On Whom Do We Depend?
Q: After having read the Rambam, whom do I ultimately depend on, myself or the Creator?
A: Everything is in the hands of man, and everything is in the hands of the Creator (“all is foreseen and permission is granted”). This is exactly what The Rambam dealt with. One should say before the act that everything depends on him: “If I am not for me, who is for me?”
But faced with the outcome, one should say that it is the Creator’s will and the Creator’s doing, since “there is none else beside Him.” We are always within the boundaries of time and cannot perceive how it is possible to be outside them. Therefore we cannot imagine how everything can depend on us, and at the same time depend on Him.