[Avodah] Exclusion of Shlomis bas Divri's son

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Sep 01, 2010 at 03:25:16PM +1000, Zev Sero wrote:
: When Moshe killed his father, he looked in all directions and saw that
: there will never be any good coming from this man...

But this son was already concieved. So that wasn't what MRAH alav hashalom
was looking for when trying to decide whether the Mitzri's future held
anything worth saving. Rather, at any potential future half-brothers.

Two problems with this medrash, since we raised the subject:

1- R' Jack Love suggests that the medrash presumes Bohm's multiple
universe interpretation of QM, in which every event fans the timeline
out into every possible outcome.

Otherwise, all MRAH would see when looking into the Mitzri's future
would have been a few seconds and then death.

RJL then suggests that if existence is all caused by HQBH projecting
Chokhmah, and since He can conceive (kevayakhol) of every possible
outcome, why not?

2- What about the Mitzri's descendents' bechirah chafshi? How is it
possible to have someone for whom in any decision he is free to make,
no good would come from him?

Now if we didn't combine medrashim, and say the Ben Mitzri was of the
Mitzri Moshe killed AND Moshe looked into his future, then we could
suggest that MRAH saw that the Mitzri was infertile. But in the
combination, the Mitzri had to be fertile. Although not necessarily
fated to reproduce again.

"Vayar ki ein ish - she'ein ish asid lezeis mimenu sheyisgayeir." Well,
if there are no children, then not bechirah problem AND none to redeem
the line later.

BUT, note the language.... This Ben Ish Mitzri was at Har Sinai -- he was
misgayeir. So again, it would appear that MRAH was only looking at
subsequent children.

If both medrashim are supposed to coexist, rather than telling two sides
of a machloqes.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A wise man is careful during the Purim banquet
micha at aishdas.org        about things most people don't watch even on
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Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rav Yisrael Salanter