[Avodah] Sholom Aleichem [was: Tinok Shenishba]

[Daniel Israel]

On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:15:54 -0600 T613K at aol.com wrote:
>A malach lacks bechira only because it (he?) knows Hashem so  
>intimately that having any will or desire other than what Hashem 
wants 
>is simply  logically and intellectually impossible for such an 
>intellectually and  spiritually superior being.  You can ask 
>a malach for something that is in  the malach's power to do -- for 
>example, it is in the malach's power to bentsh  you, if and when 
>Hashem wants you to be bentshed.    This is no  more davening to 
the 
>malach than asking your mother for a glass of water is  davening 
to 
>your mother.

Your mother can say no.

Mi manafsach.  Making the request is either implying bechira, which 
is AZ, or making a request from something incapable of being 
effected by your request, which seems like shtus.

OTOH, I say Shalom Aleichem; I just don't understand it,

I would point out that arguably requesting something from your 
mother is not so simple, either.  As far as her bechira is 
concerned, she may decide to give you a glass of water or not.  As 
to whether you actually get that water, that is up to HKB"H, not 
your mother (as per the Chovos Lavovos, at least).

--
Daniel M. Israel
dmi1 at cornell.edu