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.
Even though this version of coronavirus seems to have been manmade, part of a gain-of-function program, it is still Hashgochah Pratis. Even in our darkest and scariest moments we have to always remember that God, and only God, runs the show, ALL OF IT. He is the Screenwriter, Producer, and Executive Producer. Everyone else is just a character He happened to cast to make His movie a reality. Nasty people are casted as villains, and good people as heroes.
This is what Yosef tried to convey to his brother at the end of Parashas Vayechi when they worried about his revenge for selling him back in Parashas Vayaishev. This is also the message of the Midrash when it says:
The tribes were busy with the sale of Yosef. Yosef was in mourning because of his separation from his father. Reuven was doing teshuvah for his sin. Ya'akov was mourning over [the loss of] Yosef. Yehudah was marrying [Tamar]. And while all of these events were taking place, God was preparing the light of Moshiach! (Bereishis Rabbah 85:2)
Everyone was busy doing their own thing, oblivious to the bigger picture. There were good guys and and not-so-good guys. There was chaos. There was tragedy. It was sad and depressing. And yet, all of it was just divine subterfuge for preparing the way for Moshiach and redemption. Is it any different today?
So we can choose to focus on the vision of reality being pumped to us by people who have no idea what is REALLY going on, just what they’re paid to report or feel like sharing…or scaring. Or, we can choose to focus on Who is really behind all of this, and ask ourselves, “Is there something we should learn from all of this?”
Of course there is. There always is, at least for the person who’s ready to learn something. We may live in a time of intense heresy and hester panim. But that does not mean that God doesn’t talk to those who listen even today, thousands of years after the close of prophecy.
For what it is worth, this is a partial list of some of what I hear.
Coronavirus shifted our focus. Before we were mostly only concerned about our own personal worlds and the people in them. There’s nothing like a pandemic to make a person think more globally. That’s a Messianic thing.
It put the fear of death into us. We have adjusted and adapted, but the fear of death still lingers, even if the numbers are exaggerated. We feel the presence of death and illness all around, even as we try to resume normal lives once again.
For many, making aliyah became a hotter topic, especially once they could no longer fly to Eretz Yisroel at will. It has shown us that if God wants He can shut down everything at a moment’s notice. Don’t take the opportunity to return home for granted—ever.
Redemption is not an automatic reality for everyone. It is a merit. So, one of the things God does before bringing redemption is filter out the people who do not belong. He does this by creating events for people to react to. How a person responds to a crisis reveals who they are and what they are like. It’s God’s way of giving us the opportunity to recognize our spiritual shortcomings, and to improve upon them. If people don’t, they show themselves unworthy.
The big question is, is this just a small storm before a larger one? Desperate times call for desperate measures, and desperate measure make people desperate. While we run around like chickens with our heads cut off, God’s just moving the pieces around to be in place for His next great move.
In the meantime, the world gets weirder by the day.