[Avodah] Can we force Hashem to do something?

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 07:04:30PM -0500, T613K at aol.com wrote:
:> The Ramchal  gives a similar
:> explanation for the Sitra Achara's rebellion against HQBH --  it was an
:> error in facts. (His intent was to make bad and good equally  compelling
:> choices for people, and then got to thinking that this meant that  good
:> and bad were equal, and thus Hashem's authority and his were as  well.)<<

: Where does Ramchal say this?  I thought that the idea of a Satan who  rebels 
: against G-d and sets himself as an equal and a rival was a Christian idea  
: (cf. Milton's *Paradise Lost*).  I thought we believed that a malach can  NOT 
: rebel and that the Satan is a malach who performs the tafkid that Hashem  sets 
: for him, just like any other malach....

Da'as Tevunos vol. II in Ginzei Ramchal pp. 40-42.

I personally believe like you do, but we must recognize that the mehalekh
popular in contemporary times isn't the only one promulgated by baalei
mesorah.

The difference is that the Notzri devil rebelled against god. This is an
image of a mal'akh charged with providing the choice of evil who
confuses it with being given charge of an equal domain with equal power.
After all, if HQBH allowed His greater power to reach the world, what
would happen to zeh le'umas zeh? Thus, he erred in facts, not in a love
of evil or fallen prey to pride.

The other, bigger, difference is that one popular Notzri vision of the
devil actually has him managing a history-long battle, as though they
actually are equals (or at least in the same ballpark). Rather than an
angel who mistakenly thinks he's equal.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "The worst thing that can happen to a
micha at aishdas.org        person is to remain asleep and untamed."
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