[Avodah] "Does God Change His Mind?"

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, January 31, 2008 9:29 pm, Cantor Richard Wolberg raised the
question of charatah and how it does not imply change:
:                                     Being sorry for something does
: not mean that a change has occurred; it simply means that there is
: regret for something that has taken place.

Attributing an emotion to HQBH doesn't mean He actually experienced
that emotion. (At least, in any hashkafah that survived to this day.)
If "charon apo" means that Hashem acted in a manner we would attribute
to anger if it were a person, then charatah is also not actually even
lamenting the need for an earlier decision.

On Mon, February 4, 2008 2:08 pm, Michael Makovi wrote:
: Nevertheless, when He actually interacts with the world, He *must*
: interact with that particular slice of time and place. When He talks
: to a prophet, for example, He is talking to the prophet at that
: moment; not an hour before and not an hour later, and not a mile in
: front and not a mile in back.

I disagree. Hashem is one, He performed one act. With no space or
time, what separates His actions into multiplicity? We call that act
Maaseh Bereishis. What we feel over time are different effects of that
one act. HQBH didn't start a movie, He created a 4D sculpture. (As
discussed in the aforementioned blog entry
<http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2005/01/divine-timelessness.shtml>.)

It's also why "ma'aseh bereishis" is a term for study not only of how
the world was created, but how it exists and operates.

"Hamchadeish betuvo bekhol yom tamid ma'aseh bereishis."

When we change some stretch of space-time, the consequences of Maaseh
Bereishis will change. But HQBH Himself can not. It's meaningless to
speak of change of the Creator of Time. Or even multiple acts.

SheTir'u baTov!
-micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "Man wants to achieve greatness overnight,
micha at aishdas.org        and he wants to sleep well that night too."
http://www.aishdas.org     - Rav Yosef Yozel Horwitz, Alter of Novarodok
Fax: (270) 514-1507