[Avodah] God who knows the future

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' David Riceman wrote:

> See Mishna Berachos 9:3 "If someone petitions about a past event
> (tzo'ek l'she'avar) it is a false prayer.  For example (keitzad),
> if his wife was pregnant and he prays that the child is a boy, that
> is a false prayer." Bartenura: "It is a false prayer because what
> happened happened (mai d'haveh haveh)".
>
> If what you say is correct it should be equally wrong to pray for a
> boy before his wife got pregnant; after all, it was predetermined.
> What distinction is the mishna making?

The reason some people are bothered by Hashem's foreknowledge (or, alternatively, those who would be bothered by the presence of tomorrow's newspaper, even if it stays unread) if that they think the foreknowledge determines the choice. In other words, that there is no free choice, because it is forced to be whatever the foreknowledge says it will be.

I say those people have it exactly backwards. The foreknowledge doesn't determine the choice --- The foreknowledge is determined BY the choice. I have total free will to go right or to go left, and when I make that choice, that's when Hashem's foreknowledge will be determined. Until then, the contents of the newspaper will be indeterminate. (If that foreknowledge becomes revealed somehow, such as by a navi, this would present perplexing psychological questions that I have not given much thought to.)

Similarly, if a woman is not pregnant, or is in the beginning stages of her pregnancy, it is perfectly okay to pray for the gender of the child. While it is true that Hashem *does* know what gender the child will end up being, He has not yet - so to speak - made this decision. There is still time to pray and influence this future choice of His. At some point in the pregnancy (40 days, IIRC) He will make that decision, based on whatever factors He uses for this sort of thing, at which point the child's gender will not be an undecided thing that one may pray for, but it will be an accomplished fact, which no one may pray for (except for those tzadikim who are allowed to pray for miracles, which this would be).

Although our "now" is nothing like Hashem's, he does deal with us on our own terms. For more information on this topic, a good place to start might be "Ba'asher hu sham". (Rashi et al on Bereshis 21:17)

Akiva Miller

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