213. What Would Be the Point?
Teshuvah 5:3
The idea of free will is a fundamental principle of the Torah as per Deuteronomy 30:15, “Behold, I set before you today life and goodness, and death and evil.” Similarly, Deuteronomy 11:26 says, “I have set before you today the blessing and the curse,” meaning that the choice is up to us. A person may perform any deed he desires, be it good or evil, so Deuteronomy 5:26 says, “If only their hearts would always remain this way.” We see from this that God does not compel people to perform either good or evil. Rather, everything is under our own control.
Teshuvah 5:4
If God were to decree that a person be righteous or evil or that something in his nature draw him to a particular path – which is what fools who follow astrology believe – then how could He command us to do one thing and not another, and to change our ways? In such a case, a person’s nature would be permanently fixed and immutable! What reason would there be for the Torah? How could evil be punished or righteousness rewarded? Should the Judge of the world act unjustly?
One should not wonder how we can do whatever we want to and be responsible for our own deeds, thinking “Is it possible for anything to happen in this world without God desiring it as per Psalms 135:6, ‘Whatever God desires, He has done in the heavens and on the Earth?’” One must know that everything done is in accordance with His will but we are nevertheless responsible for our own actions. Just as God decreed that fire and air should rise upward while water and earth descend downward, and that the various heavenly spheres revolve in theirs orbits, and that all of His creations follow the natures that He put within them, He similarly decreed that man have free choice and be responsible for his actions. A person using his own volition and the knowledge that God gave him will do anything that a person can do. One is therefore judged according to his actions; if they are good, he is rewarded and if they are bad, he is punished. The prophets address this concept in statements like, “This has been the work of your hands” (Malachi 1:9) and “They, too, have chosen their own paths” (Isaiah 66:3). King Solomon likewise addressed this in Koheles (11:9), “rejoice in your youth... but know that for all these things, God will bring you to judgment.” One has the potential to do as he wishes but he will be held accountable for it in the future.