[Avodah] Does G-d Change His Mind?

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, February 14, 2008 7:58 pm, RZL <hlampel at koshernet.com> wrote:
: Could you please clarify this sentence you wrote?
: "The
: exploration of the Torah from the perspective of what it's like to
: live it rather than trying to identify what's "out there"
: is very modern."

I guess I mean that as opposed to the rishonim, who set out to explain
the path from Borei to maaseh bereishis to us, acharonim from the
mid-19th cent CE onward tend to instead explain the beri'ah in terms
of a curriculum

The Chinukh engages in finding "mishoreshei hamitzvah". RYBS engages
in "halachic homilectics". Not asking the cause of the mitzvah, but
what lesson can we take from it.

RSRH's taamei hamitzvos is somewhere in between, as he makes the
shoresh hamitzvah to teach a lesson (often, via symbols).

MmE differs from sifrei machashavah of the Ramchal or of rishonim in
that he doesn't explore questions like why the Borei created us, or
what is the nature of reality. Rather, REED centers on the question of
what our role is in that creation. For example, in one place he
defines teva as an illusion caused by HQBH's hesteir panim in behaving
in predictable ways. In another, he says it's a pattern we impose on
reality by not being on the madreiga of neis. And, the result of
seeing that world through that framework is olam haasiyah. OhA isn't
defined from HQBH downward, but from the our experience of Hashem
yisbarakh's actions.

Pachad Yitzchaq is a seifer machashavah organized by yamim tovim. What
a far cry from the Rambam's trilogy of terminology, theology, man's
role. Rather, RYH starts with the mitzvah and casts back from that.

An example that is inyana deyoma (dechodshayim?): Why is Purim
described (Yalqut Shim'oni Mishlei 9) as the one Yom Tov that will not
cease even le'asid lavo?

How do you recognize your friend in the dark? One way is to buy a
flashlight, and to be able to see him. The other is to learn how to
recognize his breathing, his voice, his mannerisms, and figure out who
he is through other senses. When light comes, the flashlight goes back
into the drawer. But the person who learned to get a deeper
appreciation of his friend will continue to benefit even in the
daylight.

Yetzi'as Mitzrayim was a lamp. In another era of miraculous
redemption, it won't tell us anything we couldn't know by the new
experience. The lessons of Purim, of seeing through the hesteir panim,
those remain.

Okay, not a great example. Just an excuse to share something
beautiful. However, note that RYH writes about the lessons and values
of galus. Not its causes, or the metaphysical differences between neis
nigleh and neis nistar.

Yes, the PY does discuss such things. But always from the perspective
of the nafqa mina to our avodas Hashem. From the yom tov to the
lesson.

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
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