Happy Shavuot

Shalom friends,

Philosophers maintain that there is no free will and that everything is pre-determined. This statement actually tells us more about the subject of philosophy than about the reality of whether or not Man has free will. I am not a philosopher, although I love wisdom, in fact it positively excites me to learn something new, so this isn’t a philosophical argument, this is just my simple observation that basically Man is free to choose whether to do a thing or not to do it, as Shakespeare said “To be or not to be that is the question” (Hamlet). Since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden they’ve been able to choose to be or not to be. In fact the moment Eve broke God’s law not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17) she became free to do something or not to do it, to be or not to be. As long as they kept this commandment they were in the Garden and couldn’t choose one way or another, choices were in the hands of God, He chose them to be or not to be, just as He chose for the animals, plants and the entire universe to be or not to be.

A creature that doesn’t have the ability to choose is subject to the “the laws of nature”. When nature calls there is no way of resisting it’s power, no choice is available. Whether we like it or not nature governs most of our behavior, but when two people fall in love they make a choice, in spite of what lovers usually think (my apologies to all lovers) they choose whether to make love or not, in other words whether to have children or not, “to be or not to be.”

The statement lovers make that “destiny brought them together” that they had no choice in falling in love, is really just a way of showing how excited they are about revealing their love for each other, it’s just a way of saying that they think that the bond they have formed is as strong as the forces of nature, and will therefore never be broken. (which is such a beautiful thing to say and to feel that I shouldn’t even dare to contradict their opinion).

We make choices all the time; whether to fall in love or not, whether to eat or not to eat, whether to sit or to stand, whether to become a chef or a doctor etc. etc. Who can deny that we are free? That we have freedom of choice?

The Bible doesn’t expressly tell us how God felt about Adam and Eve breaking His law, we’re only told about the punishment He meted out to them; expulsion from the Garden of Eden, bearing children, death instead of immortality etc. so we must conclude that He disapproved. But then we ask ourselves: “Surely He must have known that Adam and Eve had the ability to break His law?” because if they didn’t have this ability He wouldn’t have needed to give them the law not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

One doesn’t give a law unless the creature has the ability to break it. For example you don’t give a law like “thou shalt not die” or “thou shalt not go to the toilet” or to a bird “don’t fly” or to a lion “eat grass” or to a cow “hunt the sheep and eat it” etc.

Society gives human being laws because human beings have free will and there’s no knowing what terrible things the human being would do if governments didn’t make laws not to do those things.

God gave the Jewish People the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-13) because He knew that they were capable of choosing; they could choose from many things, for example; they could choose any god they liked, to make graven images, to take God’s name in vain, not to rest on the Sabbath, not to honor parents, to murder, to commit adultery, to covet, to steal, to bear false witness.

Having created Man with the ability to choose to do these things made it absolutely necessary for God to give Man, through the Jews, the Ten commandments.

Many theologians consider Adam a faulty creation because he sinned so they have developed entire religions to gain forgiveness for Adam’s sin. For example in the Middle Ages Jesus, being a perfect creation, without the ability to sin, was considered the replacement of Adam. Islam considers Mohammed a replacement of Adam, because Adam was an imperfect creation of God and needed to be replaced. Then arguments go on whether God created an imperfect Adam on purpose, deliberately or mistakenly.

Whatever the case one can’t deny, on the basis of the punishment that God was dissatisfied with the sin of Adam and the greatest mystery of religion is “why did God make this fault in Adam?” or at least, having created this fault  “God could have prevented Adam from sinning. Why didn’t He?”

There can only be one answer in my opinion and that is free choice. God created free will. It’s a creation like anything else, excepting, unlike other creations you can’t see it unless someone practices it.

It’s clear, to me, that God created the world so that He could practice free will and He created Man so that he would practice free will, like God.

Whether the world continues to exist or not will be the result of free will. There will always be someone who will practice free will. Whether he makes a good and saves the world or a bad choice and destroys it, it will always be a free choice.

Free will is the reason why God created the world and the world exists so that there will be free will.

Free choice is so important that God won’t even intervene to stop a criminal from carrying out murder because he’s carrying out free will. He won’t even intervene if someone decides to destroy the world because he’s practicing free will.

God’s intervention would be a denial of the reason for the world to exist.

God even made a law to rejoice on Shavuot (Deuteronomy 16:14) the day God gave the Jewish People the ten commandments, because those who choose to obey them will rejoice while those who’ve chosen not to obey them will not rejoice.

Only the person who practices free will will rejoice on Shavuot.

because man has free choice to rejoice or not. God gave us the ten commandments because He wants us to exercise free choice, to choose not to disobey His laws and so make the world a good place.

One of the most elevating examples of the effect of practicing free will is the beautiful love story of Ruth, which we read on Shavuot in the synagogue, because love comes from exercising free choice. It’s the most important outcome of being free and making a good choice.

Ruth exercised free choice in following her mother in law, in walking behind the reapers, in going to the threshing floor to meet Boaz and in choosing to make love with him and as a result of her choices David, her grandson was born, a precursor of the Messianic Age when all mankind will make good choices to make the world a perfect place and happiness will abide for everyone.

Wishing you a great no newsday

Choose to rejoice that you have free will and have freely chosen to keep God’s laws.

Yours truly

Leon Gork