By Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz
Donald Trump and the G-d Complex
With any luck, this will NOT be a political column. Yes, Donald Trump is one of the most controversial Presidents in history, and there are very few people who are “pareve” on him. People love him passionately and hate him passionately. But regardless of how you feel, he is the man Hashem put into power in the United States at this moment. He is the best man for the job at hand, because Hashem doesn’t do second best. As far as bechira, yes, it works, but it doesn’t override Hashem’s will, at least, not as I see it.
The point I want to make really isn’t about President Trump at all, though I pray that Hashem protects him and inspires him and his advisers and the rest of the government to be kind and do good things for our people. It’s more about what I gleaned from the little bit of news that came my way. I will remind you that I don’t actively follow the news. I don’t need to be upset by the slanted viewpoints, nor conjecture about the future of the world. Hashem has managed to handle that without my help for over 5700 years, and I don’t think He needs my input now.
However, when things come across my periphery, I pay attention, because I feel there must be a reason. And that’s where the White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy comes in. Someone mentioned it to me, and then I saw a couple of commentaries and op-eds on it. One person said that President Trump was childish and rude and the usual list of compliments. Then I saw a completely opposite view, which said that President Trump knew exactly what he was doing. He compared Trump to a chess master, who thinks ten steps ahead. He outlined why Trump HAD to rebuff Zelenskyy… blah blah blah.
The thing that got to me is that despite how sure everyone feels about their opinions, no one REALLY knows what President Trump is thinking. They may think they do, but they don’t. Imagine if you were upset about something and someone came over and said, “I know just how you feel.” Most of us would be rather indignant. How do you know how I feel?
Or if someone said, “I know exactly what you’re going to do.” He might be right, but do you believe he actually KNEW? I doubt it. So, when people say they know what The Donald is thinking, you have to admit it’s a bit of an exaggeration. And therein lies this week’s lesson.
Donald Trump has always been a man who spoke his mind, acted on his beliefs, and had generally not been swayed by other people’s opinions. In the minds of many, he’s a loose cannon, and they are afraid of what he might do. That actually works to his benefit, because people are less inclined to fight with him. Many of us, when faced with an opponent who doesn’t think like the average person, have learned to watch our steps. (That’s why you can’t negotiate for peace with a person who wants to be martyred for his cause.) In short, you never know what President Trump will do, or why.
Why would Hashem send us a president like this? So we can learn something about the real Commander-In-Chief. Hashem knows exactly what He’s doing every step of the way, but many people don’t like Him. You have atheists who deny He exists, or people who says He toys with Mankind and doesn’t save when He should, and you have bible thumpers who will tell you what He feels and thinks about everything under the sun. Most people have strong feelings about G-d, though they may give Him other names and confuse Him with some other ideal, but few are indifferent.
Regardless of how they feel about Hashem, none can really say why He does anything He does. Unlike President Trump who is human, we know that Hashem is only doing good for us. Therefore, even though we don’t understand what He does, or why, we can relax and trust Him.
It struck me that Americans have a leader who is similar to Hashem in that he’s unpredictable, and you can’t judge his actions or motives at any given moment. He may have thought of something you didn’t, and you’d only be judging with a very superficial perspective. You don’t know how others will react to what he does, though President Trump feels he has a pretty good idea. But Hashem knows exactly how people will react to what He does.
He therefore builds complex constructions of myriad interwoven parts, and runs the world to perfection. We can’t say whether anything that happens is good or bad, or why we think Hashem did it, and Hashem wants us to recognize our ignorance in light of His greatness.
Donald Trump may or may not have a god complex, but we certainly have an extremely complex G-d.
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