The Rabbis: Miracles? Yes. Rely on them? No.

As far as using miracles for proof or support, 20th century philosopher Solomon Schechter describes the rabbinic attitude as follows

In the whole of rabbinic literature there is not one single instance on record that a rabbi was ever asked by his colleagues to demonstrate the soundness of his doctrine, or the truth of a disputed halakhic case, by performing a miracle. Only once do we hear of a rabbi who had recourse to miracles for the purpose of showing that his conception of a certain halakhah was a right one. And in this solitary instance the majority declined to accept the miraculous intervention as a demonstration of truth and decided against the rabbi who appealed to it.

Nor, indeed, were such supernatural gifts claimed by all the rabbis…. Not a single miracle is reported, for instance, of the great Hillel, or his colleague Shammai, both of whom exercised such an important influence on rabbinic Judaism. On the other hand, we find that such men as, for instance, Honi ha-Me'aggel, whose prayers were much sought after in time of drought, or Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa, whose prayers were often solicited in cases of illness, left almost no mark on Jewish thought, the former being known only by the wondrous legends circulating about him, the latter being represented in the whole Talmud only by one or two moral sayings.[1]

That miracles are not evidence of religious truth is clearly and explicitly stated in the Bible: "If there appears among you a prophet or a dream-diviner and he gives you a sign or a portent, saying, 'Let us follow and worship another god' whom you have not experienced, even if the sign or portent that he named to you comes true, do not heed the words of that prophet or that dream-diviner. For the Lord your God is testing you to see whether you really love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul."[2]

The rabbis emphasize this in a striking incident wherein R. Eliezer b. Hyrcanus called for, and achieved, a series of miracles for the purpose of proving that his halakhic (legal) ruling was correct, but R. Joshua disdainfully rejected them, quoting "the Torah is not in heaven" and his contrary view was accepted.[3]

Not only are miracles not to be used for the purpose of determining the law, taught the rabbis, but they are also not to be relied upon in every day life — even though they may occur.[4] "One should never stand in a place of danger and say 'a miracle will happen to me' since perhaps it will not happen, and if it does, it will be deducted from his merits."

Although God is continually working miracles and protecting us without our knowing it, we should nevertheless not expose ourselves to peril needlessly, in the expectation that God will miraculously deliver us. For God may not do so. And even if a miracle is wrought for us, we earn demerit for this presumption [or, alternatively, having received partial reward for our good deeds by means of enjoying a miracle on our behalf, our reward in Paradise is diminished].[5]

An ironic story is told to illustrate the point:
R. Huna had wine stored in a dilapidated building. When he wanted to remove the wine, he took R. Adda bar Ahavah into the building and kept him occupied in a learned discussion until the wine had been removed. Then, the moment they left the building, it collapsed. When R. Adda realized that he had been used for such a purpose, he was annoyed and quoted R. Yannai, who once said, "A man should never stay in a place of danger in that hope that 'surely a miracle will be wrought for me,' for it might be that no miracle will be wrought for him. But even is it is wrought for him, it will be charged against his merits [in the world-to come]..."[6]

Finally, the rabbis taught that when coming to a place where miracles were wrought for the Jewish people one must recite a special blessing:[7]

[1] Solomon Schechter, Aspects of Rabbinic Theology: Major Concepts of the Talmud (New York: Schocken Books, 1961), p. 7. [back] [2] Deut. 13:2-4 [back] [3] TB Baba Metzia 59a [back] [4] TB Pesachim 64b [back] [5] TB Shabbat 32a [back] [6] TB Taanit 20b [back] [7] TB Berakhot 9:1 and 54a [back] [8] TB Berakhot 58b [back]

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