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RAM:<br>
<br>
<<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.<br>
<snip><br>
While it is true that Hashem <b class="moz-txt-star"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>does<span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b>
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>><br>
<br>
You have left me more confused than before. I had thought you
agreed with RMB, who holds that one cannot predicate time of God,
that all the details of history form a deterministic process, and
God knows them "outside" of time.<br>
<br>
The problem for RMB is why a prayer before pregnancy is different
from a prayer after pregnancy.<br>
<br>
You, however, are introducing a distinction between God's
"knowledge" and God's "foreknowledge". This is hard to harmonize
with God's simplicity. If I understand you correctly God makes his
decree at some particular point, and it can't be changed by any
event after that time, even though it won't be known for quite some
time after that time (remember the gemara is before ultrasound or
DNA testing).<br>
<br>
Can you motivate why this would be? It seems arbitrary. Can you
cite a source? I have seen something like this with respect to
actual prophecies (H.Yesodei HaTorah 10:4), but never with respect
to natural phenomena like pregnancy.<br>
<br>
David Riceman<br>
<br>
<br>
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