Timeless Wisdom - Does God Intervene in Your Life?

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Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Hear thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs. And to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to DennisPrager.com.

Shabbat shalom. Please be seated. Shabbat. Either one. Either one goes. A lot of things to talk to you about today. Nice to see you all, always. It's a certain high coming here every Shabbos. I think a lot of you feel it. And I was thinking, talking to some fellow congregants, those of you who come in, in the beginning for Steve Marmer's Torah session and stay through the end of lunch are here from 9, correct? 9 to 2. That's 5 hours, and it's great 5 hours. I mean, that's a real Shabbat. If you've had Shabbat dinner with your partner, spouse, friends, relatives. So you really have a Shabbat? After 2 o'clock, the Talmud tells us God doesn't pay as much attention. What do you mean only for— oh no, no, no, God— the Talmud tells us a lot, Barry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. This one I have not cited earlier because many of you will think it's a green light to go golfing at 2 o'clock, but it is not. No, it's very— it gives me great satisfaction to think that and to play some role in it. I just wanted to say how important it is. You all know that or you wouldn't be here. A number of items. I'm reading a very depressing book. In fact, it's so depressing that I I debated whether to read it. Capital?

Yes.

No, Capital is not depressing. Capital is boring, which is also depressing in its way. I agree. You're right. And by the way, very few people would yell out Capital. It takes a special member of the audience to think of Das Kapital. When you say you're reading a depressing book. No, in all seriousness, it's this brand new book on the terrible tragedy of World War II of the Indianapolis. This was the ship that had taken the parts of the atom bomb secretly. No one knew of its trip or the contents of the box to islands off of Japan and that made it perfectly safely. And on its way back to a base in Asia, it was blown up by a Japanese torpedo and nobody knew it. That's the great scandal of the US Navy, that one of its largest ships, the largest loss of naval life in American history, would not even be known. It was found 4 days later by a, an airplane, an American airplane, who they said the chances were 1 in a billion. That's what they said in finding the men. They saw an oil slick. It was by sheer unbelievable chance that they were flying in that area. Number 2, that it had to be a crystalline clear ocean for the oil slick to stand out from the visibility of an airplane. They also had to be looking in that spot at that exact moment, and they thought that the oil slick meant that a, uh, that a Japanese submarine was in the area because it would have let out some oil, apparently. Anyway, they went down and to see what the oil slick led to, and it led to men. So had this fortuitous thing never happened, they still wouldn't have known. It is the scandal of the U.S. Navy that it happened. I only tell you I tell you this because I was just reading when they got the first men onto a plane that landed in the ocean, which itself was unbelievably chancy on the part of the pilot. It was against all rules to land in the ocean, incidentally, even though it was a plane that could theoretically land on a calm lake. Not with 12-foot swells. But he did, got men on board, had very, very little water, and would take— the men had not drunk in 4 days. They were delirious. They were— some would simply die. Then they saw their friends eaten by sharks. It was hell. Truly hell. And they would go with the water that they had in the cockpit, they would give, and then they would go back, refill, and come back. But they forgot who they last went to. And the author notes that not one man lied. Everyone who had had anything said, "I drank already." And then she writes, it's very touching, This honesty was not learned just by being in the military. This honesty was learned at home and in their schooling and churches when they were children. And this is— this is— I don't even know if this writer has any room to write and write and write and write on Torah. And it was then that I, I had to come up with, you know, hey, I'm making this assertion in the introduction that this is a divine book, this is ultimately from God. What's my argument? And, and I— my overarching— I have many, many details to fill in there, but my overarching argument is, and I said to her, I believe that the Torah is divine For the same reason that I believe that life from non-life is divine. We have zero scientific explanation for how life came from non-life. Is that correct, scientists in the room? Zero. Science has no clue how life came from non-life. So one of the arguments I have for God is God made life from non-life. So here is what I pose. The Torah is to what preceded it as life is to what preceded it. Life is so different from non-life as the Torah is different from non-Torah that existed prior to Torah. It is as the Torah's values are as miraculous and wisdom are as miraculous as life. That's my argument, my chief argument. It's so true for my own faith that I want to tell you another thing that I worked through, and I want to read it to you because the wording is important. I do not believe in the Torah. Because I believe in God. I believe in God because I believe in the Torah, which is the opposite of the way— also the opposite of the way people think of it. If you ask any religious Jew, why do you believe in the Torah is from God? Because there's a God and God gave the Torah. But I have it the opposite. The Torah is my evidence that there is a God. And that's why I believe in God. So in it now, obviously I believe in God for non-Torah reasons. I like life from non-life. That has nothing to do with the Torah. There are reasons I— but all of those are belief in the Creator for non-Torah reasons. I believe in the Creator for Torah reasons. I believe in God. El Rachum V'chanun Erech Ha'payim V'ra'chesed V'emet. The God who is infinitely merciful and filled with justice and goodness and kindness. That, because the creator alone doesn't do me any good. If you don't believe that God is good, God is just, God cares about you, then you might as well be an atheist. Aristotle's God and atheism are co-equal to me. Aristotle's God created and then retired. So these are very important concepts in a person's life. And it was so interesting to watch her, a lifelong Orthodox Jew from New Jersey, heading to Israel as he is. He's going to work for memory and she's going to go to a yeshiva again. And it truly, these are things that made her think, which is to her credit, because very often you can't get through the power of what you've been taught your whole life by your school and parents. So I wanted you to know that. Why the Torah? All I do is come across another reason in the Torah for how different it was. You, you know, obvious ones like the ban on child sacrifice. I did a lot of research. Child sacrifice was universal. There wasn't— we don't know of a culture in the ancient world that did not have human sacrifice. You don't have to just restrict it to children, you know, virgins, uh, so enemy combatants I mean, there was just now an article. Oh, it's too bad. I didn't think I would speak on this, but maybe I'll remember for next week. There was just an article in, I think, National Geographic, but it could have been the New York Times or the Washington Post, about how they found from the 16th century in, I think, Peru, but certainly Central America, thousands and thousands of skulls, and they knew that they were all sacrificed. And they were sacrificed, I think, in a day. And that's how much sacrifice— I mean, ritual sacrifice, where they're, they're conscious and opened up, and their heart is taken out, and the heart is then given to the gods. And I'm thinking the Torah was 2,500 years before that and said, you shall— this is an abomination to God to sacrifice human beings. Where did that come from? Really seriously, I just want to ask people, where did that come from? If you have a singular experience in the human condition An honest atheist has to ask, where did it come from? So I really were left either with God or supermen. And the Torah goes out of its way to tell you the Jews were not supermen. They were jerks. I mean, you know, all things being equal, they were unimpressive. By the way, that's such a powerful thing. You know, this I've told you so often, the very depiction of the Jews is pretty awful. Is it one of the major arguments for the credibility of the Torah? There's no parallel to that where the religious group described in its own holy work are such losers. Right? But by the way, the elevation of the Jew in history is also one of the most powerful arguments for the divinity of the Torah. What lifted us? What lifted the Jewish people to become so central to the human species?

The Torah.

Where there isn't even, I mean, there is to an extent, there is an ethnic line from Abraham to the Jews or the Israelites leaving Egypt, but the Torah goes out of its way to tell you that's not the only people who left Egypt. An eirev rav, a whole bunch mixture. I mean, multiculturalists would be thrilled to know this was not pure race. I mean, there is no Jewish race anyway, but It was a bunch of mixture of peoples. The Torah elevated everybody. You don't know if you could even date yourself back to Sinai. You don't know if you came from the Abrahamic line or the great mixture, right? You don't know. I'm not sure you care. There's no reason to care. The talit is a challenge, by the way, in life. After my Torah commentary, I'm writing an essay on how to keep the Torah on at all times. And the answer is with one of those clips, which I don't know, I don't like the clip. It reminds me of a tie clip. And I don't know. Okay, none of you care and I don't blame you. Okay. It is truly one of the things I have muttered before a crowd that should not be heard. It's irrelevant. These are the, these are the arguments. Now I have one big thing for you, and I'm debating, uh, because that took a lot of time. Should I go to a big subject or discuss what I just did? Okay, so listen to this. So Has God intervened in your life? This is the subject, and I, I have a list of 7 possibilities with regard to the issue of God intervention in our life. And I will be honest that while writing this list, I was debating which Steve Marmer will vote for. I think I know But I have $1,000 on it. It was a Vegas bet. Yes, that's right. We'll take what he would vote on. Exactly, yes. All right, now you got to hear it very carefully. There are some subtle distinctions, and maybe they're too subtle. Maybe I should consolidate it into 6 or 5, but here goes. With regard to perceiving God in one's life, there are the following 7 possibilities. Number 1: God directly and unmistakably makes himself known to an individual. All right, is that clear? 2: We, we call out to God and then clearly perceive his presence or response. Okay, so in other words, in number 1, God is the actor. In number 2, we called on God and then he acted, and this is absolutely clear to us that this happened. Number 3, at some point we decide to recognize that God has acted in our life. The key word there is decide. Is that clear? Number 4, we believe but are not certain God has acted in our life, though we can't pinpoint necessarily when, but I'll leave it at that. Number 5, God has acted in our life but we are unaware of it. That's a possibility. I'm not denying that God has acted, but I'm just not aware of it happening. Number 6: We believe God acts in some people's or even nations' lives, but simply do not know if he has done so in our own. You get the difference between the one, that one, and the one before? In other words, I believe God acts in some people's lives, but I have no idea if I'm one of them. And number 7, we believe God knows us but does not intervene in our life. Do you want me to read them again?

Yes.

Okay, so then I'll take a vote on which category you feel you fall into. No, because, uh, I don't know why you would choose more than one, but maybe you tell me afterwards why, because I may have to make the list different. Okay, it's not— but, but we'll only vote for one. God directly and unmistakably makes himself known to an individual. So I— in other words, you know without a question God has intervened in your life. Okay, number 2. So wait for me to do the whole list, then we'll vote. Number— I don't— so it means I'll read it a third time when you vote. We call out to God, and the first one is we didn't have to call out. We call out and then clearly perceive God's response, God responding. Number 3, at some point we simply make a decision to recognize that God has acted in our life. 4, we believe but are not certain God has acted in our life. 3 and 4 may be, uh, maybe the same thing. If they are, I'll, I'll get rid of it. Okay. And number 5, God has acted in our life but we're unaware of it. In other words, I, I believe God has acted in my life, but I don't know when it has happened. Just that I believe that God has acted in my life. Number 6, we believe God acts in some people's lives, but we do not— I do not know if he's acted in my own, but I do not deny the possibility that God acts in some people's lives. I just don't know if I am one of them. And number 7, we believe God knows us but has not intervened, or does not intervene, in people's lives. So he's not Aristotle's unmoved mover. It's not a God who created the world and then retired. He knows us, and in my belief, therefore, there will be an afterlife where he gives us our just dues of reward and punishment, etc. So now vote as I read them. Number 1: God directly and unmistakably has made himself known to me. Okay, so 1 did not know. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7— I'll even keep a vote— 8, 9, 10. Is that a vote, Lilia?

10.

Okay, I'm sorry, 11. Okay, good man, thank you. No, no, but you tell me why later you would vote for more than one. Number 2, I have called out— I'll do it in that way— I, I have, I have called out to God and clearly God has responded.

Wow.

Okay. 2, 4— your hand is down. Okay, fine. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. It's 11:11. At some point I've decided to recognize that God has acted in my life. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Don't give me 11, please. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. I believe, but I'm not certain, God has acted in my life. 2, 4. Okay. God has acted in my life, but I have no idea when it happened. Just, I assume that it's happened. 3. Okay. 4. Thank you. I believe God acts in some people's lives, but there's no way of knowing if he's acted in mine. 1, 2, I thought you'd vote for that one. That's 2. And finally, I believe God knows us but does not intervene in our life. 1.

Hmm.

You're here?

It's me.

I'll catch you there. 2, 3, 4, 5. Okay. Who didn't vote? That's a good one. Yes, it's a good one. Okay, 1, 2, 3. Okay, so everybody voted. 20, by the way, 22, 38, 42, 46, 48, 53, and, and 3. So that's 50, 56, and me is 57.

Yeah, there's an ambiguity for me in number 3, which And what's the ambiguity? That the decision about what to think of it is in my hands, so I can decide that God is active in my life whether he did or not.

That's the ambiguity, yes, because it's your decision that's the operative element.

In other words, I could decide and God himself could say no, I didn't.

That's correct. That's fair.

Fine.

Okay, but that's why I wrote we decide. So that's what you would vote for? Yeah. Oh, so I'll add one more here. That was on, uh, number 3. Yes, thank you. 19. That's, by the way, that's the biggest winner, interestingly. Yes. Did you want to change your vote? You didn't vote. Okay, we're at 20 there. No. Yes, that's correct. He'll send you a bill. Yes. Uh-huh.

Um, I have a very close friend, um, who describes an event where God directly spoke to her.

On his own.

So the number 1, and I believe in that.

Okay, you believe in number 1 for your friend, right? That's fine, then vote for number 1. That's why I wrote God directly and unmistakably makes himself known to an individual.

Oh, not to me.

It could be, right? I didn't say to you, right? That's right. Yes, right. I should be clearer then because What did you vote for?

3.

So 3 is down to 19. Yeah, you're right though, I asked you if it operated in your life, and I, I think I should stick to that actually, but it doesn't matter.

I have a question.

Wait one moment, Bar.

That one, that would be number 6.

We believe God has acted in some people's lives. Oh yeah, you would be 6. We believe God acts in some people's lives, but he simply didn't— we simply do not know if he has acted in our own. That's what you said though. You were at that—

I believe that God directly spoke to—

yes, exactly right. But not so then your vote— that's number 6. He's right.

Can we get this done before 2 o'clock?

Not sure. Not sure. And maybe people won't want to. What are you going to rush to? Golf? Yes.

I want to know what's the number 22.

We only go to 7. Okay, hold on. Yes.

What's really impressive about this, in my opinion, is not who answered what.

How many people did not answer?

Because this is a biased— Very few people did not answer.

Exactly. This is a biased sample. Statistically, when you want to observe it and so on, you're talking to a very biased sample.

Correct.

You should categorize those who believe in God and those who don't believe in God. That's the way to look at it.

Oh, absolutely.

And the fact that so few people, or actually nobody, did not answer, everybody answered, I agree with you.

I will tell you though, I would be very interested to have a secret vote at the University of Michigan senior class. No, no, I'm very serious. I wonder, they're all, they all claim, or vast numbers claim to be irreligious. But not many claim to be atheist. And I, I would be surprised actually if the majority said none of these apply to me, there is no God, and if there is one, he doesn't give a damn about anybody. That is such a void to affirm, if you can affirm a void, that I'm not sure. So your point is, is great, um, You know, maybe, but even if I was thinking next time I go to a college campus to have the audience vote, but the audience is biased because they came to my lecture. So that wouldn't be your test. I would like to see a secret test at a college. Yes?

I was just thinking of when you have that group of kids in college, 18 to 24 or whatever, they haven't necessarily been in life experiences that have prompted them to think about that or to ask God or to— they're not married yet, their kid's not lying.

No, I agree with you, it's very young to— well, it would be interesting what all of you would have voted at 24. Who knows? Alan, what did you vote for?

I would vote for one.

God directly and unmistakably makes himself known to an individual. And that was— that is how you feel in your life. Did this happen because of— who was the original actor, God or you? Oh God. So a sort of— you've had sort of a theophany repeatedly? No, just one time. One time? Would you feel—

I mean, I'd be happy to.

Yeah, well, there isn't anyone here who doesn't want to know. I don't want to push. Either tell me now or tell me later.

But, you know, as you know, my brother died of brain cancer. To say it was distressing is obviously also obviously an understatement.

This is very important. It is worth standing.

Yeah. So my brother died of brain cancer when he was 50.

50s.

And it was a terribly disturbing, distressing event. And one evening, I would say it's between sleep and sleep, between consciousness and unconsciousness, and I had challenged God, why had this happened to my brother? I had the sense that God spoke to me and said, okay, you want to know what's going to happen after this life? I'm going to show you. And there was a gold curtain, and there was a gap between the curtain, and I, I can't— there was no image between the curtain. It was just a sense, a very clear sense, that whatever was coming after this life was better than this life. And it was a terribly— it was a deeply comforting moment, and I felt that God had revealed something to me.

Wow. Did this change you in any way?

Yes, it did. I mean, it comforted me to the extent that I have much less fear than I do, than I did before.

Has anybody had a one-time theophany? A one-time— yes, a one-timer, please stand.

So I was, uh, I was in 6th grade, and I was a terror in school. I used to go around bullying everybody. And one night I'm sleeping, I dream that I'm in the courtyard trying to bully a kid, and the clouds gather, and a voice came out of the clouds, "This is God speaking to you. I am watching you." That was the end of me terrorizing the kids.

Wow, I did not— I didn't know either of your cases about this. Yeah, I'm going to come to in one moment. I'm just thinking about that. That, by the way, is the— is a perfect example of an answer to the truly foolish atheist question, you know, what difference does it make? It's like, you know, as I've said, it makes the same difference as when you know the highway patrol is next to you and you're driving. Does that make a difference? Yes, if you're normal, it makes a difference.

Just—

yes, please.

Question of these people, the people who feel they have that experience. Yeah. Do they commonly share that with other people, or is that something you tend to not talk about?

Obviously not, because he didn't know about Allison.

Yeah, that's right. What?

I mean, it's not like I go around stopping people. Somebody asked me about the afterlife, or I will talk. We expect you.

I don't hide it.

I think the reason you don't speak about it is just you don't know who your audience is. If I were to tell this to anybody, they think I'm a wacko.

Yeah, right. But I need to tell my kids about it. Uh-huh. Well, Steve, why did you vote number 3? At some point we decide to recognize that God has acted in our life. Yeah, I, I, um, I think I'm close to that one. I may be for we believe but are not. Well, why would you not do 4, we believe but are not certain that God has acted in our life? Because you're— you've decided to be certain?

No, I believe that the locus of openness to it is in us.

We open or close the portal, open or close the lines. So what do— okay, so I want to ask all of you what— let me just tell you what prevents me from, uh, one or two, or, or even certitude on three. It's not me and my life. It's, uh, all those that clearly, or to me clearly, God did not intervene to help. I, I am somewhat paralyzed by that, and I, I don't, I don't say this with any pride. I am actually a little a little, uh, I think I'm a little childish in this regard, but that's what prevents me, not my own life. My own life is— if I would tell you the coincidences that brought me to this place today, it's, it's, it's one is one in a million, the next is one in 10 million, the next is one in 3 million, and it's— and no matter what I would do to flub it God seems to have directed where I would have been, but I so think I'm not any one bit more worthy than one Jew who walked into a gas chamber. So what is your answer to that?

But that's not what question 3 asks. Question 3 asks, in your life, do you—

Right, okay, fair enough. I agree with you. So how do you answer all the lives that there doesn't seem to have been intervention?

Dennis Prager, right?

That's a very— by the way, I'll prove to you that you're right. That's right. Okay, so I'd like to offer two proofs of why you might— you, you're likely right.

Yes, but that's still not quite getting my point. The, uh, I could decide that God is acting in my life and it turns out that he didn't. He could be acting in my life and I could decide not to recognize it. So it's my openness plus—

just because I decide that God is acting in my life doesn't mean that it's true. Correct. That's why you like the word decide. Right.

But that's me, and I'm not saying— I'm saying that for all of the others act like for now he could have awakened and said, uh, boy, I really had a nightmare, or boy, I must have eaten—

right, I hallucinated, right?

Could have dismissed it as a psychotic episode, right?

But instead he decided—

so, right, so it's a decision in any event, in many ways. I want to tell you why I said to you I have two proofs that you're right. That if you'd have asked those Jews, maybe they would have come up with the same answer. There is a book out written, I believe, uh, I don't— I think it's by one of— I think it's two authors, and I think one of them is a— is both a sociologist and a rabbi. I don't— I, I'm vague on that, but I remember it was a very important book, theological Reflections on— no, not Reflections, but something of the Holocaust. Anyway, the point is they did a tremendous amount of research on the beliefs of Holocaust survivors, people, and people, many of whom lost their families for horrible deaths. And they concluded, which gave it a lot of credibility, that there were a fair number of atheists who came out believers, and there were a fair number of believers who came out atheists, but the data showed that it was the same. This, in other words, the percentages of believers and atheists stayed the same even though some shifted categories. The second point that I want to make to you is in this book, uh, the Indianapolis. These men are in the ocean. They're boiling all day, many of them burned horribly by the torpedo fires, horribly burned— face, arms, bodies— and, uh, they, they watch their friends eaten alive by sharks. But it's noted that in virtually every instance they came to believe in God. And you might, you might say, well, of course, in foxholes there are no atheists— the famous line that, that is given. But I, I've never found that to be a particularly, um, intelligent response, because you could argue the very opposite. In, in foxholes, or at least out in the sea where, where your friends are all dying, there were no believers. That would be just as logical a response. We're not getting saved. In fact, it's fascinating, uh, there were quite a number of Jews on the Indianapolis. You can tell by their names, obviously. And one of them who was quite, um, who never hallucinated— most of the men ultimately hallucinated with no food, no water, and just sun. And it was— so they hallucinated a terrible amount. But this guy never hallucinated, and he, uh, he was not— he either didn't pray or just was disinterested. His name was Bloom, and, uh, he was a very heroic figure in the, in the ocean, I just might add. But I would have liked to have interviewed Bloom afterwards. And, uh, the, the men— I will tell you as well, the men found tremendous comfort in saying the 23rd Psalm. They would say that over and over in the ocean. And I would, I would have been with them. I mean, there's not even an issue. It's, it's, it is important to know that. Yes.

You know, did you ever read the book Unbroken?

No.

It's a fascinating story of Louis Zamperini, who was an airline pilot, Air Force pilot, and they were going, I believe during the Korean War or World War II.

World War II.

And he was on a rescue mission to go get other people, and their own plane, rescue plane, went down in the water, and they had a tiny— there were 3 people who survived. Survived. And there was a tiny little— I feel like they were like baby, uh, floats, you know. I mean, it was, it was not normal equipment as we have today. 3 guys, one super healthy, complete athlete. Louie got bumped and he, he was suffering. He had damage from falling out. And the other person was not healthy. The 2 who survived which were they? He himself, Louis, was a runner. He was this incredible speedrunner.

Olympic?

Yeah, I got it. But he said he was never— he was a scoundrel as a kid. He used to actually— his brother got him into running because he used to steal, and he'd run really fast to get away. But the point is, he said, I wasn't a religious man, but I suddenly— I'm in this field The sharks were not only circling, they were bumping underneath this little float that they had. And he said, "Just start praying." He said, "I thought back to movies I'd seen," and he started saying like either the psalm or a prayer. The other guy kept saying, "We're going to die!" The one who's healthy. "We're going to die! We're going to die! We're never going to make it!" He died. And the two that prayed had these miracles happen. A bird Albatross came and landed on his head and let him eat, you know, have food. He put little things in his fingers to catch fish. He found little hooks over the side. Fish like came up to him and said, here I am. And then he eventually got rescued, but then he got rescued into a Japanese prison camp.

And he survived.

It's an amazing story.

It sounds like it. All right, we'll just take these and then we got to stop. Yes.

I think given all those options, I feel there's kind of like a merging of some of them. Sometimes you have to take it on faith. And for my own example, when I was a kid, I was always doing stuff that— I mean, just always. And I remember when I was very, very young, before I learned how to swim, I fell into the swimming pool in my apartment. And one of the people that lived there just happened to look out and pulled me out of the water. And I remember another time when I was in my early 20s, I was on my way to work. I was driving a Volkswagen on the freeway going on the on-ramp. And you know, when you're in your 20s, you think you're invincible. You drive like a macho gun or whatever. So I went on too fast and I rolled down the embankment Another 10 or maybe another 10, 12, 15 feet, I would have fell off the overpass, and I knew there was no way I could have survived that. But I rolled down the hill, and all I had— it wasn't a Volkswagen— all I had was a scratch on the foot. Yeah, sometimes God in some ways is looking out for you, and there's a reason why we're here.

All right, fair enough. We just, uh, yep, yes, for us.

Well, your example was this book and the people in the sea dying. I think when you get in a situation when you basically realize that you are not the driver, it's sheer luck. So at that point, you become a believer because that's your only hope.

Well, or you realize you're not the driver. That— I thought you were leading to that. Not just that—

If you are not the driver, your next step, who is the driver?

That's right. That's right. No, that's a very— that's— maybe I should deal with why do people, many people, not all, get more religious when they get old. It's a very interesting subject.

You're close to uncontrolled situation when you're getting old.

Yeah.

Because when you're young and healthy, everything is—

That's right. So, right. So which is the age in which you have a more realistic view of whether there's a God? 80 or 18? That's the question. Final one.

Yes, I kind of tend to think like Steve.

It's a conscious decision. With all the luck and the life that I've had and the fortune that I had, I thank God, and I always say God takes care of me no matter what. And I've got many instances. I guess I could say that it's luck. And as far as you're concerned, Boris, God helps those who help themselves. So if you think that, yes, if there's a situation where you can't do anything, the ocean or whatever, I get that. But if you're sitting there going, okay, God, give me a job, okay, God, do this, let me do that, it's not going to happen. You have to get up and do it. And you're this example for it. You got up and did it.

Well, you see, important thing, of course, it's always in your hand. God is always God never helped you directly. That's, guys, back to parting the sea.

Until you start walking into that sea, he's not going to part it for you. Do you know, by the way, that's brilliant that you raised it. I wanted to end with that. Do you know the, the Agadah in the Talmud that the sea didn't open till one of the Jews went up to his head?

Yes, and he was after his dog.

Yes, that's right.

Mitch.

Okay, yeah.

Interesting about more than one, going through more than one, because my experience is that before I believed in God, there were things that brought me to a belief in God. At that point, then my relationship was more praying and seeing responses, and even going through periods of life where I felt no response and having to decide that I still believe. So I, I don't— I have to have all three of those first.

I see, that's fair. Thank you all.

Shabbat Shalom.

This has Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis' lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles.