{"id":52058,"date":"2019-03-25T20:06:09","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T18:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=52058"},"modified":"2022-10-17T17:49:09","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T14:49:09","slug":"the-choice-is-ours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-choice-is-ours\/","title":{"rendered":"The Choice Is Ours"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For millennia, philosophers, theologians and other astute observers have debated the nature of free will. Some see it as the essence of the human experience. Others relegate it to the dustbin of delusion. It is a moral burden and an exalted opportunity, a hope for what\u2019s possible and a concession to our inherent limitations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The passage under consideration is one of the key tenets of the Western approach to free will in the context of faith. The benignly powerful Source of good lays before us a choice\u2014one that reflects our capacity for impactful decisions as much as God\u2019s voluntary relinquishing of power\u2014an act of <\/span>tzimtzum<\/span><\/em>, contraction, that carves out space for human potential and growth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maimonides links this capacity to the very raison d\u2019etre of Torah:<\/span><\/p>\n

If God had decreed that a person should be either righteous or wicked, or if there were some force inherent in his nature which irresistibly drew him to a particular course, or to a special branch of knowledge, to special views or activities…What room would there be for the whole of Torah? By what right or justice could God punish the wicked or reward the righteous?<\/span><\/p>\n

Torah is central to human life because it provides for both possibility and purpose. God is not an impartial referee, but rather hopes that we will choose the right path based on study and embrace of revelation. Yet, the choice must remain ours if we are to fully develop as people, emanating from a self-constraint that is Divine in its very scope and execution.<\/span><\/p>\n

God possesses insight into our choices, and yet, unlike us, is not swayed by that knowledge to intervene. May we use our God-given freedom responsibly, our accrued knowledge judiciously, and our gleaned wisdom for the betterment of something beyond ourselves, and thus merit a length of days for us and for our children.<\/span><\/p>\n

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