When the world looked on in horror at the enormous damage
wreaked by the earthquake in Iran and the catastrophic scenes
of the rescue and burial work, the orthodox Jewish community
around the world wondered how to react to this latest
"natural disaster."
At the bottom line, on a scale and suddenness such as this,
we can only view it as "unnatural" . . . and an act of G-d.
To what "laws of nature" can we ascribe such devastation --
mighty movements of the earth's crust -- to literally fling
with such force so many of G-d's creations? We can only stand
back and literally tremble and quake with awe at this
veritable manifestation of G-d's power in the world.
He alone decides: He alone controls; He alone can act with
such strength and so instantly. Just as Joseph was redeemed
from prison suddenly and without warning -- in the parsha
that coincided with the earthquake in Bam, Iran -- and in
the course of a few hours was transformed into the second in
command over all Egypt, G-d in his infinite wisdom can act
with equal speed to destroy vast numbers, hurtling them into
the depths of the earth.
Ein od milvado. Our powerlessness and weakness by
contrast with the might of Hashem and His Will, is very
evident in the spectacle of an earthquake. Not only is our
weakness laid bare, but also the sounds of pride and folly of
man speak out from the rubble . . .
For over forty years scientists all over the world have
valiantly attempted to master a technique to accurately
predict the imminence of an earthquake. The advantages of
such prediction are obvious. The population of a village or
city under threat from an incoming earthquake could be
evacuated, or at the very least ordered to move out of their
houses and gather in the open. Such a method saved the
inhabitants of the province of Liaoning, in Manchuria, China,
in the 1970s. Although it was bitterly cold the people were
encouraged to stand outside, and it saved their lives as the
buildings behind them collapsed when the earthquake came.
However, modern scientific attempts to predict earthquakes
have not been altogether successful. Seismologists have based
their predictions on four main indicators. One factor is the
speed at which shock waves travel through the ground. As
subterranean stresses build up, pressures in the rock alter
the way in which shock waves travel. A decline and increase
pattern seems on many occasions to reveal the imminence of an
earthquake. The second factor involves changes in the level
of the surface of the ground, which rises as the pressure
below ground increases. The third factor is the emission of
greater quantities of radon, an inert radioactive gas that is
continually seeping out of the earth, but appears to increase
before an earthquake. The fourth factor is change in the
electrical or magnetic behavior close to the eruption point
of an earthquake.
None of these indications have proved reliable, and seem only
to emphasize how small and inconsequential is all of our oft-
vaunted intellect and technology; so sophisticated that man
thinks he is so mighty that he can control the world without
G-d. In fact, we see time and time again, and so graphically
in the face of this earthquake in which thousands of lives
were lost, that nothing could be further from the truth.
If this description of man's failure to find a method to
accurately predict the coming of an earthquake did not
entirely convince you of G-d's dominion, this relatively
small tremor in Israel must surely have enabled everyone to
internalize the lesson of this week's parsha, Yisro,
when Hashem proclaims in the Aseres Hadibros, "I
am the Lord Your G-d . . . ."
All over Israel, walls shook, floors moved, shelves and
cupboards rattled. How much we are in G-d's Hands, and are
powerless in the face of his Might, and how little do we
realize it until mornings like these . . .
May G-d grant wisdom into the hearts of her counselors, to
remove sorrow and groaning from the world, to know how to act
and to judge, and may all the nations turn to you and
recognize there is none other, and save us from further
disaster.
For Who is like the Lord our G-d, dwells on high?
