G‑d, Computers & Technology
Recently world chess champion Gary Kasparov participated in an unprecedented game of chess. It was "Super Computer Deep Blue," created by an outstanding team of IBM scientists, challenging Kasparov to a game of chess. The IBM team that programmed Deep Blue were so sure of winning that they picked Kasparov (who had vowed never to lose to a computer in classical chess) to be contested, thinking that they would prove their point. Man vs. machine the greatest of all battles with the computer winning.
To the consternation of many, Deep Blue did not win. The excuse given by the IBM team was that Kasparov is the only one who could win and that "Gary learned through the match how to play best against the computer."
What's really phenomenal is man's irrational need to defy the truth. Man, will never be able to program anything to perfection. As man builds and programs, he must recognize that he is only human. As a human, he will never reach the zenith of perfection. Only G‑d is perfect.
All throughout history man has tried, with reason or force, to prove himself equal to G‑d. When man fails he finds reasons and exuses. Thinking, that next time he will be perfect and succesesful.
Here are some examples of man's constant denial of G‑d's work in man's plans.
The debate for treatment of comatose patients are on the increase. Distinctions for what is a prolonged vegetative state versus a comatose one are being made daily. Recent reports of Gary Dockery, a 42 year old policeman who woke up after 7 1/2 years in a coma is being explained by Dr. John Caronna, a neurologist at Cornell University Medical College. as something of the normal. "Everyone loves to think of this case as Rip Van Winkle, but it wasn't."
He seems to be saying that it wasn't a miracle. It was a bit of medicine and good luck. After all, during the seven years, Gary had blinked once for yes and twice for no. Therefore, Gary was really in a twilight zone with some awareness, and that explains what happened. There is no real medical explanation why he did wake up when he did! Once again, we were baffled by what happened.
Think for a moment. How in the world did a man wake up and talk normally after being sustained by machine for 7 1/2 years?
Isn't G‑d telling us something; that man is not perfect in understanding everything.
During World War II Hitler inexplicably made a bad move by attacking Russia. Germany could not fight a British front and battle the Russians at the same time. This caused Germany to lose the war. World War II researchers now are trying to understand Hitler's irrational move by stating the following explaination of sickness.
Recently, Dr. Abraham N. Lieberman, neurologist and clinical director of the National Parkinson Foundation, stated that the German Fuhrer lost his brilliant decision making in early 1940 due to Parkinson's disease. This bad move of attacking Russia by Hitler is now being explained as a result of Parkinsons disease.
Why can't we just accept the fact that G‑d wanted the, devil in the Fuhrer's clothes to destroy himself! If anything, remember, thats it's G‑d who makes people sick with Parkinson's disease or healthy.
Recently there has been a lot of talk of celebrating our victory in the Gulf War. It was five years ago that Saddam Hussain challenged the Allied forces. He claimed to have the mightiest army and would not budge from his position of occupying Kuwait.
Allied forces responded by daily bombing of Iran and their forces. After weeks of constant bomb raids and fighting Saddam Hussain torched the Kuwaiti oil fields and left. The destruction was awesome. Millions of people were left homeless and the Iraqi government was expected to fall.
But it didn't. Hussain became stronger and more difficult. He stood his ground. Even the combined forces with their so called Smart Bombs could not overthrow the dictator. What went wrong? Why did we fail? Didnt we have the greatest show of force. No explanation has been given.
In all the above cases man's might and ingenuity could not control what really happens.
Interestingly, six weeks before the Jewish holiday of Purim, the world-wide Chassidic leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, stated that the war would end by February 28, 1991, on Purim Day. The United States Army Major Yakkov Goldstein reported in November of 1990 that the Rebbe had told him "that he would be safe and out of the war zone as the war would be over on Purim."
I guess Some men are more G‑dly than others. This is something to think about.
Medical predictions, computer predictions and strategic warfare are subjected to man's fallacy. Humans can and will make errors. G‑d does not.
Purim is a one-day celebration. It commemorates the Persian Jewish community's escape from Haman, a bad minister, who had evil designs to exterminate them. It's a day for all lovers of humanity to recognize G‑d's intervention to help and save people and whole nations from destruction. This year the Jewish holiday of Purim will begin on Monday evening, March 4.
The events described in the "book of Esther," called the Megilla, took place about 450 B.C.E. The name Purim derives from the word pur, which means lottery, the method used by Haman to select the date on which he intended to release his hordes for a general massacre of the Jews.
The late Lubavitcher Rebbe once said about the Gulf War, The individual who personally threatened the Jewish people was routed entirely, to the point where he had to flee for his own life. the war which was touted to become the most horrible of all wars took far less time and cost far fewer casualties than could ever have been expected. The wondrous nature of these events defies all explanation.
Furthermore, this miraculous sequence did not end with the cessation of the hostilities. Even afterwards, we saw the Iraqis undergo a turnabout that was totally out of character for them, publicly expressing regret for their conduct and returning the prisoners and the property they had taken. Indeed, they returned more prisoners than they were known to be holding.