© 2007 Moshe Zauderer

G-d's Memory

INTRODUCTION

Why do events appear haphazard? Does everything that happens really conform to a Divine plan?

In this essay, we will introduce the concept of G-d’s "memory" that spans history. We will learn to appreciate that where we see confusion, G-d has an organized plan for our lives.

G-d spoke to Moses . . . The first day of the seventh [Lunar] month shall be a day of rest. It is a sacred holiday for remembrance [and for] sounding [of the shofar]…. (Leviticus 23:23-25)

Why is Rosh Hashanah identified as a "holiday for remembrance"? Who is "remembering" whom or what? Nachmanides (1194-1270, Spain) explains:

"The Torah tells us (Numbers 10:10 – ‘this shall be a remembrance before Your G-d’) that it is G-d Who remembers us on Rosh Hashanah. The word ‘remembrance,’ as it applies to G-d, refers to His involvement in ‘judgment.’ On Rosh Hashanah, G-d judges ["remembers"] mankind."

Nachmanides clarifies that on Rosh Hashanah, G-d remembers, or judges, us. This approach raises a number of questions: Why does the Torah use the word "remembrance" in place of "judgment" if "judgment" is the intended meaning? Moreover, how can the term "remember" apply to G-d, Who is omniscient?

G-d’s Comprehensive "Memory"

"All is revealed and known before You, G-d, our L-rd;

Who observes and looks to the end of generations."

[Rosh Hashanah Musaf prayers]

G-d’s "memory" spans time. While man forgets the past and cannot know the future, G-d views the full array of existence. By defining Rosh Hashanah as a "Day of Remembrance," the Torah highlights the uniquely Divine aspect of judgment: Only G-d can render judgment with an absolutely comprehensive view of all facts and factors involved. On Rosh Hashanah, G-d judges us based on His "memory" of the past and future, which spans decades, centuries and millennia. This teaches us two lessons:

1. Complexity of Divine Judgment:While G-d’s view of events that effect our lives is comprehensive, our understanding of historical events is limited. We do not fully see how events that we witness are bound to both the past and the future.

Our inability to fathom a Divine plan as manifest through history is like viewing a needlepoint from its reverse side. The appearance of a bundle of seemingly haphazardly arranged strings of various colors defies any logical pattern. Only when the needlepoint is properly viewed from the front do we see an ornate design that bespeaks a thoughtful designer. In the same way, from our limited vantage of history, we see a confusing jumble of people and events. We are prone to question G-d’s management of the world. Yet G-d orchestrates the affairs of the world – all matters, whether large or small – with the total picture of past and future ever before Him, as one would view a perfect needlepoint, complete with its every detail.

2. Our Actions are Important:With an inkling of how complex and complete is G-d’s administering of our lives, we can appreciate the significance of every one of our actions. Everything we do, even actions which we consider minor ones, can have a profound effect on other people and even on other times. We can never know what the full effects of our actions will be. Only G-d can take everything we do into account.

G-d "Remembers" for Justice

"If I have found favor in Your eyes, My G-d, show me Your ways." [Exodus 33:13]

Midrashic literature relates that when Moses requested that G-d reveal the hidden ways of His Divine providence, G-d showed Moses the following two scenes:

In the first scene, a soldier dismounts from his horse to drink from a stream. As he remounts, he drops a bag of money without realizing it. After riding off, a man passes by, finds the abandoned money and takes it. Later, an old man arrives at the stream and lies down to rest. By now the soldier has realized that he lost his money, and returns to stream to search for it. Assuming the man sleeping at the banks of the stream took it, he awakens the old man and demands that he return his lost money. The man repeatedly denies having taken the money, whereupon the soldier kills him in anger.

G-d said to Moses: "See! Perfect justice!" Moses did not understand. G-d then showed him a second scene:

A young boy and his father are walking along a forest path. Suddenly a bandit attacks them, knocks the father unconscious and takes his money. A young soldier, who had been resting nearby, remains passive as he witnesses the event. As the bandit prepares to leave the scene of the crime, the soldier suddenly appears before him, brandishing his sword, The bandit drops the money and flees, and the soldier takes the money and rides away.

Once again G-d tells Moses, "See! Perfect justice!" Once again, Moses did not understand.

G-d then explained what lay behind these two scenes: the second scene occurred prior to the first one. The bandit of the second scene is the old man who is killed by the soldier in the first scene. The soldier, who did not react to the theft, and then took the father’s stolen money in the second scene, losses that money and kills the bandit - now an old man - who had originally stolen the money. Finally, the man who finds the money in the first scene is the child of the second scene, whose father was robbed. G-d "remembered" to implement Divine justice in every detail.

G-d "Remembers" for Mercy: Noah’s Ark

G-d remembered Noah and all the beasts and livestock that were with him in the ark…and the [flood] waters began to subside" (Genesis 8:1).

"What did G-d remember? He remembered Noah’s selflessness in feeding the numerous animals that were housed in the ark."

[Midrash to Genesis]

Regarding Noah, G-d remembered the righteous life he had lived. Regarding the animals – which lack free will and therefore cannot be considered "righteous" – G-d remembered His original Will for Creation: that the world be populated with animal life.

[Nachmanides Torah commentary]

G-d’s decision to bring the Great Flood to an end was rooted in G-d’s "memory," which spanned back to Creation and ahead to His ultimate plan for the world. G-d remembered 500 years of Noah’s life of righteousness amid an immoral society prior to the Flood’s onset. On the ark, Noah further distinguished himself by selflessly tending to the animals’ needs in the face of the most trying of circumstances. In considering the fate of the animals, G-d remembered His Will for a world populated by numerous species. G-d took all these factors into account in His merciful decision to abate the floodwaters and to forge a covenant of peace with mankind.