עברית
Faith
Is There Free Will?
Question
Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the topic of free will... because I am unable to understand how there can be free will when every choice stems from a certain reason, that is, from education, personality, society. This means that our choices are according to all the conditions and circumstances that Hashem set for us (the choices are also influenced by previous choices, but those previous choices were also made for certain reasons...) So where is free will in this? I also found a source from a certain rabbi who says exactly this (that there is no choice due to causation), which strengthened my question... Thank you very much!
Answer
Shalom u'vracha,
Every person has free will, and on this is based the entire Torah, for if there were no free will, we would not be expected to accept the Torah and commandments. Thus, Rambam explicitly writes in Hilchot Tshuva, Chapter 5:
"A person has complete authority over himself: if he wishes to guide himself to a good path and be righteous, the authority is in his hands; and if he wishes to guide himself to a bad path and be wicked, the authority is in his hands. This is as the Torah states 'Behold, man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil' (Genesis 3:22)—meaning that this species of man was unique in the world, and has no second kind similar to him in this regard, for he knows good and evil by his own understanding and thought, and does everything he desires, with no one to prevent him from doing good or evil. Therefore, it is stated, 'lest he send forth his hand' (ibid).
Furthermore, do not let this thought pass through your mind, as the foolish nations and most of the crude among the children of Israel say, that the Holy One Blessed Be He decrees upon a person from the beginning of creation to be righteous or wicked. This is not so; rather, every person is worthy of being righteous like Moshe Rabbeinu or wicked like Yerovam, or wise or foolish, or merciful or cruel, or kind or stern; and so too all other opinions.
And there is no one who can compel him or decree upon him, nor anyone who pulls him in either of the two directions; rather, he inclines by himself and by his own understanding to any path he wishes. As Yirmiyahu said, 'From the mouth of the Most High, evil and good do not go forth' (Lamentations 3:38)—meaning that the Creator does not decree upon a person to be either good or evil."
Now regarding your question,
Every person has the choice to be righteous or wicked, but it is true that we do not have free will over our material and external conditions. This can be summarized in one sentence conveyed to us by the Sages: "Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven" (Berakhot 33b). Moreover, they said in Masekhet Niddah (16b): "Rabbi Haninah bar Pappa taught: The angel appointed over pregnancy... takes a drop and presents it before the Holy One Blessed Be He and says before Him: 'Master of the Universe, what will become of this drop—mighty or weak, wise or foolish, rich or poor?' Yet he does not say 'wicked or righteous.'"
The implication is that Hashem indeed determines all conditions and all events that will happen to us in life, but He Blessed Be He gives us the choice of how to act within those events. Ethical writings assert that for this reason, a penitent should not be angry with themselves when bad thoughts come to them during prayer or in moments of holiness and elevation, because these thoughts are determined for a person as a test from Heaven, and do not stem from free will. Every day, Hashem places us in various trials, and it is upon us to pass the test and extract the best from every situation—even within our hearts and thoughts, as our Sages said: 'Let every person be judged favorably' (Ethics of the Fathers 1:6). However, we do not determine the events we will experience in our lives, nor do we determine the character and trials that we will receive.
Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler zt"l, in his work Michtav MeEliyahu (The Letter from Eliyahu, on the Choice), describes the point of choice that each of us has. For a righteous person, the point of choice will be how much to concentrate in prayer today, how much to invest in studying Torah, but for a person born into a family of criminals and thieves, the point of choice will be whether to commit murder... Every person receives different trials according to their status and their accounts from previous incarnations. No one has control over the events and situations they will go through in their lives, but every person has a point of choice that if utilized in the best way, can open worlds, return to repentance, and emerge even from the deepest darkness, as the Sages conveyed to us that Hashem tells each of us: 'Open for Me a hole the size of a needle, and I will open for you as wide as a hall' (according to Song of Songs Rabbah 5:2).
Dr. Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor who wrote a well-known book called "Man's Search for Meaning," attempts to describe psychologically where our point of choice lies and illustrates it through stories from the extermination camps, stories of despair against stories of heroism—under the same threatening situations and psychological pressures. For example, he recounts seeing a Nazi officer harshly address a weak and pitiful Jew, proclaiming proudly: 'You cowardly Jew.' The Jew responded, 'Yes, I am indeed a coward, but if you were afraid just like me, you would run away in sheer panic!'
Dr. Frankl viewed this statement as an expression of the point of choice within each of us, meaning our personal response to events, even in a state of extreme and terrifying fear. Frankl argued that even if we cannot control intense emotional states like fear or anger or frustration, we can still choose how to respond to situations—despite the emotions and thoughts that overwhelm us. For instance, a person who is very afraid can choose to act bravely, and a person who is very angry can choose to hold on despite the accumulated anger. The Sages asserted that even when a person is born under the influence of Mars, possessing a natural disposition toward violence, he is not obligated to become a murderer, for he can redirect his character and choose to be a slaughterer or a circumciser (or alternatively, a surgeon or an emergency medical technician who is not fazed by the sight of blood). The Sages tell us that King David was born under the influence of Mars, yet he directed his emotions to fight against the enemies of Israel (Talmud Shabbat 106b).
In conclusion: although you have no control over the events you will go through in your life, and not always over the thoughts that arise in your mind, you do have complete choice over your fear of Heaven, meaning your personal attitude toward situations, the choice to do good, to believe in Hashem, and to trust in Him even amid trials and to fulfill the commandments. This is your point of choice, and it defines who you truly are. It is highly recommended that you read a faith-strengthening pamphlet that discusses the topic of choice in depth; the name of the pamphlet is "A Critical Conversation" (search for it on Google).
Blessings,
Daniel Bles
