[Avodah] My Noah Problem

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Oct 31, 2006 at 03:32:43PM -0500, Zev Sero wrote:
: The root of your problem is in the word N-Ch-M (vayinachem,
: ki nichamti), which you translate in the conventional manner
: as regret, which implies that He realised He had made a mistake.
: That's precisely why Rashi (6:6-7) takes care to translate the
: word differently. He first cites Onkelos's translation, as
: "to take comfort", and then gives his own, "to consider a future
: course of action". In other words, He did not regret his past
: actions, but took note of them and their result when considering
: what to do next.

RSRH writes that aveilus is a state of "aval", but. It's an inability
to deal with the new reality. If so, then nechamah is being reconciled
and ready to work with that new reality.

Which would explain Rashi's position, that HQBH uses the word "nichamti"
to mean that He is about to change His course of action because of new
facts on the ground.

Which is necessary, even though He knew the decisions people will be
making, and therefore the facts aren't new to him. Because if Hashem
were to interact with us based on His knowledge of our future actions,
the problem of "hakol tzafui vehareshus nesunah" would be
insurmountable. Hashem chooses not to act on the foreknowledge of our
decisions lest it rob us of bechirah.

: One may object that if this is so, then why does the decision to
: bring the flood come after the world turns corrupt, and why does
: the decision not to bring any more floods come after the effects
: of the first one become apparent. But the premise of this
: objection is the fallacy that He acts in time....

He does not act in time, but Hashem does make sure the effects of His
action (intantional lashon yachid) preserves the causality of our choices
by coming after we make them.

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             When a king dies, his power ends,
micha at aishdas.org        but when a prophet dies, his influence is just
http://www.aishdas.org   beginning.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                    - Soren Kierkegaard