S5 Ep22 Where Have We Seen This Before?

I mean, Ellie, it seems to me the f- the first place to begin, in keeping with the whole theme of our podcast, is based on a presumption that we Jews introduced into the world, that there is an infinite creator of the universe who didn't just create and go on vacation, but is a God who acts in history, and that history is a controlled process leading to a destination, and that the Jewish people have a role t- a unique role, a really unique responsibility to, to play in that story.

And as we- I've said many times, you know, being Jewish might not always be comfortable, and it's certainly not so comfortable today, but it's very meaningful precisely because we are the protagonists in this drama of what is human history.

I mean, all of human beings are God's children, and everyone plays a role in the story.

We're not saying we're better than anyone else.

But the spotlight is always on us.

And all of our history, the highs, the lows, it's all out of the ordinary.

Just things happen to the Jewish people that don't happen to anyone else.

It's actually the, the whole theme of the last book I wrote called Destiny.

Why does such a tiny nation play such a huge role in human history? Why is that so important to understand? Because it- it's ...

If, if, if we just think we're randomly stumbling through a series of events, if we are perpetually trapped as a nation, whether we're in our own homeland, being invaded and occupied and expelled and spread around the world, and then slaughtered and expelled there, and then wherever we go, you know.

It seems like i- if, if there's n- if there's no higher power in this story, that's a pretty depressing ...

I mean, as supernatural as it really is, that's a pretty depressing way of looking at the narrative.

But once we recognize that there is a plot to the story, uh, we have a unique role to play.

It's not comfortable.

It's very meaningful.

But there is someone in control.

There is a, a higher power in control up there.

And this is not just, I believe, a leap of faith kind of thing.

Everyone has faith in their faiths [laughs] and different religions.

I-- The reason why I so love history and physics, I mean, physics in my mind really demonstrates, uh, the, the laws of nature and design in an incredible way, uh, and the nature of reality.

But history demonstrates really the, the Hashgaha, as we say, that God's active control in history, that there are patterns and rules in the story.

This is something we talk about over and over again.

This is like the basis of much of the whole podcast.

This is what we're doing that a lot of people are not doing.

We could just talk about current events and what to do.