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Q&A: The Shelah’s View Regarding Choice

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This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.

The Shelah’s View Regarding Choice

Question

Hello, and have a good week.
Regarding the statement that when the luminaries are eclipsed it is a bad sign for Israel, I found what the Shelah wrote (Noah, in the gloss, s.v. “And in my humble opinion”): “For four things the luminaries are eclipsed… surely the eclipse comes about because of the movement of the sun and the moon, and those expert in this science can calculate at what hour the eclipse will occur, and it is a natural phenomenon.
And I say that all this is resolved… for all the generations and their deeds, and the punishment of their calamities, were revealed before Him… and since it is so, that He called the generations from the beginning and knew their deeds and their calamity, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, devised and created this natural order that there should be the rainbow… and likewise regarding an eclipse…
And do not let your mouth hasten to say: if all the sins that will occur were already revealed and known, and on that basis the Holy One, blessed be He, acted and created His creation, then it appears plainly that these sins are necessary, and where then is free choice? The ancient question of knowledge and choice is even harder in this matter, with greater force, and it appears evident to the eye.
Know that I have already elaborated on this in the introduction Toledot Adam, in Beit HaBechirah; look there, and your eyes will see and your heart will rejoice.”
And at first glance this needs explanation, because there he seems to have written that the Holy One, blessed be He, in fact does not know human actions (if I remember correctly, that is how you understood his words, as you wrote in several places). If so, how do his words there fit with what he wrote here? This requires further study.
I’d be happy to hear your opinion on how to understand the Shelah’s words, as well as an explanation of these words of the Talmud that the luminaries are eclipsed.

Answer

Indeed, I have always wondered about the midrash concerning the eclipse, and I did not know that the Shelah had already addressed it.
I do not know what he means, but perhaps two explanations can be suggested: 1. The Holy One, blessed be He, knows things in broad terms, meaning the general course of events (even if not the sin of each individual person), and an eclipse of the luminaries is not a response to the state of one particular individual. 2. The Holy One, blessed be He, knows what is expected based on the given data, and thus fixed the eclipses accordingly. True, a person through his free choice can change this, and then the eclipse turns out not to occur in its proper place and time. But usually it would still work out this way (because the Holy One, blessed be He, foresees our actions very well, even if not perfectly).

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