Determinism

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Balancing Divine Omniscience and Human Free Will

MISHNAH

The balance between divine omniscience and human free will is a profound and timeless philosophical question. Pirkei Avot, a tractate of the Mishnah, offers ethical teachings and maxims from the Rabbis, including the statement that 'everything is foreseen yet freedom of choice is granted.'

Everything is foreseen yet freedom of choice is granted, And the world is judged with goodness; And everything is in accordance with the preponderance of works.

Pirkei Avot 3:15

The Mystery of Jewish Survival

COMMENTARY

The mysterious and unique survival of the Jewish people serves as evidence of a special predetermination that transcends materialistic interpretations of history. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks reflects on the historical resilience and divine providence that have shaped Jewish identity and collective memory.

I remember how the materialist interpretation of history, when I attempted in my youth to verify it by applying it to the destinies of peoples, broke down in the case of the Jews, where destiny seemed absolutely inexplicable from the materialistic standpoint…. Its survival is a mysterious and wonderful phenomenon demonstrating that the life of this people is governed by a special predetermination, transcending the processes of adaptation expounded by the materialistic interpretation of history…

Lessons in Leadership; A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, Va'ethanan; The Fewest of All Peoples 13

Rejecting Determinism for Divine Joy

CHASIDUT

Attributing everything to the laws of nature without acknowledging Divine Will leads to a loss of spiritual joy and a deviation from true faith. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, a prominent Hasidic master, challenges the deterministic view of science and emphasizes the importance of recognizing Divine Will.

However, not everyone hears the festival’s proclamation, on account of the wild animals that claw at and tear apart their prey. These are the deterministic scientists who demonstrate through their erroneous ideologies that everything is caused by the laws of nature, as if there is no Divine Will <whatsoever>, God forbid. Even the awesome miraculous signs that God has performed on our behalf, they associate with nature. These scientists are like wild animals; they prey upon many of our fellow Jews, who mistakenly follow them and think like them…

Likutei Moharan, Part II 4:6:10

Freedom and Divine Law

JEWISH THOUGHT

Eliezer Berkovits discusses the relationship between true freedom and divine providence, challenging the conventional dichotomy between determinism and free will. This mid-20th-century critique of Martin Buber's philosophy explores the pantheistic view that by being true to one's divine nature, one naturally fulfills their destined deeds while maintaining freedom.

It is this pantheistic commonplace which is also the essence of Buber’s solution of the antinomy of freedom and causality, which we described earlier. The deed is waiting for me and as such, it is prescribed for me; yet I have to choose it, declared Buber. It all depends on me, even though I am commissioned to perform my deed. In choosing one’s deed, one encounters one’s destiny, which is one’s completion. Again, freedom and law are one. We could not see how a man deciding on a course of action in dialogical freedom could know that he was choosing the deed destined for him…

A Jewish Critique of the Philosophy of Martin Buber, IV Buber's Metaphysics; Two Notes of the One Chord 15

Freedom in the I-Thou Relationship

JEWISH THOUGHT

According to Martin Buber, true freedom is found in the I-Thou relationship, which is untainted by causal determinism. Eliezer Berkovits explores Buber's understanding of the dynamic interplay between the It-world and the Thou-world, emphasizing the importance of genuine, reciprocal relationships.

The dialogue, the human responsibility to respond to the Voice presupposes freedom. Without freedom man could render no answer; without freedom there can be no relation. How is, then, freedom possible in the midst of a world that is held together by the principle of causation? In solving the problem, Buber elaborates further a distinction between the It-world and the Thou-world. The It-world alone exists within the coordinates of time and space. It alone has the continuum within which the principle of causation may function. The world of the It is indeed one of unfreedom…

Major Themes in Modern Philosophies of Judaism, CHAPTER 3; Martin Buber's Religion of the Dialogue 1:19

Fate and Free Will in Second Temple Judaism

SECOND TEMPLE

The three major Jewish sects of the Second Temple period—Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes—held distinct beliefs about determinism and free will. Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, provides a detailed account of these sects' perspectives in his work, 'The Antiquities of the Jews'.

9. At this time there were three sects among the Jews, who had different opinions concerning human actions; the one was called the sect of the Pharisees, another the sect of the Sadducees, and the other the sect of the Essens. Now for the Pharisees, (11) they say that some actions, but not all, are the work of fate, and some of them are in our own power, and that they are liable to fate, but are not caused by fate. But the sect of the Essens affirm, that fate governs all things, and that nothing befalls men but what is according to its determination…

The Antiquities of the Jews 13:5:9

The Power to Change Fate

LITURGY

This famous liturgical poem emphasizes the power of repentance, prayer, and righteousness to alter the severity of divine decrees, suggesting that human actions can influence predetermined outcomes. Unetaneh Tokef, recited during the High Holy Days, vividly describes the awe of the Day of Judgment and the potential for human actions to change one's fate.

On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed - how many shall pass away and how many shall be born, who shall live and who shall die, who in good time, and who by an untimely death, who by water and who by fire, who by sword and who by wild beast, who by famine and who by thirst, who by earthquake and who by plague, who by strangulation and who by lapidation, who shall have rest and who wander, who shall be at peace and who pursued, who shall be serene and who tormented, who shall become impoverished and who wealthy, who shall be debased, and who exalted…

Unetaneh Tokef 4

Predetermined Suffering in Job

COMMENTARY

Job may have thought that his suffering and righteousness were predetermined by divine foreknowledge, challenging the notion of free will. Malbim, a 19th-century rabbi and biblical commentator, offers a detailed analysis of Job's plight, suggesting that Job believed that it was influenced by the stars and his nativity.

• Regarding the first, Job asks how God could possibly have afflicted him with such terrible suffering because, when he prayed, the improper thought that he might thereby attain some advantage might have passed through his mind? However, he had at all times kept the charge of His commandments and laws (Deuteronomy 11:1) and nothing he had done was so wrong that it justified such a severe punishment (Ch.23:6-7).
Moreover, if he could converse with God, who knows the truth, the fact that his worship had not been motivated by any extraneous considerations…

Malbim on Job 23:1:6

Divine Orchestration in the Story of Joseph

KABBALAH

The Zohar illustrates how divine intervention shapes the world to elevate the righteous, using the story of Joseph as a prime example. This foundational Kabbalistic text, traditionally attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, delves into the mystical aspects of divine orchestration in the lives of the righteous.

Observe now how God regulates events in such a way as to raise aloft the head of the righteous; for in order that Joseph, who was found righteous before Him, might be exalted, He stirred his master to anger against his servants, as we read: “The butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt”-all that Joseph the righteous might be exalted. And notice that it was through a dream that Joseph was brought low by his brethren, and it was through a dream that he was raised over his brethren and over the whole world.

Zohar, Vayeshev 23:253

The Stars and Human Choice

JEWISH THOUGHT

How can individual actions and their consequences be explained if everything is predetermined by the stars or fate? Rabbi Joseph Albo, in his 15th-century philosophical work Sefer HaIkkarim, challenges the notion of determinism by emphasizing human choice and divine justice.

Another objection to their views is the following. We may grant the propriety of the general nullifying the particular in respect to those things which happen in the course of nature, like famine, plague, and the like, but what explanation can they give in the matter of those things which happen as a result of human choice, whether it be the choice of a group, like a war, or the choice of an individual, as when a person builds a ship of his own accord and the ship sinks with a hundred or more passengers on board, every one of whom, no doubt…

Sefer HaIkkarim, Maamar 4 4:8

The Hidden Dynamics of the Sefirot

KABBALAH

The interconnectedness of all things through the Sefirot reveals hidden spiritual dynamics that influence our reality. In the 18th-century Kabbalistic text Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, Rabbi Moshe Haim Luzzatto explores the mystical attributes through which God interacts with the world.

The works of the Emanator, blessed be His Name, which He brings about through the Sefirot in accordance with the law He chose for them, are interdependent. Things emerge as consequences of one another. One thing is concealed within another, in the sense that one power may be acting in a hidden manner while outwardly it appears as if a different power is acting, yet the truth is that the manifest power acts only in accordance with the power concealed within it. Therefore the Sefirot are seen taking all these forms and likenesses, appearing in the form of lights clothed within lights…

Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah 10:2

Divine Determinism in the Exodus

COMMENTARY

Pharaoh's obstinacy was part of a divine plan, demonstrating that even the greatest human power is ultimately subject to God's will. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explores the biblical narrative of the Exodus, where God hardens Pharaoh's heart, connecting it to the prophecy given to Abraham about his descendants' future enslavement and eventual liberation.

God Himself says about Pharaoh’s obstinacy that it allowed Him to demonstrate to all humanity that even the greatest empire is powerless against the hand of Heaven (Ex. 7:5; 14:18). Pharaoh acted freely, but his last refusals were so strange that it was obvious to everyone that God had anticipated this. It was predictable, part of the script. God had disclosed this to Abraham centuries earlier when He told him in a fearful vision that his descendants would be strangers in a land not theirs (Gen. 15:13–14).

Essays in Ethics; A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, Va'era; Free Will 6

Opportunities for Repentance

MUSAR

God gives individuals multiple opportunities to repent before hardening their hearts, as illustrated by the example of Pharaoh in the Torah. Rabbi Isaiah HaLevi Horowitz’s 17th-century work, Shenei Luchot HaBerit, explores the balance between divine intervention and human responsibility.

Let me first quote a statement by our sages before turning to the text of Rashi's commentary. Shemot Rabbah, 13,3, commenting on Exodus 10,1: כי אני הכבדתי את לב פרעה, "For I have hardened the heart of Pharaoh," quotes Rabbi Yochanan as follows: "Here the Torah seems to provide an opening for the heretics to say that Pharaoh was not guilty because G–d prevented him from repenting. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish replied that on the contrary we can use this verse to stop such heretics in their tracks. Solomon tells us in Proverbs 3,34: 'At the scoffers He scoffs, but to the humble He shows grace…

Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Torah Shebikhtav, Vaera, Torah Ohr 47

In the Hands of God

TANAKH

Even the actions and emotions of the righteous and wise are determined by God, beyond human foresight. Ecclesiastes, one of the five megillot in the Hebrew Bible, explores the meaning of life, futility, and purpose, ultimately concluding that life's purpose is found in fearing God and adhering to His laws.

For all this I noted, and I ascertained all this: that the actions of even the righteous and the wise are determined by God. Even love! Even hate! Man knows none of these in advance—

Ecclesiastes 9:1

The Ultimate Cause

JEWISH THOUGHT

Rambam discusses the philosophical position that everything that happens is due to the Divine Will, which transcends human concepts of justice or wisdom. In his 12th-century philosophical work, Rambam explores the relationship between God's actions and human understanding.

Zofar the Naamathite holds that the Divine Will is the source of everything that happens: no further cause can be sought for His actions, and it cannot be asked why He has done this and why He has not done that. That which God does can therefore not be explained by the way of justice or the result of wisdom. His true Essence demands that He does what He wills; we are unable to fathom the depth of His wisdom, and it is the law and rule of this wisdom that whatever He does is done because it is His will and for no other cause…

Guide for the Perplexed, Part 3 23:5

The Limits of Determinism

TALMUD

While many aspects of life are determined by Heaven, the fear of Heaven (i.e., the choice to serve God) is left to human free will. Rabbi Ḥanina teaches that everything is determined by Heaven except for the fear of Heaven, as supported by Deuteronomy 10:12.

The Gemara notes: But this angel does not say: Will he be wicked or righteous? This is in accordance with a statement of Rabbi Ḥanina, as Rabbi Ḥanina said: Everything is in the hand of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven. People have free will to serve God or not, as it is stated: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The fact that God asks of the Jewish people to fear Him indicates that it is a person’s choice to do so.

Niddah 16b:13

Divine Decree and Free Will

JEWISH THOUGHT

The balance between divine decree and free will has been a topic of enduring debate among scholars. In the 11th-century work, Duties of the Heart, Bachya ibn Pekudah delves into this philosophical and ethical conundrum.

Controversies have long raged among the learned as to the modes of reconciling the issue between necessity and righteousness (divine decree vs free will). Some say that all human activities proceed according to man's will, capacity and strength; that G-d has left the conduct of these affairs in a man's own hands, and given him control over them. And since the Divine glory does not interfere in these, therefore a human being is liable to reward and punishment for them. Others ascribe all human actions, like everything else, to the Creator, blessed be He…

Duties of the Heart, Third Treatise on Service of God 8:9-11

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