Who hasn’t heard about the Tower of Babel? It’s about some arrogant people who went to war against God and lost everything in the process (Bereishis 11:1). They built a really high tower to challenge Him, so God came down and destroyed it together with their dreams of a new world order. Then He dispersed them in different directions with different languages, and that was that, right?
Speaking of Hashgochah Pratis: Why did God send coronavirus? Illness is always commonplace in the world, but when it becomes centerstage and has such an overwhelming impact on human history, then it is overt Divine Providence. God wants something, and will get it whether or not we figure it out or not. He is the Master Archer Who always hits His intended target, no matter how convoluted the path of His arrow may appear to us.
Before going further it is important to understand how Emunas Chachamim works, because Torah Judaism depends upon it, and often our lives do as well.
The Gemora says that Vespasian was prepared to grant Rebi Yochanan ben Zakkai three requests (Gittin 56b). Rebi Yochanan had helped Vespasian with a personal problem, and he had also predicted his rise to the position of Caesar, so Vespasian thanked him with three requests. Rebi Yochanan asked that Yavne and its scholars be spared, the line of the Nasi be allowed to continue, and a doctor for Reb Tzaddok who had fasted for 40 years until the Temple was destroyed. He was granted all three.
It gets much more complicated for a Torah Jew. The people in charge may think that they can act with impunity, but we believe differently. We believe in God, that He runs the entire show at all times, and that no one has any power but Him (Chullin 7a). No one can help us if God doesn’t want them to, and no one can harm us if He doesn’t want us to be harmed. So, it really doesn’t make a difference in the end if the whole thing is one big conspiracy against mankind. At the end of the day, God is doing it all and just using the appropriate people to be the villains and the good guys.
There are many issues concerning the average person today, but probably none so pressing as personal health. Coronavirus did that to the world, and the follow-up program of mass vaccination has only exacerbated the situation. Public health has always been a witch’s brew, but never more potent than today. Yes, technology has never been more advanced or more reliable. But all of that gets overshadowed when you factor in what seems to be the nefarious plans of the people in charge of it.