Noah 5781

Question: 8:21 is one of the most enigmatic verses in the Torah. How do we understand that Hashem now understands Humankinds’ nature? What about the period before the מבול?


Approach: this would seem to be one of the many פסוקים which go the heart of the question of Free Will vs Predetermination, of which there are many, especially in פרשיות בראשית + נח. Perhaps we need to understand that mankind needs to be given a chance to succeed at “Plan A”, even if he destined to fail, in order to teach what the ideal is, whilst moving onto a “Plan B”. And only once the failure happened - perhaps including the reaction of נח upon leaving the תיבה - could the next-best option be put into place.

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