Our Gemara on amud beis discusses the famous incident of the Pesel Micha, as described in Shoftim 17.  In those anarchic times, a fellow made a sanctuary and appointed his own priest.  From our Gemara’s exposition of the story, the man met a person named Levi, and took it as a sign that he was to be HIS Levite, that is, a man to serve as his Cohen in his fabricated temple.

Indeed we find in our tradition an idea that certain successes or lack thereof can indicate divine will.  For example, Mishna Berachos (5:5) states about Rabbi Chanina Ben Dosa:

Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa that he would pray on behalf of the sick and immediately after his prayer he would say: This one shall recover from his illness and live and this one shall die. When they said to him: From where do you know? He said to them: If my prayer is fluent in my mouth as I recite it and there are no errors, I know that my prayer is accepted. And if not, I know that my prayer is rejected.

Likewise, sometimes a sage will notice he is not successful in an endeavor, and treat it as a sign that it was not meant to be, such as Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi’s failed attempt to give Yehuda Yarchina’ah semicha (see Bava Metzia 85b and Rashi.)

However, Tzidkas Hatzadik (39) cautions that even when we think that we are receiving divine assistance, we should be careful not to put too much stock in it:

Sometimes a person might think that they have divine assistance (siyata diShmaya) in something they are doing, but they should not rely on this to claim that the matter is inherently good…at times, divine help is granted for the sake of a test or trial. An example of this is in the book of Micha, where it is stated, "Now I know that Hashem will do good to me, for I have a Levite as a priest." Micha thought that he had siyata diShmaya and divine help, as Hashem provided him with a Levite to serve as a priest, believing that this was for his benefit.

But who among us can truly know from where the success comes (as stated in Kiddushin 71a)? The solution to this dilemma is prayer and supplication for heavenly mercy, which can help transform even the root, as I explained elsewhere on the verse "Create for me a pure heart" (Tehillim 51:12). The word "create" always refers to something brought into being from nothing (yesh me’ayin), as is well known. 

Tzidkas Hatzadik is saying that we must pray for divine guidance that we not be misled, and we be appropriately humble in understanding that wisdom is ultimately a miraculous creation that comes from God.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

Do you like what you see? Please subscribe and also forward any articles you enjoy to your friends, (enemies too, why not?)