Well Known Miracles
The Ramban presents a perspective regarding the mitzvah of mezuzah that challenges our perception of reality itself. He writes:
“From the well-known great miracles, a person acknowledges the hidden miracles, which are the foundation of the entire Torah. For a person has no portion in the Torah of Moshe our teacher until we believe that all our affairs and experiences are miracles and not nature or the way of the world, whether concerning many people or the individual. Rather, if one performs the mitzvot, their reward will bring them success, and if one transgresses them, their punishment will cut them off – all by decree of the Hashem.”
We’ll see later on how the Ramban connects this specifically to the mitzvah of mezuzah. There are two levels of miracles that the Ramban distinguishes between: the “great, well-known miracles” (nissim gedolim mefursamim) and the “hidden miracles” (nissim nistarim). The former includes dramatic miracles like the splitting of the Yam Suf (Red Sea) or the manna from heaven – events that clearly transcend natural law. The latter, however, encompasses what we typically call “nature” – the consistent patterns we observe in the world that we mistakenly attribute to laws of nature rather than to Hashem’s (God’s) continuous control.
Surrounded By Miracles
The correct perspective is that everything is a miracle. The Ramban explains that a fundamental principle of Jewish faith is recognizing that nothing occurs through mere nature (teva) or the way of the world (minhago shel olam). What appears as the natural way of the world is merely the veil behind which Hashem’s continuous creation operates. The blooming of a flower, the beating of our hearts, the orbit of planets – all these seemingly natural phenomena are, in reality, ongoing divine acts no less miraculous than the splitting of the sea.
Imagine a person visiting a graveyard. He is going about his business, when suddenly, the earth starts moving, a coffin cracks open, and a man who was dead for a hundred years steps out and before our onlooker’s disbelieving eyes, wishes him a good day and walks off into the sun. The poor shocked fellow sits down to digest the unearthly miracle he just witnessed. He happens to glance at the ground and notices a beautiful flower. Does he faint in shock at the sight? Of course not, it’s just a flower after all!
But let’s think about this for a moment. A person coming alive from the dead is actually very similar to a flower sprouting. After a seed is planted, it rots, and nothing happens for awhile. Then, one fine day, the seed begins to sprout, and a beautiful flower emerges from the ground. However, we do not regard this as a miracle, whereas we do regard someone coming alive from the dead as a miracle. What is the difference?
Frequency Kills The Miracle
The one and only difference is frequency. Flowers sprout all the time, whereas people never come alive once they’re dead. The frequency of Hashem’s miracles clouds our vision and leads us to believe that the laws of nature govern this world.
Moreover, not only does Hashem control everything that happens, but our own actions determine the reality Hashem creates. Hashem is aware of absolutely everything we do and the Ramban teaches us that when we keep the Torah, good things happen to us not just by chance, but because Hashem rewards us. And when we stray from the Torah, bad things happen not just randomly, but because Hashem is responding to our actions.
The Mezuzah, The Reminder
The mezuzah, which contains words about rewards and punishments according to our actions stands as a reminder that Hashem is behind everything that happens, no matter how big or small. The mezuzah challenges how many people today think about the world. While many mistakenly believe everything happens because of science and natural causes, the mezuzah stands in quiet testimony, telling us that Hashem is behind everything we see. What we call “laws of nature” are really Hashem consistently pouring energy into the ongoing functioning of this world.
When we walk past the mezuzah on our door, we’re reminded of this amazing fact: miracles aren’t rare exceptions, they’re actually what reality is made of all the time. Not only that, but our actions create the nature that we live in. We are never a victim of circumstance or the fortunate recipients of good luck. Everything is from Hashem and everything is affected by our actions.
Read The Mitzvah Of Mezuzah Part 1
