A Natural Order Exists

The increasing emphasis in Judaism on esoteric Kabbalistic cosmologies that basically negate the existence of the Universe by morphing it into God has tended to suppress any beliefs in a scientific order to the Universe.

There are many valid Torah sources that emphasize the existence of a natural order that most Jews are subjected to. Regrettably there seems to be a trend in the last few hundred years to ignore or suppress such viewpoints.

"...the majority of the Israelite nation save an elite few, without a doubt are under the control of nature and the heavenly forces...similar to other living creatures who are not subject to God's providence individually, but only in terms of their species..." (Sforno, commentary on Leviticus 13:47)

"Hashem wants the natural order to remain functional...he thus allows idol-worshippers to naturally prosper in their idol worship, and even a righteous saint might be impoverished and afflicted, if nature so imposes." (Maharal, Commentary on the Pesach Haggada, at the word "Hallelukah")

A belief that most Jews are subjected to the natural order does not in any way have to promote atheism or negation of belief in Hashem’s providence over the world. On the contrary, the very existence of life in this world including man’s own existence depends very much on an intelligent Creator performing an enormous level of fine tuning of the physical laws and constants to allow us to exist.

Traditional Judaism placed a strong emphasis on a person’s requirement to guard their lives from random or natural misfortunes. The earlier rabbis, unlike many of the Kabbalistic “preachers” nowadays, believed that most people are subject to the natural order. This citation from Sefer Hachinuch sums it up well:

"To remove obstacles and misfortunes from our surroundings, on this (Torah) says to make a guard-rail around your roof...so that no one will fall there...on this we say to make a wall and a fence near every obstacle. Hashem directs all the matters of man, and everything good or evil that He degrees is based on man's merit or guilt...even so man must guard himself from all the random occurrences in this world because God built a world based on Nature, and decreed that fire burns and water extinguishes the flames...God gave man daas to guard himself from injuries...man is obligated to use his wisdom to guard himself from random occurrences...the majority of mankind in their sins do not merit a great deliverance, so the Torah commanded them to guard their surroundings so that random deaths don't occur...whoever relies on a miracle then a miracle won't be done for them etc etc." (Sefer HaChinuch, Parshas Ki Tsetseh, Mitzvah 538)