Foundations of the World

The after-effects and after-shock of the devastating earthquake in Haiti continues to send reverberations throughout the world. The humanitarian needs have been a logistical nightmare. As so often after tragedy, such as the Southeast Asia tsunami in 2004, there is a world-wide outpouring of sympathy and aid. When confronted by a natural disaster, the instinct of most of us, from whatever country, of whatever politics, is to reach out, to give support, material and emotional. Such events remind us, all too harshly, of the frailty of life, and the ever-pressing need for acts of goodness and kindness, indeed, for making such acts a priority for all mankind.Unfortunately, of course, there are those who would profit from such tragedies, use the suffering, hardship, pain and trauma of others to advance their political or supposedly religious agenda. Some pronouncements of "religious leaders" made headlines when they were criticized for their insensitivity or worse, in proclaiming a justification or understanding for a supposed Divine act of retribution. While Judaism does indeed teach us that everything happens by Divine Providence, and that even seemingly random acts of nature are connected to, and result from, the actions of people, Judaism also teaches us that judgment belongs to G-d and G-d alone. Although adherence or non-adherence to the commandments of G-d or to the moral code that He desires for His world do have consequences, we can never claim to understand G-d's calculus. Rather, Judaism teaches us to react to tragedy with compassion, to provide relief and support to those in need regardless of other factors. Tzedeka (charity) is a universal requirement.
Nevertheless, Judaism also teaches us that everything that occurs contains a lesson for our Divine Service. Even negative events, G-d forbid, teach us something - if nothing else, that we need to strengthen our spiritual condition that comprises our first line of defense against the harsh, often brutal forces of nature. Where we find weakness, we must correct an action in some manner.
When a building falls, it is not being punished for not being earthquake-proof. We can however build buildings that are stable enough to survive even a 7.0 tremor. The parallel is true in our spiritual construction. If we understand what an earthquake is, how it affects the world, and then understand the spiritual parallel, we can then also understand what spiritual action can correct, or even prevent, an "earthquake," spiritual as well as physical.
During an earthquake the world is literally torn apart. The foundations of the world are shaken. In order to stop the shaking, the world needs to be stabilized. The foundations must be secured.
What then stabilizes the world? Or, spiritually speaking, what is the foundation of the world?
Our Sages tell us that Torah is foundation of the world. Thus, when we hear about an earthquake, a shaking of the foundations of the physical world, we should understand the inner, spiritual message: that the spiritual foundations have been weakened, that the Supernal Realms are "quaking." Thus, we must strengthen those spiritual foundations, by increasing our Torah study.
While doing all we can to aid earthquake victims in a physical sense, we must also do all we can to correct the spiritual causes of such tragedy. To secure the foundations of the world - study Torah!