles, and blotches of ink. Soon, you will see that they are all part of a beautiful painting. Soon you will understand the beauty of Hashem's ways."
4. Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk zt'l was teaching his students that everything that happens is Hashem's hashgachah pratis, and nothing happens by chance. He gave an example that even where an animal drops its waste is destined by Hashem. One of the students laughed to himself when he heard this. How could something so trivial be planned by Hashem? Soon afterwards, the student slipped on the ice and his life was in danger because he was near a cliff. Fortunately, his foot got caught on something in the snow, and that saved his life. He looked to see what saved him. It was animal waste that had been frozen, covered in snow. He went to Rebbe Elimelech to tell him what occurred. Before he said anything, Rebbe Elimelech told him, "Nu? Now do you believe that even where an animal drops its waste is destined by heaven?"
This is the lesson of Pesach: to learn from the revealed miracles that everything that happens to us is miraculous. As the Ramban (end of Bo) writes, "From the revealed miracles, a person believes in the concealed miracles, for that is the foundation of the entire Torah. A person doesn't have a portion in Toras Moshe Rabbeinu until he believes that everything that happens to him is miraculous, without nature and 'the way of the world.' This is true for the community and the individual... Everything is by Hashem's decree."
