Faith Beyond Miracles: Free Will, Sinai, and the Search for Truth

Yossi Sarid, a well-known Israeli politician and outspoken atheist, once described a near-death experience in an interview. He recounted how his soul seemed to leave his body, observing events on earth from above. Yet after telling this story — which points directly to the existence and eternity of the soul, he insisted that the experience had no connection to any spiritual world or divine providence.

This declaration even caused the secular interviewer to chuckle. He asked Sarid how such an experience had not changed his view on the existence of the soul. Sarid’s surprising reply was: “What happened to me does not fit with my personal beliefs.”

This response highlights that even individuals who go through extraordinary, spiritual events will not necessarily change their worldview. A person who does not want to believe simply will not believe, regardless of what they see or experience. Someone unwilling to face the truth will always find endless excuses to escape it. Reaching the truth does not come through demanding miracles; but through sincere searching, reflection, and clear, honest thinking. Those who genuinely want to find the truth, will eventually reach it.

Sinai: A One-Time Miraculous Experience

The great exception was the generation that left Egypt and experienced the revelation at Mount Sinai. From the Ten Plagues to the splitting of the Red Sea, the giving of the Torah, and throughout their years in the wilderness, they lived under constant divine miracles.

As a newly formed nation, they had no prior traditions or evidence of God to rely upon. To instill in them an unshakable recognition of the Creator, God demonstrated His mastery over every element of nature through open miracles. But this miraculous mode of guidance was only temporary, meant for the founding generation — it was never intended to be the ongoing way of life.

Why God Does Not Lead Us Through Miracles Today

One reason God does not continually lead us through miracles is because it would cancel out free will. God wants us to choose goodness out of genuine freedom — through struggles, tests, and choices, not as programmed beings with no alternative. To preserve free will, He governs the world through concealment.

Another reason is accountability. When a person witnesses open miracles — direct revelations of divine power, and then acts against God’s will, their punishment is far more severe and immediate than someone who sins without having seen such wonders. To avoid this strict level of judgment, and to allow humanity to live under God’s attribute of patience and mercy, miracles are not the norm.

Discovering God Without Miracles

We will not see God face-to-face or relive Mount Sinai, and as explained, this is neither possible nor desirable. But God’s reality is still accessible and demonstrable.

We can recognize Him through the astonishing complexity and sophistication of creation, which speaks of an intelligent Creator, and we can recognize Him through the divine truth of the Torah itself — whose wisdom and consistency testify to its heavenly source.