Shemini: G-d's Watchful Eye
Our Torah portion Shemini describes the birds that are not kosher for eating (only for Jews), and one of them is the osprey (the fish hawk). The sages said that it's a bird that catches fish from the sea. It dives deep down and grabs fish to eat.
The Babylonian Talmud tells us that Rabbi Yochanan, when he saw an osprey, would say, "Your judgments are a great abyss." This means that G-d's decisions are so deep, like the ocean's bottom. G-d even decides which fish in the sea will be caught and die. So, for Rabbi Yochanan, the osprey showed how G-d watches over everything in the universe, even the small fish at the bottom of the sea.
The hasidic master Baal Shem Tov used this idea to explain that everything that happens in the world is because G-d makes it happen. It's not just big events with people;…
Thank you! I had to read over and over again. To fully absorb the teachings of this article.
'..nature hides G-d's control, making it seem like things happen by themselves.
..We need to take away nature's mask and find the divine control behind it.'