Why is it that the common cold is the only thing that does not come from Hashem?
ANSWER:
You have to qualify that statement. The things that a person causes by his own negligence to himself are his own doing. Let's say if a man walks up to this wall, and he makes a charge with his head against the wall, and he has a headache tonight. So this man is lying in bed, his head is throbbing, and he's thinking...ma zos asah Elokim lanu, for what sin did this come to me? That's a good question.
The answer is, for the sin of butting your head against the wall, and that's a big sin. So if a man is lying in bed with a cold and he's thinking, he should think, but first of all before he thinks about any other thing, he should think...did I go out without a jacket? That's number one.
Or did I go to sleep too late last night, so I lowered my resistance? I could have gone to bed on time but I was looking in the newspaper till too late at night and in the morning I woke up and I didn't have any energy. Therefore when the germs started floating in the air on an "airplane" of a piece of dust and I breathe it in, so my mucous membrane has been breached because my resistance was lowered, and that's why it found a nest in my throat.
So why blame Hakadosh Baruch Hu for what you did?
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures.
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
Important Numbers
